Biography
Eden Brent, working as pianist, vocalist and composer, issued her first album for Memphis-based Yellow Dog Records, titled “Mississippi Number One,” in April 2008. On a contemporary blues landscape still heavily shaped by guitarists, she brings welcome freshness. The record reveals strong potential through its bright original material and agile arrangements, most of which draw on the Mississippi Delta country around Greenville that she knows intimately.
Critics have portrayed her as equal parts Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin and Diana Krall, while others have likened her to Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Norah Jones. On “Mississippi Number One,” named after the highway beside her parents’ home, she blends blues, jazz, soul, gospel and pop with apparent ease.
A wider audience first took notice after her 2006 victory in the Acoustic Blues category at the International Blues Challenge, the annual Memphis event run by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation. Earlier she spent 16 years apprenticing and performing directly with Delta blues specialist Boogaloo Ames. Although she studied jazz composition and performance at the University of North Texas, her deeper education came on the road, traveling Mississippi with Ames and hosting celebrations for both his 70th and 80th birthdays.
“Mississippi Number One” demonstrates Brent’s knack for turning memorable phrases into lasting songs, yet it also presents covers of the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love,” Joe McCoy’s “Why Don’t You Do Right” and the traditional “Careless Love,” which concerns unwanted pregnancy. Several tracks written by her late mother, Carole Brent, appear as well, and the album is dedicated to her.
Given appropriate backing from booking agents, management and her label, Brent seems likely to widen the accepted scope of contemporary blues for years ahead.
Critics have portrayed her as equal parts Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin and Diana Krall, while others have likened her to Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Norah Jones. On “Mississippi Number One,” named after the highway beside her parents’ home, she blends blues, jazz, soul, gospel and pop with apparent ease.
A wider audience first took notice after her 2006 victory in the Acoustic Blues category at the International Blues Challenge, the annual Memphis event run by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation. Earlier she spent 16 years apprenticing and performing directly with Delta blues specialist Boogaloo Ames. Although she studied jazz composition and performance at the University of North Texas, her deeper education came on the road, traveling Mississippi with Ames and hosting celebrations for both his 70th and 80th birthdays.
“Mississippi Number One” demonstrates Brent’s knack for turning memorable phrases into lasting songs, yet it also presents covers of the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love,” Joe McCoy’s “Why Don’t You Do Right” and the traditional “Careless Love,” which concerns unwanted pregnancy. Several tracks written by her late mother, Carole Brent, appear as well, and the album is dedicated to her.
Given appropriate backing from booking agents, management and her label, Brent seems likely to widen the accepted scope of contemporary blues for years ahead.
Albums
