''LaVette!'' is a studio album by

Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album '' I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to widespre ...

, released through Jay-Vee Records on July 16, 2023. The album consists of cover versions of songs written by American musician singer-songwriter

Randall Bramblett Randall Bramblett (born 1948) is an American musician and singer-songwriter, whose career as a solo artist, session player, and touring musician, has spanned five decades. He has worked with Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Goose Creek Symphony, Ro ...

, whom LaVette called "the best writer that I have heard in the last 30 years". It was produced by Steve Jordan and includes collaborations with

Pedrito Martinez Pedrito Martinez is a Cuban percussionist, drummer, singer, dancer, bandleader, songwriter, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. He is a Cuban Conguero performing classic Cuban Rumbas, Afro-Cuban folkloric and religio ...

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

, Anthony Hamilton,

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song for the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters'' and also sounds from the animated series '' The ...

Charles Hodges Charles Edward Hodges (born June 29, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American organist and songwriter. He is known for his high tone on the Hammond B3 organ, that appeared on records by Al Green, and other musicians signed to Hi Records. Ho ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

and

Jon Batiste Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists including Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Prince (musician), ...

. LaVette embarked on a tour in mid-2023 in support of the album.

Critical reception

''LaVette!'' received a score of 84 out of 100 on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on eight critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Stephen M. Deusner called it LaVette's "loosest and most daring album in years, an affectionate tribute to an underappreciated figure that could easily be renamed ''Bramblett!'' in LaVette's hands" and felt that Bramblett "emerges as a deft stylist who mixes various strains of Southern music with slyly evocative turns of phrase, self-denigrating humor, and big questions about existence and spirituality". '' Uncut'' magazine remarked that "LaVette remains at the peak of her considerable powers at the age of 77". Reviewing the album for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Stevie Chick stated that although she is backed by "stellar musos", LaVette is the "true focus" as "she has trodden these paths of heartbreak enough times to roll her damned eyes, and you can hear that in her seasoned rasp". Hal Horowitz of ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' felt that LaVette "takes these obscure selections, and like her one-time contemporary,

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

, makes them her own" as she "takes Bramblett's often oblique, sometimes stream of consciousness, always carefully crafted lyrics and filters them through her soul-drenched pipes". Neil Spencer of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' commented that LaVette "continues her renaissance with an album of songs that play to her considerable strengths". Jim Hynes of ''Glide Magazine'' called Jordan's production "eminently funky", which "works well for a while but begins to wear thin, rescued in the latter half by tracks such as 'Concrete Mind', 'Not Gonna Waste My Love' and the superb closer 'It's Alright', which do the best job of depicting LaVette's endearing, pour-it-all-out and leave-nothing-on-the-floor-vocals".

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2023 albums Albums produced by Steve Jordan (drummer) Bettye LaVette albums