Ani DiFranco – Evolve

Artist: Ani DiFranco

Title: Evolve

Label: Righteous Babe

Rating: 8/10

Corporate Line: There is no freaking corporate line with Ani Difranco. But this is seriously an evolution.

The Good:
“In The Way” – Ani’s voice harkens back to days long past of smoky halls and liquor voiced crooners. It’s the music that evolves around her and takes jazz into a few different directions.
“O My My” – You feel like the improvisational jazz spirit is alive and well. Ani goes with it; the only thing missing is Miles Davis blowing.
“Serpentine” – The hard look at reality we love to hear and the reason she is a folk hero.

The Marginal:
“Promised Land” – It’s jazzy as hell and a thicker instrumental than Ani tracks from the past.
“Icarus” – I don’t know if its Billie or Ella but Ani has summoned the spirits.
“Slide” – The funny thing is this track is the Ani you have come to expect; yet here it sounds completely out of place.
“Phase” – Raw. But still out of place.

The Bad:
“Evolve” – Ani does some really cool things with her voice, but the song just isn’t all that interesting. It lacks so much from the other jazz tracks that it crashes.

Frankly: Ani DiFranco has evolved right before our eyes. You wonder if it’s a true evolution or if Evolve was done out of pure boredom with doing the same old thing. Either way it’s welcome.
+ charlie craine