Keb' Mo' has never approached the blues primarily as an exhibition of guitar technique. Even his first album was built as much around songs, voice and acoustic texture as instrumental display, and his work since then has moved freely through soul, R&B, country and folk. Oklahoma continues that broad approach, although the songwriting is considerably less even than the playing.
The album is strongest when Keb' Mo' lets character and melody carry the message. "The Way I" is a graceful ballad, while "Ridin' on a Train" and "I Should've" bring more rhythmic drive without forcing him into conventional blues-rock. The title track has the same relaxed confidence, with a slide-guitar solo that says more through touch than speed.
The problems arise when the subject becomes more important than the song. "Put a Woman in Charge," featuring Rosanne Cash, has admirable intentions but burdens them with a four-on-the-floor rhythm, slap-bass accents and lyrics too blunt to leave much room for interpretation. "Don't Throw It Away," built around environmental concerns, has a similar problem.
"This Is My Home" demonstrates how effectively the same socially conscious impulse can work when it is embedded in a stronger composition. Its country-soul arrangement gives the story of migration an emotional scale that the more didactic songs never achieve. The point reaches the listener through the people in the song rather than through instruction.
That unevenness makes Oklahoma difficult to embrace as fully as Keb' Mo's best records. The performances are warm and Colin Linden's production is sympathetic, but several songs never rise above their message. Still, the best material adds worthwhile pieces to a catalogue that has been growing for twenty-five years, and his live performances have long shown how readily these songs can acquire another life onstage.
GENRE: Blues
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2019
PRODUCED BY: Colin Linden & Keb' Mo'
LABEL: Concord Records
RATING: 6/10