Tomorrow Is My Turn

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Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Rhiannon Giddens—singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops—makes her solo recording debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn. The album, produced by T Bone Burnett, features a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country, including works made famous by Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Odetta, and Nina Simone. The album "is a showcase for Ms. Giddens’s glorious voice," says the New York Times. "For all her technical control, her voice is a perpetually soulful marvel." NPR calls it "a truly astounding vocal performance." "Gorgeous," exclaims the Daily Telegraph. "An exceptional record."

Description

“The … real head turner was Rhiannon Giddens … She turned to the folk revival repertory of Odetta for the enigmatic 'Water Boy,' singing it with the fervor of a spiritual, the yips of a field holler and the sultry insinuation of the blues. And she followed it with a pair of songs in Gaelic, making them peal and dance … the performances were splendidly polished.” —New York Times

Rhiannon Giddens, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, makes her solo recording debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn, released February 10, 2015, on Nonesuch Records. (The vinyl followed on March 3.) The album was produced by T Bone Burnett. 

Burnett first worked with Giddens when she performed last fall at a concert he curated at New York City’s Town Hall that was later broadcast on Showtime: Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis.” In the Huffington Post’s “5 Memorable Moments From the 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Concert,” the top spot went to “Dear Lord: Rhiannon Giddens. The chances are a good many people haven't heard of Rhiannon Giddens, but that's probably going to change ... Giddens performed two songs … and earned the night's one in-show standing ovation.”

Backstage, Burnett was immediately moved to ask if he could produce a record with her. “It was clear the first time I heard her at rehearsal that Rhiannon is next in a long line of singers that include Marian Anderson, Odetta, Mahalia Jackson, Rosetta Tharpe,” Burnett says. “We need that person in our culture.”

For her first solo disc, Giddens chose a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country. In addition to the traditional “Black Is the Color,” tracks include Hank Cochran’s “She’s Got You,” made famous by Patsy Cline; Dolly Parton’s “Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind”; “O Love Is Teasin’,” popularized by the Kentucky-reared “mother of folk” Jean Ritchie; and Elizabeth Cotton’s “Shake Sugaree.”

“I had already started putting together a list of songs that didn’t really fit into the Chocolate Drops world,” Giddens explains. “At the top was ‘Tomorrow Is My Turn’ [immortalized by Nina Simone]. Seeing Nina do it on YouTube was revelatory. I knew she’d gone through a lot of hard times, as so many people did in that time period. Watching her sing this song, with the words ‘tomorrow is my turn,’ I began to think about the struggle of her and women like her.” The significance of this song led Giddens to make it the title of the album as well. “Other songs started getting on my list and they were all by women or interpreted by women,” she says.

Tomorrow Is My Turn was recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville, with a multi-generational group of players whom Burnett assembled. Among them are fiddle player Gabe Witcher and double bassist Paul Kowert of label-mates Punch Brothers; percussionist Jack Ashford of Motown’s renowned Funk Brothers; drummer Jay Bellerose; guitarist Colin Linden; legendary backup singer Tata Vega; veteran Nashville session bassist Dennis Crouch; and Giddens’ Drops touring band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and beat-boxer Adam Matta.

Tomorrow Is My Turn follows Giddens’ work with Elvis Costello, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James, and Marcus Mumford on Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes, an album also produced by Burnett that was released in November 2014. Her contribution was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as the “showstopper…evoking antebellum blues with a magnificent voice that interrogates the myths stirred up at Big Pink.” The New York Times agreed, saying “On lead vocals she’s the album’s revelation, singing melodies that hark back to Celtic modes with a decisive presence and a haunting grace.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Recorded by Vanessa Parr, Jason Wormer, and Michael Piersante
Tracks 2-10 recorded by Vanessa Parr at The Village, Los Angeles, CA
“Last Kind Words” recorded by Jason Wormer at House Of Blues, Nashville, TN
“Angel City” recorded by Michael Piersante at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
Additional recording by Chris Wilkinson
Assistant Engineers: Jeff Gartenbaum, Chris Wilkinson, Chandler Harrod
Mixed by Jason Wormer at Olympic Studios, Los Angeles, CA; and The Village, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering, Hollywood, CA
Equipment Tech: Zachary Dawes
Production Coordinator/Contractor: Ivy Skoff

Design by Doyle Partners
Photography by Dan Winters

Nonesuch Selection Number

541708

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
Album Status
Artist Name
Rhiannon Giddens
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Rhiannon Giddens, vocals (1–11)
Colin Linden, electric guitar (1), guitar (2–11)
Dennis Crouch, bass (1), acoustic bass (2–10)
Mike Compton, mandolin (1)
Jay Bellerose, drums (2–10), percussion (11)
T Bone Burnett, acoustic guitar (2), guitar (4)
Keefus Ciancia, keyboards (2, 4, 6–8, 10)
Gabe Witcher, fiddle (2–5, 7, 9–11), horn arrangement (4), violin (6), viola (6), string arrangement (6), acoustic guitar (8)
Jack Ashford, tambourine (2–5, 7–10)
Hubby Jenkins, bones (2), acoustic guitar (3, 9), banjo (10)
Paul Kowert, acoustic bass (3, 6–8, 10)
Darrell Leonard, Lester Lovitt, trumpet (4)
Tom Peterson, baritone saxophone (4)
Joe Sublet, Jim Thompson, tenor saxophone (4)
Jean Witherspoon, Tata Vega, background vocals (4, 5)
Richard Dodd, cello (6)
Adam Matta, beatbox (7)
Jonathan Batiste, melodica (7)
Noam Pikelny, banjo (8)
Mike Bub, acoustic bass (11)

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
075597956306
Label
FLAC
Price
10.00
UPC
075597953718
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597953916
Label
LP+MP3
Price
17.00
UPC
075597953930
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
Price
14.00
UPC
075597953589
  • 541708

News & Reviews

  • The 2024 Big Ears Festival is next week, taking place in venues throughout downtown Knoxville, TN, March 21–24, with more than a dozen Nonesuch artists past, present, and future performing as part of the label's 60th anniversary celebrations. In addition to all of the music and film offerings, Big Ears also hosts a number of artist conversations with music journalists Ann Powers and Nate Chinen, including talks with Sam Amidon, Laurie Anderson, Darcy James Argue, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Halvorson, Robin Holcomb, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Brad Mehldau, Davóne Tines, and Yasmin Williams.

  • "Rhiannon Giddens is one of those people where I feel like they have to start inventing new awards, because she's already won all of them," Song Exploder host Hrishikesh Hirway says of his guest. On the latest episode, Giddens talks about "You Louisiana Man," breaking down the song from her new album, You're the One. You can hear what she had to say about it here.

  • About This Album

    “The … real head turner was Rhiannon Giddens … She turned to the folk revival repertory of Odetta for the enigmatic 'Water Boy,' singing it with the fervor of a spiritual, the yips of a field holler and the sultry insinuation of the blues. And she followed it with a pair of songs in Gaelic, making them peal and dance … the performances were splendidly polished.” —New York Times

    Rhiannon Giddens, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, makes her solo recording debut with Tomorrow Is My Turn, released February 10, 2015, on Nonesuch Records. (The vinyl followed on March 3.) The album was produced by T Bone Burnett. 

    Burnett first worked with Giddens when she performed last fall at a concert he curated at New York City’s Town Hall that was later broadcast on Showtime: Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis.” In the Huffington Post’s “5 Memorable Moments From the 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Concert,” the top spot went to “Dear Lord: Rhiannon Giddens. The chances are a good many people haven't heard of Rhiannon Giddens, but that's probably going to change ... Giddens performed two songs … and earned the night's one in-show standing ovation.”

    Backstage, Burnett was immediately moved to ask if he could produce a record with her. “It was clear the first time I heard her at rehearsal that Rhiannon is next in a long line of singers that include Marian Anderson, Odetta, Mahalia Jackson, Rosetta Tharpe,” Burnett says. “We need that person in our culture.”

    For her first solo disc, Giddens chose a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country. In addition to the traditional “Black Is the Color,” tracks include Hank Cochran’s “She’s Got You,” made famous by Patsy Cline; Dolly Parton’s “Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind”; “O Love Is Teasin’,” popularized by the Kentucky-reared “mother of folk” Jean Ritchie; and Elizabeth Cotton’s “Shake Sugaree.”

    “I had already started putting together a list of songs that didn’t really fit into the Chocolate Drops world,” Giddens explains. “At the top was ‘Tomorrow Is My Turn’ [immortalized by Nina Simone]. Seeing Nina do it on YouTube was revelatory. I knew she’d gone through a lot of hard times, as so many people did in that time period. Watching her sing this song, with the words ‘tomorrow is my turn,’ I began to think about the struggle of her and women like her.” The significance of this song led Giddens to make it the title of the album as well. “Other songs started getting on my list and they were all by women or interpreted by women,” she says.

    Tomorrow Is My Turn was recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville, with a multi-generational group of players whom Burnett assembled. Among them are fiddle player Gabe Witcher and double bassist Paul Kowert of label-mates Punch Brothers; percussionist Jack Ashford of Motown’s renowned Funk Brothers; drummer Jay Bellerose; guitarist Colin Linden; legendary backup singer Tata Vega; veteran Nashville session bassist Dennis Crouch; and Giddens’ Drops touring band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and beat-boxer Adam Matta.

    Tomorrow Is My Turn follows Giddens’ work with Elvis Costello, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James, and Marcus Mumford on Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes, an album also produced by Burnett that was released in November 2014. Her contribution was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as the “showstopper…evoking antebellum blues with a magnificent voice that interrogates the myths stirred up at Big Pink.” The New York Times agreed, saying “On lead vocals she’s the album’s revelation, singing melodies that hark back to Celtic modes with a decisive presence and a haunting grace.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Rhiannon Giddens, vocals (1–11)
    Colin Linden, electric guitar (1), guitar (2–11)
    Dennis Crouch, bass (1), acoustic bass (2–10)
    Mike Compton, mandolin (1)
    Jay Bellerose, drums (2–10), percussion (11)
    T Bone Burnett, acoustic guitar (2), guitar (4)
    Keefus Ciancia, keyboards (2, 4, 6–8, 10)
    Gabe Witcher, fiddle (2–5, 7, 9–11), horn arrangement (4), violin (6), viola (6), string arrangement (6), acoustic guitar (8)
    Jack Ashford, tambourine (2–5, 7–10)
    Hubby Jenkins, bones (2), acoustic guitar (3, 9), banjo (10)
    Paul Kowert, acoustic bass (3, 6–8, 10)
    Darrell Leonard, Lester Lovitt, trumpet (4)
    Tom Peterson, baritone saxophone (4)
    Joe Sublet, Jim Thompson, tenor saxophone (4)
    Jean Witherspoon, Tata Vega, background vocals (4, 5)
    Richard Dodd, cello (6)
    Adam Matta, beatbox (7)
    Jonathan Batiste, melodica (7)
    Noam Pikelny, banjo (8)
    Mike Bub, acoustic bass (11)

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by T Bone Burnett
    Recorded by Vanessa Parr, Jason Wormer, and Michael Piersante
    Tracks 2-10 recorded by Vanessa Parr at The Village, Los Angeles, CA
    “Last Kind Words” recorded by Jason Wormer at House Of Blues, Nashville, TN
    “Angel City” recorded by Michael Piersante at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
    Additional recording by Chris Wilkinson
    Assistant Engineers: Jeff Gartenbaum, Chris Wilkinson, Chandler Harrod
    Mixed by Jason Wormer at Olympic Studios, Los Angeles, CA; and The Village, Los Angeles, CA
    Mastered by Gavin Lurssen at Lurssen Mastering, Hollywood, CA
    Equipment Tech: Zachary Dawes
    Production Coordinator/Contractor: Ivy Skoff

    Design by Doyle Partners
    Photography by Dan Winters