It's a remarkable companion, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. A youthful company that manages to perform music from many decades ago in a formidable way. With the sound of the old black string bands they managed to surprise friends and foes in 2010 by winning a Grammy with the album Genuine Negro Jig. Successor Leaving Eden would also deserve such a musical award. Because the record may have become an
… even more balanced overall product, thanks in part to the help of producer Buddy Miller. Furthermore, recruiting multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins also turns out to be a bull's eye. He is the replacement for the departed Justin Robinson. But in the end it is banjo player / singer Dom Flemons and lead singer Rhiannon Giddens who steal the show. Leaving Eden has become a record full of traditional folk songs with a nineteenth-century sound, performed with a youthful enthusiasm by a very talented company. (BvdV)more
