Daptone records is mostly known for New York soul. But for this album they sent a talent scout down to Como, Mississippi, a tiny rural town that was the location of a number of musicologist Alan Lomax's field recordings in the fifties. The grand children of the musicians that Lomax recorded still continue an active local music scene. Daptone's scout, Michael Reilly, placed a small ad in a local paper and recorded everyone who responded in Como's church, Mt. Mariah. The result is Como Now, a collection of sixteen raw a cappalla songs from some incredibly powerful unknown local singers.Michael Reilly describes one group, the Como Mamas: "Ester Mae Wilbour who often leads the group is likely the most powerful singer I have ever witnessed. Listen to the fire she brings to the second half of ’Trouble In My Way’. As the daughter of a sharecropper, she grew up picking cotton and had to get by with very little. She says that the urgency in her singing comes from being so grateful she was delivered from such a brutal life. Angela Taylor and her sister Della Daniels both sing hard too. They sing about what they know. When Della was 18, a boy broke her heart. Angela is the deep round voice. Her mother passed away when she was 9 years old and so she learned to sing mostly by listening to her father in the choir every Sunday."
Trouble In My Way (Como Mamas) |
Jesus Builds A Fence Around Me (Della Daniels and Ester Mae Smith) |