Rare is today's musician who forges a sound not tethered to genre. Singer/cornetist/guitarist Olu Dara is such a special case. The one-time jazz avant-gardist, now 60-ish, started his solo career late, and a lifetime of diverse influences has paid off. Neighborhoods is the follow-up to the critically lauded In The World: From Natchez to New York (1998), and continues in a similar, free-flowing vein. Neighborhoods captures an invigorating spontaneity. The writing sounds off the cuff, as if the melodies were composed on the fly and the lyrics just spilled out of Dara's mouth. His conversational singing style, and his brawny, lusty voice, complement the impromptu, celebratory feel. Dara uses African rhythms and attitude to color his sound rather than define it. He stirs bouncy Afro-Caribbean ingredients into a blues-based brew that incorporates R&B, loosey-goosey funk, jazz, folk, field chants and a whole grab bag of other influences. Yves Beauvais' kinetic production makes splendid use of Dara's regular band, letting the guitars, percussion, keyboards and horns mingle naturally. The sound is refreshingly unprocessed. In the end, a deep sense of humanity courses through Neighborhoods. (Atlantic)
—Eric Snider 
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2001.