FROM: Proper/US
GENRE: Gospel with a groove
MUSIC: 3/5
SOUND: 3/5

Even if the rather staid Blind Boys of Alabama aren’t nearly funky enough to keep up with the loose-limbed musicians who provide accompaniment here (including Allen Toussaint and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, among others), Down in New Orleans is still an immense improvement on the Ben Harper collaborations the group has been mired in over the last few years. Small mercies and all that.

RICHARD BETTS