Dana Gillespie Deep Pockets (CD)

(Ace Records) 12 tracks

Dana Gillespie's affair with the blues shows not the slightest sign of abating. Who would have thought that in her sixth decade of music making she would create her best work? So far, 2021 has been a successful year for the 72-year-old personality. It began with the publication of her memoir, Weren't Born A Man. It was followed by a successful YouTube reboot of her popular radio show, Globetrotting With Gillespie. Co-written with David Shasha, the memoir is a comprehensive account of Dana's remarkable life, from her folk singles on Pye Records and her albums for Decca in the late 1960s to her pivotal role in the original London cast of Jesus Christ Superstar and her memorable explosion on the glam scene as part of the Bowie/DeFries/MainMan/RCA empire, her detours into film, and her long-running association with Ace Records as one of the UK's leading blues artists.

"Deep Pockets," the follow-up to 2019's "Under My Bed," is a collection of 12 Gillespie originals, mostly written with longtime lead guitarist Jake Zaitz. It's a reflective album born out of Covid Lockdown: "The moment the first incident happened and everyone was in a state of doom and gloom and no one was going anywhere, I was on my own and started writing lyrics."

If ever there was a Gillespie mission statement, it could be summed up in "Beat Of My Own Drum". "I'm a firm believer that I've danced to my own rhythm my whole life," Dana says, "and not to a commercial one." Meanwhile, 'The Truth About Lying' is a song she could only have written now. Coming from a new artist, it may sound simply reproachful, but from someone who's actually lived, its unequivocal warnings about the corrosive effects of dishonesty are frighteningly plausible. Though there are moments that address loss, such as the haunting elegy "Now You're Stardust," the album's overall leitmotif could be summed up as "Be happy, play the game," the wisdom of the late Sri Sathya Sai Baba, for whose philosophy Dana has long been a global ambassador. Nowhere is this more evident than in the touching song "We Share The Same Sky," which is a testament to universal empathy.

"Deep Pockets" was released ahead of schedule. After the first UK shutdown created a rush for Dana and an album full of songs, she and her band flew out to play the Lugano Blues Festival. With a house on Lake Maggiore at their disposal and no idea when the London studios would reopen or close, spontaneous recording suddenly seemed like a good idea. Everything you hear was recorded in that stunning summer setting in just four days in one or two takes; that's why the music has such a distinctive warmth, verve and spontaneity. Nothing was overworked or over-titled, and Dana's voice, spot-on in pitch and expressive as ever, is exactly how it sounds at a live show.