Blessed with a big, booming, old school soul voice – think Mavis Staples meets Koko Taylor with a hint of Macy Gray’s husky rasp – Brooklyn singer BETTE SMITH is set to release her much-anticipated debut album, ‘Jetlagger,’ in the UK on February 7th 2018 via Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum. Already available in the US, it has garnered a raft of rave reviews praising Smith’s magnetic performances and ability to create a unique sound and larger-than-life persona in an age when mass-produced, identikit pseudo-soul vocalists proliferate.
‘Jetlagger’ was helmed by ex-Buddy Guy sideman, Jimbo Mathus, down in deepest Mississippi, which probably accounts for the palpable blues-rock feel that infuses the album, whose material ranges from trippy psych-soul soundscapes and gospel-drenched hymnals to rollicking R&B rave-ups and Stax-style horn-laced groovers.
Bette Smith is due to tour Europe early in the New Year, with a UK concert slated for February 27th at London’s Borderline (see details below)
BETTE SMITH ‘JETLAGGER TOUR’
Feb 27 London Borderline Tickets www.alttickets.com/bette-smith-tickets
March 1 Paris Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club
March 2 Amsterdam Paradiso Tickets www.ticketmaster.nl/event/207395?brand=nl_paradiso
March 4 Cologne YUCA (Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld)
March 5 Berlin Quasimodo
Look for out for an interview with Bette and a full review of ‘Jetlagger’ at SJF early in the New Year
