Meet Me Where They Play the Blues

1	Soothe Me 4:20
2	I Wanna Be Loved 4:15
3	Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You 4:23
4	It Ain't the Meat (It's the Motion) 2:54
5	We Can Let It Happen Tonight 4:06
6	Meet Me Where They Play the BLues 3:47
7	It Feels Like Rain 6:50
8	Blues So Bad 3:34
9	Misery and the Blues 4:22
10	He Don't Have the Blues Anymore 5:35
11	All to Myself Alone 5:46
12	The Promised Land 5:22

Barnes & Noble

Although best known for kicking up a little dust with her cooing 1974 pop hit "Midnight at the Oasis," vocalist Maria Muldaur has settled comfortably into the blues over the past decade. On MEET ME WHERE THEY PLAY THE BLUES, Muldaur pays tribute to Charles Brown, the great West Coast crooner and pianist. Brown and Muldaur were supposed to do the entire album together but only made it to the studio for one duet, a late-night lounge version of "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," which turned out to be the last recording Brown made before he died. Throughout this set Muldaur carries the hint of jazz that made Brown's style distinctive, and she includes a get-down gospel version of "He Don't Have the Blues Anymore" as a particularly fitting send-off. Brown would also doubtless smile upon her swinging rendition of "It Ain' the Meat, It's the Motion." Still, Muldaur is best when she eases into tunes, and her renditions of the slow, sultry "It Feels Like Rain" and the smoky "We Can Let It Happen Tonight" are the highlights of the set. Roberta Penn

All Music Guide

Meet Me Where They Play the Blues captures Maria Muldaur at her sexy, sultry, sizzlin' best. Twenty-five years after she sent her camel to bed in "Midnight at the Oasis," Muldaur delivers a soulful package of late-night blues gems bolstered by a top-notch supporting cast. Originally planning to record this material with the legendary singer/pianist Charles Brown, she ended up producing a tribute when Brown became too ill to join in. He was, however, able to sing a duet with Muldaur from his nursing home on "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," a performance that turned out to be his last. On the remaining tracks, the spirit of Brown's "cool blues" permeates the proceedings. Most of the songs are taken at slow to medium tempos, and Muldaur intimately caresses each lyric to squeeze out every drop of sensuality. The arrangements work to complement her delivery, with David Matthews' piano especially important in filling the space where Brown would have resided, and a three-piece horn section figuring prominently on several tracks. Jim Rothermel's clarinet and saxophone solos are particularly noteworthy. The opening duo of "Soothe Me" and "I Wanna Be Loved" set the tone for this disc, as Muldaur issues the irresistible invitation to "love me 'til I'm numb with ecstasy." After proclaiming "It Ain't the Meat, It's the Motion," she makes an offer that "We Can Let It Happen Tonight." She reworks John Hiatt's contemporary blues standard, "Feels Like Rain," into a completely new song; glides over a Creedence-like guitar lick on "Blues So Bad"; and leads a gospel chorus into "The Promised Land." On "All to Myself Alone," Gerry Grosz' vibes atmospherically accentuate the singer's sad tale. This is an album that transcends genre. Perhaps the theme song of Meet Me Where They Play the Blues is really "He Don't Have the Blues Anymore," for on this recording, Muldaur delivers a surefire cure for even the most intractable case of the blues. Jim Newsom