STLBlues Reviews

By Cornbread

ANA POPOVIC – ANA!
{7/26/2005 | Ruf Records}

Ana’s third and latest Album - ANA! CD and DVD (sold separately), was recorded live from ‘the Melkweg’ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (January 30, 2005). The 29-year-old up-and-coming blues diva, Ana Popovic was born in Yugoslavia and now calls Holland home. Over her brief career she has already developed a global following.

The Ana Popovic Band (Fabrice Ach – bass, Denis Paltin – drums and special guest Dominique Vantomme on piano & organ) delivers its diversity of techniques and styles with hot, smoking electric funk-slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and tight blues grooves along with Ana’s soulful feminine voice.

ANA! CD Track list:

1. Intro (3:01) – solid beat, killer funky bass and piano as the Handy nominee, Ana is introduced to a live audience.

2. Don’t Bear Down On Me (3:37) – sexy, sultry vocals and quick, intense guitar riffs.

3. Sittin’ On Top Of The World (4:32) – steady blues shuffle, organ throughout and distorted guitar solo.

4. Love Me Again (5:10) – rock guitar, organ fills and raw vocals.

5. Comfort To The Soul (6:03) – slower track, loads of distorted guitar and mellow yet potent vocals.

6. Navajo Moon (8:57) – a beautiful, jazzy – blues guitar and organ instrumental tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ronnie Earl.

7. Night By Night (4:11) – guitar solo was the highlight.

8. Bigtown Playboy (6:01) – highlighting her vocal strength. Ana can sing with the best of them, more traditional blues than the other tracks at the start then crosses to that Texas thang.

9. Won’t Let You Down (4:53) – a mellow jazzy number.

10. Jaco (6:37) – a guitar tribute to late, great jazz bass player Jaco Pastorius.

11. Long Way Home (5:06) – an electric blues song with southern rock-like vocals.

12. My Man (plus Long Lost Love) (5:++) – wow, My Man is over five minutes of in your face blues that’ll hold it’s own against any of the greats. Long Lost Love is a slower, sexy, jazzy song as a bonus.

ANA! DVD Track list:
Same songs as above without Intro, but has Hometown. Also has acoustic versions of Long Last Love & Damn Your Eyes), E.J. in Amsterdam, interview and photo gallery. Total running time: 100 minutes.

Visit Ana’s website: www.anapopovic.com

To quote the press release quoting STLBlues, “Women in the Blues is always something there's never enough of, especially talented vocalists / multi-instrumentalists. Ana Popovic has the ability to deliver a delicate, slow hand fretwork display, and raise to a screaming Blues guitar attack, backing it all with her strong, soulful vocal stylings.” – I couldn’t have said it better!

Well if you can’t make Ana’s live show this would be the next best thing. Throughout the recording you can feel/hear her energy. This is a hard hittin’ rockin’ blues CD that is far from the “standard” – it’s new, different, hardcore and intense. I liked it.