Keb' Mo' / John Porter - Suitcase (CD)

Handsomely spare and richly resonant, Keb' Mo's new album Suitcaseis a diverse collection of songs that the artist feels are his most personal to date, and his range and innate eloquence have never been better served. Keb' Mo's unvarnished vocals are bell-like in clarity through frank delivery and emotional constancy, and his acoustic and slide guitar mastery ring just as true. With laconic storytellin' and gritty country blues tunes, from broadside ballads to lilting odes to love, through mellow folk rags and fiery laments, Mo's seamless synthesis of roots idioms, pop ardor and lyrical dexterity is soulful and authentic. For an artist who so genuinely embodies the confluence of multiple strains of profoundly American music, it is a transcendent moment and, like the treasure-packed Suitcase, another milestone in Keb' Mo's extraordinary journey.