Mavis Staples

Making a well-meaning but fierce political statement, soul/R&B legend Mavis Staples played an intense hometown show at Chicago's Hideout, celebrating Senator Barack Obama while commemorating African-Americans who died in the struggle for equality. Singing some of the empowering civil rights anthems adorning her 2007 album, We'll Never Turn Back, Staples staged this impressive-sounding concert in June, six months before Election Day, upon which she released this live record. With Obama making history in 2008 and her country reeling from wars and economic catastrophe, Staples makes pointed historical assertions in song and speech. Thanks to Rick Holmstrom's fantastic playing and warm "Pops" Staples-like guitar tone, Staples also conveys a rare optimism, mixing bleak songs like "Down in Mississippi," and the gorgeously spare "Waiting for My Child," with the joyous "This Little Light" and "Freedom Highway." Framing Mavis Staples in her element, Hope at the Hideout captures a vibrant icon wonderfully.