It Ain't Right in Bloomington, MN

It Ain't Right
is
Jimmy Burns
' first studio set in a long time -- 12 years, to be precise, a belated sequel to 2003's
Back to the Delta
.
doesn't make any pretenses about returning to
Burns
' Mississippi roots but rather settles into a wonderfully textured soulful groove, something relaxed and elastic, a sound that gives plenty of space to both his clean, hopping guitar and robust vocals. Although the album is devoid of originals, he manages to spin songs by
Bobby Rush
,
Jimmy Reed
Percy Mayfield
Little Walter
, and
Lowman Pauling
toward his soulful style, even finding a way to turn
Ben E. King
's "Stand by Me" into a bit of an uptempo groover. Not everything here is sprightly, not by a long shot, but the things that stick recall the easy elegance of
Sam Cooke
, whether it's on the deceptively chipper "Will I Ever Find Somebody?" or the churchy closer "Wade in the Water," and they help turn
into something of a relaxed, heartfelt celebration. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine