That world lies just north of Greenville, Mississippi on the two-lane
Highway 1, which follows the twists and turns of the river through
fecund swampland, time-forgotten plantations, and
blink-and-you'll-miss-'em communities like Rosedale, Beulah, and Stovall
before it dead ends into Highway 61 just south of Onward.
It was there that Brent was able to develop her gutsy vocal-and-piano
chops via family sing-a-longs and a 16-year apprenticeship with the late
blues pioneer Boogaloo Ames, who ultimately dubbed his protégé "Little
Boogaloo."
"Music school taught me to think, but Boogaloo taught me to
boogie-woogie," says Brent, who appeared alongside her mentor in the
1999 PBS documentary Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound and in the 2002 South African production Forty Days in the Delta.
Where most 21st century roots musicians merely emulate their heroes,
Brent and Ames were both "soul mate and road buddies," says lifelong
friend (and acclaimed journalist) Julia Reed. "She was a young white
woman of privilege and he was an aging black man in the Mississippi
Delta, but theirs is a phenomenal story of mutual admiration and need."
Yet much more than the blues flows through Brent's talented hands:
Critics laud her "Bessie Smith meets Diana Krall meets Janis Joplin"
attitude, compare her to jazz/pop dynamos Norah Jones and Sarah Vaughn,
and wax effusively about her "whiskey-smoke" voice, which serves as a
constant reminder that Greenville, nestled into a bend of the
Mississippi River, is located a few hundred miles north of New Orleans.
Whether booked as a solo artist or bandleader, Brent's performance is
fresh and spontaneous, often filled with audience requests and
participation. Her unshakable talent and her carefree demeanor have
taken her across the country and around the world, but the 2009 Blues
Music Awards cemented Eden's place as one of the fresh voices propelling
this vital American music forward. She was nominated in four
categories, winning both "Acoustic Album of the Year" and "Acoustic
Artist of the Year" honors (joining Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Janiva
Magness as the only multi-category winners for the year). As Chip
Eagle, publisher of Blues Revue, BluesWax, and Dirty Linen says, "in
Eden's huge playing and singing you can hear the ghosts of Mississippi
in a duet with the future of the blues."
Upcoming Shows
Thu 3/6/14 Mc Comb, MS State Theatre 7pm
Fri 5/2/14 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Mon 6/30/14 Laupersdorf, 471 New Orleans Meets Zofingen Altstadt
Fri 9/5/14 Remus, MI Wheatland Festival
Sat 9/6/14 Remus, MI Wheatland Festival
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