Rickie Lee Jones celebrates her 30th anniversary of making music this year with the release of her stunning new album Balm in Gilead, in stores today. Balm in Gilead is an extraordinary collection of emotionally powerful, texturally rich and endearing songs and has been earning critical attention as one of her best in decades.
Many of the songs on the album have been ‘incubating’ with Jones over the last several decades and flow easily through its roots and soul fabric. Balm in Gilead reflects the lifetime work of a woman, whose very name is a genre. She’s joined on the record by Ben Harper, Jon Brion, Vic Chesnutt, Bill Frisell, Victoria Williams and Alison Krauss among other highly talented friends.
Additional tour dates have been added to Rickie Lee Jones’ schedule, including Carnegie Hall in New York on December 7th, Birchmere in Virginia on December 10th and The Fillmore in San Francisco on December 19th (see routing below).
Here’s what critics are saying about the album: ”Jones’ best record in a decade” – UNCUT
“Balm in Gilead may be the strongest record of the second half of her career.” – The New Yorker ”Americana’s Kid A: a headphone album that prizes soundscape as heartily as songwriting.” –Paste Magazine
“Jones arrives at acceptance, if not always approval, of the complexities of life as an adult (on Balm in Gilead). But by the closing track, “Bayless St.,” a reverie clothed in old-timey dobro, mandolin and slide guitar, she has found the peace in acceptance — the spiritual balm for which the biblical land of Gilead was famous.” –The Los Angeles Times 3 1/2 Stars
“One of the most intriguing, idiosyncratic vocalists of our time” – USA TODAY
“Rickie Lee Jones still sounds utterly unique. Switching effortlessly between jazzy strums, punchy R&B, waltzing country and gauzy Daniel Lanois-like atmospherics on centerpiece “On His Jeweled Floor,” Balm in Gilead adds up to a very classy showcase” – Q Magazine
“The material radiates with well-worn intimacy” – Mojo
“An American original, Rickie Lee Jones has that rare ability to transfix the listener with her intensely personal songs while fearlessly blazing a trail through the worlds of folk, rock and pop. Her latest studio effort, Balm in Gilead is one of her most accessible recordings in years, yet it still showcases her innate sense of musical adventure…Genius.” – Detroit Free Press
“Thirty years since her astonishing Chuck E’s in Love debut, Rickie Lee remains a singular talent who gets a chance to fully flourish here with songs of innocence and experience. She wrote most of them over the past 20 years – sometimes good things take time to mature.” – Daily Mirror (UK)
“Jones wanders stylistically from the wistful country music of “Remember Me?” and Paul Simon-esque poignancy of “Bonfires”, to the Laura Nyro-style blue-eyed soul of “Old Enough”, a duet with Ben Harper. She hasn’t lost her gift for the telling line, as when reassuring her daughter in “Wild Girl” that “the thing that makes you beautiful doesn’t come out of a jar”; but surprisingly, the standout track, “The Moon is Made of Gold”, turns out to have been written long ago by her father. A jazzy soon-to-be standard similar in mood and tone to “Midnight at the Oasis”, it features whistling and mouth-trumpet in the manner of Leon Redbone, and a deliciously sweet guitar solo by Bill Frisell.” – The Independent (UK)
“Consistently interesting songwriting” – Metro (UK)
Rickie Lee Jones Tour Dates:
December 6 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
December 7 New York, NY Carnegie Hall
December 9 Homestead, PA Carnegie Library Music Hall
December 10 Alexandria, VA Birchmere
December 18 Los Angeles, CA TBD
December 19 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
For more information on Rickie Lee Jones, please visit
http://www.rickieleejones.com/
