Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic - Comfort To The Soul - 2003 - Ruf Records

A great blues/jazz/soul album from this largely unknown, but extremely talented lady. Listen to her great version of Becker & Fagen's " Night By Night. " A brilliant vocalist and excellent guitarist, this is a must have album. VHR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy her cd, " Still Making History, " a stunning album from this vastly underrated blues artiste.

TRACKS

Don´t Bear Down On Me (I´m Here To Steal The Show)
Love Me Again
Comfort To The Soul
Change My Mind
Sittin´On Top Of The World
Night By Night
Navajo Moon
Need All The Help I Can Get
Recall The Days
Fool Proof
Jaco


PERSONNEL

Steve Potts - drums
Jack Holder - guitar
Ana Popovic - vocals, guitar, slide guitar
Dave Smith - bass
Susan Marshall
Reece Wynans - Hammond B-3 organ
Al Gamble - Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards
Becky Russell - background vocals


REVIEWS


Damn, I am rarely caught this off-guard. 27 year-old Ana Popovic grew up in Yugoslavia under the Iron Curtain and somehow managed to become a shockingly powerful and accomplished blues-rock-funk guitarist and singer, combining the axe work of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elmore James, and Jimi Hendrix with the vocals of Melissa Etheridge, Koko Taylor and Tina Turner. Now a resident of Holland, her second album, Comfort to the Soul shows amazing range, audacious riffs, a fierce spirit, blistering leads, slinky subtlety, and she is flipping hot. I would love to see her live. Consider this: she covers Howlin' Wolf AND Steely Dan and does both exceedingly well. Though already very fine, if her writing improves just one notch Ana Popovic will be a major star. She came from WHERE again? My mouth hangs agape. (Written by & © Eric Olsen, Published January 18, 2004, http://blogcritics.org
A fresh wind of blue is blowing out from the Danube Delta with a searing guitar, pounding riffs and growly, soul biting vocals. Popovic's guitar licks are stinging and fluid, taking full advantage of style, skill and a deft range of emotion. The songs tend to the rock side yet Ana easily makes a respectfully wild reading of Howling Wolf's Sitting On Top Of The World and her instrumental, Navajo is jazzy and fresh. The take on Steely Dan's Night By Night make it a deep soul experience. Love Me Again boogies while Comfort To The Soul funks throughout. Ana's songs are characterized by driving rhythm, tightness, interesting arrangements, well written lyrics and her unique throaty vocals. The Blues lives in the soul of the Balkan Beauty, Ana Popovic. © Mark Gresser, Edited by: David N. Pyles, Copyright 2003, Peterborough Folk Music Society. www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p02667.htm


BIO (Wikipedia)


Ana Popovic was born in Belgrade in 1976. Her father first introduced her to the blues, through an extensive record collection and sessions hosted at the family home. Ana took to the guitar and founded her first serious band at age nineteen. Within a year, she was playing outside of Yugoslavia and opening shows for American blues icons like Junior Wells. By 1998, her band was doing 100 shows annually and appearing regularly on Yugoslavian television. Her debut CD, Hometown, provided a first glimpse of her talents as a singer and guitarist. In 1999, Ana relocated to the Netherlands to study jazz guitar. She quickly became a fixture on the Dutch blues scene and soon ventured into neighboring Germany. With Comfort to the Soul (2003), Popovic took her burgeoning career to the next level, she delivered another diverse package of blues, rock, soul and jazz. The album makes one thing clear. Ana Popovic is not about recycling worn-out clichés. Her blues are fresh, positive and genre-expanding. Ana Popovic is a veritable anomaly in the blues scene, in professional circles she's also called the feminine Jimi Hendrix.