"Mavis Staples doesn't so much sing a song as baptize it in truth."
—The Boston Globe

MAVIS STAPLES

Jan 22 at 8pm
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
Running time: 90min, no intermission

Endowed with one of contemporary music's most electrifying voices and idolized by musicians from Pink Floyd to Bob Dylan, gospel and soul legend Mavis Staples never stops. She first made her mark more than five decades ago as the lead voice of The Staple Singers. The group, led by her father Roebuck "Pops" Staples, and with her gifted siblings on harmony, topped the gospel charts and was christened "God's greatest hitmakers." By the mid-1960s, the group had become musical allies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with Pops declaring, "If he can preach it, we can sing it."

On the morning of January 21, Staples will share her family's memories of their friend as keynote at BAM's 22nd Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And on the evening of January 22, accompanied by her band, she will perform songs from her most evocative album to date, We'll Never Turn Back. Produced by the incomparable Ry Cooder and recently named one of Rolling Stone's "Top Albums of 2007," the album includes versions of some of the freedom songs that became the soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement and it provides resounding evidence that, 50 years on, Staples still makes people sit up and listen.

Photo by Chris Strong