Jubilee

Album review

Jubilee, the tenth studio outing from venerable roots music collective Marley's Ghost, celebrates the group's 25th anniversary with a set of six originals and seven covers, all of which were recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium with the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement at the helm. Dan Wheetman, Jon Wilcox, Mike Phelan, Ed Littlefield Jr., and Jerry Fletcher hardly need any help here, as their many years spent on-stage and in the studio together pay off huge dividends with nary a bead of sweat to show for it, and guest appearances from the likes of Marty Stuart, John Prine, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Emmylou Harris only sweeten the pot. Like previous outings, Jubilee touches on nearly every spectrum of Americana, from soulful country-rock (Levon Helm's "Growin' Trade") to straight-up front-porch bluegrass (Bobby & Shirley Womack's "It's All Over Now"). It's a solid, familiar set that gets by on craftsmanship and sheer good-natured charm, and by the closing number, a typically spirited take on Paul Siebel's "She Made Me Lose My Blues," listeners may find themselves inadvertently yodeling along with the chorus.
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