EMORY JOSEPH
LABOR & SPIRITS
By Nick Cristiano
The Philadelphia Inquirer
(Capsaicin ***)

Having waited until his 30s to make this debut, Emory Joseph had lots of time to absorb all kinds of roots influences. The St. Louis native reprocesses them in his own ingratiating fashion on Labor and Spirits, an album that stylistically and emotionally is all over the place - in a good way.

Joseph can be infectiously loose-limbed, as on the two good-humored set-openers: "Carolina Princess" is a chugging roots-rocker punched up by R&B horns and Kenny Aronoff's drumming; "Rhum and Coffee" swings in jug-band fashion with a beat provided, in part, by Levon Helm, yet another heavyweight drummer.

"Early in the Morning," on the other hand, is an accordion-tinged breakup ballad in which the wounds are still evident, and "Daddy John" is a moody, swamp-gospel meditation on a long-gone father.

Joseph occasionally verges on being shaggy and cute, but when he claims he's happy to be a "Family Dog," the good feeling is contagious.