The Scene Of The Crime

It gets better with each listen, and stands so far outside the realm of anything her better-known peers are doing today that it's almost scary.

The singer's whiskey-stained voice infuses those words with a fierce mix of pride, hurt, resignation, sadness, strength, and humility--traits that make her one of the finest R&B singers of her generation. There are other riveting moments rivaling that from this deeply moving set.

Scene of the Crime is as comprehensive and as thorough an artistic declaration of self as any in recent memory.

Despite her co-conspirators, LaVette proves again that she's the star of the show.

The big surprise on the 61-year-old’s follow-up isn’t her knockout voice--it’s the sympathetic backup provided by Lynyrd Skynyrd–worshippers Drive-By Truckers (whose guitarist, Patterson Hood, produced the record). The well-selected, never-obvious covers of songs by writers from Elton John to Willie Nelson are unflinching tales of struggle and survival.

An album as lean, mean, and gritty as the cover image of someone behind a steering wheel, peering into the rearview mirror with windshield wipers in motion.

A strong contender for soul album of the year. [Oct 2007, p.98]

There is nevertheless a supreme revitalisation of her deep-seated powers evident here. [Oct 2007, p.96]

The album is a celebration of LaVette's vocals--burnished, bruised but resoundingly unbeaten. [Nov 2007, p.96]

LaVette sings Scene as if she's been backed into a corner and relishes the sensation.

LaVette is a proud interpreter, and even back in her earlier days she was covering David Bowie and Neil Young, but on Scene of the Crime her choices are a little less NPR-friendly than they were on the all-female critics darling roster of "Hell to Raise."

It doesn't hurt that she's accompanied by the Drive-By Truckers and a handful of old Muscle Shoals session men, but it's still her voice and interpretive skills that carry the record.

The Scene of the Crime is music without a shelf life.

The songs here are well chosen--particularly Willie Nelson's 'Somebody Pick Up My Pieces' and the Ray Charles-associated 'They Call It Love'--and LaVette's nuanced singing evokes prime Tina Turner with even more command.

The indie Tina Turner follows up her tightly wound 2005 comeback, "I've Got My Own Hell to Raise," in the company of Drive-By Truckers and Muscle Shoals vets, whose mannered blues shuffles unfortunately sound like they're backing a beer commercial.

Much as the self-righteous, take-me-as-I-am lyric suits her, it's a road she screeches down too often. Still, its magnetic moments make you glad she didn't just give up and get a day job.