The High Reeds - Brother Jones EP (Blue Mountain/Dibyz Music)

Opener and title track 'Brother Jones', a song about a man who thinks he has left slavery behind - see also the reference to the cotton plantations on the cover photo - but soon finds out differently, starts out as an a capella negro spiritual, but then turns into a bluesy roots tune (The High Reeds' trademark). For 'So Many Roses', The High Reeds go lovers, 'Be Ruff' is more than decent roots tune, and closing track 'Adja', a ballad in which Yaokan, the Ivorian bassist of the band, in Baule criticizes Western influence on the African continent, sounds as if it was plucked from a different album entirely.