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B.B. King is his own category. Through endless live shows and countless recordings, the Mississippi-born bluesman has created a place in the world occupied only by him. The music is instantly recognizable by his sweetly tart guitar tone and a voice that contains all the hurt in the world running through the lyrics. There is no one alive able to take the blues where B.B. King does, into a sacred space so it can heal all pain and point a way past life's sorrows. No one can turn a frown upside down as fast as this man, showing with absolute grace what the blues is all about. On One Kind Favor, King returns to an early style of simplicity, playing to his strengths on songs as direct as a bullet. Produced by T Bone Burnett and featuring pianist Dr. John, drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Nathan East, the sound is an elemental wonder with no wasted emotion. Everything here is close to the heart, and even when all is gone and hope is nowhere to be found, B.B. King still manages to make us believe a life raft will arrive momentarily. And, really, what else can you expect from music except that it offers a hand when the odds are long and the inning is late? These twelve songs are like love letters, made in the twilight of a life we will not see again, and should celebrate now with all our might while this greatness is in our presence. The last song, Lonnie Johnson's "Tomorrow Night" holds wisdom beyond music and beyond words. It just is, like B.B. King himself, and that's the greatest accomplishment of all.
