EMORY JOSEPH
LABOR & SPIRITS
By Barry Mazor
No Depression

The habitual weakness of the urban folk singer-songwriting troubadour school has been relative lack of attention to body shaking rhythmic matters, but that's not an issue with St. Louis raised Emory Joseph. An early indicator is the fact that he's got roots-rock drummers, Levon Helm, Dave Mattacks, and Kenny Aronoff all on this debut CD. The proof is in the sound, where it belongs.

Joseph's songs are generally built on narratives, but he keeps coming up with finished, hummable , melodies. And he's willing to veer towards pop hooks, as in the catchy Rhum and Coffee, for example, which suggests the mixed-bag-with-spice sounds of Paradise and Lunch ­era Ry Cooder even while saluting Guy Clark.

The music here is free range Americana, with ample room for R&B, and gospel and pop tones right in there with the folk and country influences. The sensibility roams from funky (a salute to the smelly ol' "Family Dog˛ with close identification) to loopy (the driving gospel rock-tinged "Work to Do˛) to more personal ballads delivered in matter-of-fact Southern-gothic Bobbie Gentry mode ("Daddy John˛, "Sweet William˛).

"Labor and Spirits doesn't aspire to be a ground breaking record, but it delivers you to the ground tended by Jesse Winchester, The Amazing Rhythm Aces, or, for that matter, Buddy Miller ­ a fine, fun place to be.