Keb’ Mo's music is a purely post-modern expression of the artistic and cultural journey that has transformed the blues, and his own point of view, over time. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock folk and jazz, in which he is well-versed. In total, it owes as much to contemporary music's singer-songwriter movement, encompassing his longtime friends and collaborators Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, as to the spirit of blues godfather Robert Johnson that dwells in his work. For Keb' Mo', the common bond between these influences is the underlying storytelling ethic, the power of song to convey human experience and emotional weight.
The Reflection is the first new studio album by Keb Mo since Suitcase in 2006. These twelve songs are the product of an important period of personal and professional growth for the artist formerly known as Kevin Moore. In that time, he started a new family; moved from Los Angeles to Nashville; built a state–of–the–art home studio, and founded his own label, Yolabelle International, distributed by Ryko and the Warner Music Group.
Keb Mo is a three–time Grammy Award winner for Best Contemporary Blues Album; and a key figure in the acclaimed 2003 PBS series Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. But The Reflection is not, in essence, a blues album. In sound and spirit, it’s closer to the work of African–American "folk soul" singer/songwriters like Bill Withers, Bobby Womack, and Terry Callier.
The Reflection brings together all of this singular artist's diverse influences – pre–disco R&B, American folk and gospel, rock, blues, and more – in a sound that is truly and uniquely his own.
Through all the changes of the past several years, Keb Mo found time to play a couple of hundred shows on several continents. He composed and recorded music for the acclaimed TNT series "Memphis Beat," starring Jason Lee and Alfre Woodward. And he wrote some of the best songs of his career for The Reflection – material strong enough to attract such notable guests as country music superstar Vince Gill, nouveau–soul chanteuse India.Arie, saxophonist Dave Koz, and veteran session guitarist David T. Walker.
Tickets for the Calvin Theatre show are available at Northampton Box Office,76 Main Street. 413-586-8686 and online at IHEG.com.
Tickets for the Somerville Theatre show are available at SomervilleTheatreOnline.com
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