JOAN OSBORNE - BRING IT ON HOME

Singer and songwriter Joan Osborne is no stranger to covering vintage soul, R&B, and blues. She did so on 2002's How Sweet It Is and 2007's Breakfast in Bed, and in the documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Osborne has also flexed her muscles as a producer for the Holmes Brothers, capturing their live vibe better than anyone else.

For Bring It On Home, Osborne once more digs into the soul, blues, and R&B wellspring. Co-producing with Jack Petruzzelli and using her road band, a horn section, and guests, she turns in the rawest, most kinetic moment in her recording career thus far. The choice of material is stellar, beginning with Ashford & Simpson's Ray Charles' vehicle "I Don't Need No Doctor."

She gets deeply into its grain, with drummer Aaron Comess just popping the groove, and the Holmes Brothers on backing vocals. Jimmy Vivino's horn chart is clean and forceful. The title track, defined by Sonny Boy Williamson, is given a sultry reading.

Osborne's restraint is airy but defined; the listener can feel the tension smoldering underneath. Barbecue Bob Pomeroy's harmonica is a brilliant counterpart, letting loose some steam from what's roiling underneath her vocal. The choice of the obscure "Roll Like a Big Wheel," by blues drummer and vocalist Olive Brown is a burning R&B shouter, with smokin' harmonica and horns; Osborne's voice rises above the fray and locks the groove in tight. Ike Turner's "Game of Love" -- written specifically for Tina -- is a grimy, funky, nasty, strutting feminist anthem in Osborne's version; its meaning (and irony) never more clear.

Her transformation of John Mayall's "Broken Wing" is nothing short of a revelation. Allen Toussaint's '70s-era funky reggae "Shoorah! Shoorah!" features him on piano and is a delightful curveball. Osborne's cover of Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" comes from the blues more than the rock & roll of the Rolling Stones' version and it's righteous. She burns on Muddy Waters' "I Want to Be Loved," which is more demand than request. Her versions Bill Withers' "Same Love That Made Me Laugh" is raucous yet peels back the layers in its meaning. Her understated reading of Otis Redding's "Champagne and Wine" is gorgeous, with a distorted slide guitar bearing witness to the many subtle nuances in Osborne's vocal that make plain the desire in the lyric. Ultimately, there isn't a performance here that isn't drenched with passion and a true stylist's sense of invention.

This isn't a reverential recording; it's authoritative; she makes these songs her own. Bring It On Home carries Osborne's mature voice in way that's never been heard on her studio recordings, making it stand head and shoulders above them. Her abilities as a song stylist and interpretive singer prove she is an extension of these traditions, not merely a torch bearer for them.

Thom Jurek (http://www.allmusic.com/album/bring-it-on-home-r2385169/review)

Joan Osborne - Bring It On Home tracklisting:
1. I Don't Need No Doctor - 3:20
2. Bring It On Home - 4:07
3. Roll Like A Big Wheel - 2:50
4. Game Of Love - 3:16
5. Broken Wings - 4:38
6. Shoorah! Shoorah! - 2:52
7. I Want To Be Loved - 3:35
8. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh - 4:25
9. Shake Your Hips - 3:28
10. I'm Qualified - 3:15
11. Champagne And Wine - 3:41
12. Rhymes - 4:43
13. One Of Us - 2:34