When I first met Lisa, I heard a mixture of studied talent and raw soul that I have rarely witnessed; the passion of Billie Holiday and the soul of Bonnie Raitt. Though Lisa has an accomplished pedigree in music, she has something deeper that professional training doesn’t provide; the malaise of hardship and heartbreak. Ain’t No Good Man is a life lesson that only a woman who has been through it can profess.

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St. Lou owes some of her breeding to the lineage that precedes her; Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin and most notably the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas, who also appears on the duet, “Nothing Is Ever Enough (for a man).” In fact, it was Ms. Thomas’ early recordings from the 1960’s that sired the birth of this album, where the influences of “Look Up,” and “It’s Raining” are the essential ethos that permeate Ain’t No Good Man. Still, there are obvious comparisons to be made to Nina Simone, Janis Joplin and, more recently, the late Sharon Jones.

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The songwriting craft is inextricably tied in homage to the late, great Allen Toussaint, the man who defined the raw material of New Orleans soul. Through the grit and truth in the writing, there is an ease to the songs; pain covered with humor, double entendre and emboldened honesty. There is no question that when Lisa sings, we relate. That voice doesn’t lie.

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And speaking of authenticity, Ain’t No Good Man was recorded in the city from which it was inspired and is staffed by some of NOLA’s most renown personnel, mostly thanks to the heir of the City’s royal Neville family, Ivan (co-producer). Raymond Weber (drums) and Tony Hall (bass) anchor the rhythm section, while Ian Neville keeps a solid groove on the guitar and Ivan Neville (keys) brings his classic French Quarter piano and his signature stank on the B3 organ and clavinet.

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Mark Mullins (trombone), who arranged the horn section (Alonzo Bowens Jr. on sax and Robert Campo on trumpet) adds a unique swampy texture to the record like crawfish etouffee. And the legendary NOLA guitar staple, Walter “Wolfman” Washington assists on lead guitar offering some back porch, eye-squinting solos. The two featured positions are held by Irma Thomas and Cyril Neville, who provide  further evidence that New Orleans musicians age like fine wine. Given that her voice transcends age and era, it’s no surprise that St. Lou’s duets with these soul and funk icons feel as natural as moonlight on the bayou.
 

But no matter how great the singer, an album lives or dies by the repertoire. From top to bottom, St. Lou and her writing partner, Tor Hyams, take us on a journey through vignettes of relationships gone by. If the opening title track is any indication of an empowered woman who has already come out the other side, the journey within is certainly an exorcism of how she got there or, at the very least, a cautionary tale to women on making the same mistakes St. Lou has already traversed, vindicating the voodoo

It is more important now than ever to create art that dispels the traditional imbalance between men and women and to realign ourselves in favor of intelligence over beauty, talent over aesthetic, and to harness the power within. If this brilliant debut album is any indication, St. Lou understands all that and more.

There’s no question we all need fixing, which is, in fact, the prevailing theme on the album. Ain’t No Good Man is not anti-men, but rather an inner-soul unearthing of the singer’s attempt to understand herself better through the men who cross her path. As the truth gets shaken from the magnolia trees, it’s clear that the measure of a person is how that person empowers another. We are all souls in need of repair and the one thing I know for sure is that it will be a woman who fixes us all. As the artist herself says, “you gotta get through it if you wanna get to it.” So let’s get to it!

-Tor Hyams