All Music Guide to the Blues
“Unfailingly sweet, hot and sassy — every track on this album has something about it that will give you shivers... This is one of the most satisfying albums of the year.”
BluesWax
“Exquisite force and hauntingly poignant vocals... while so many of today's records fade quickly, this is one CD that will always remain a favorite.”
Blues Revue
“A first-rate fingerpicker who also plays fine bottleneck... Flower straddles the line between blues and jazz, recalling the spirits of Memphis Minnie, Blind Blake, and Louis Armstrong.”
Blues Matters!
“A standout album of 2005... Mary’s albums have never shied from introducing less familiar instruments & arrangements, which thankfully livens up our listening experiences.”
The Oregonian
“A bluesy, funky, yet wholly refined take on rural guitar... [Flower] is a master worthy of much wider recognition.”
Willamette Week
“A truly original musical blend... Bywater Dance features such joyous music-making, even in the midst of the album's blues, that it's likely to lift the spirits of N'awlins-lovin' listeners.”
Acoustic Guitar
“With her immaculate guitar playing and warm contralto, Mary Flower finds the sweet spot between modern and rootsy in 12 tunes bred of back porches, parlors, street corners, juke joints, and country churches...”
“Sounds modern and traditional at the same time... Her guitar work is breathtaking and her vocals are warm and inviting.”
WVKR
“Fresh and inventive... Flower is a wonderful ragtime-styled guitar picker and a fine singer, but what makes this acoustic album come alive is the interplay with the New Orleans-based backing musicians.”
Cascade Blues Association
“Once again gives the world notice that Mary Flower is one of the best acoustic artists to be reckoned with...”
BluesSource
“As good and authentic a collection of new New Orleans music as one could want...”
Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
“She combines and links together both tradition and innovation to point in new directions, breaking down old boundaries along the way with a glee that comes across on this disc.”
The Oregonian (Sept 9, 2005):
"... Three Portland-area artists -- Mark Lemhouse, Terry Robb and Mary Flower -- have released, or are about to release, CDs on Yellow Dog, whose mission is to ... " Read the full article: From Roots, Roses Grow
"All Music Guide to the Blues"
"Unassuming blues heroine Mary Flower proves once again that she's one of the nation's premier fingerstyle blues guitarists. Her technique is exceptional throughout and, in the end, serves the highest purpose---the music." - All Music Guide to the Blues
Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine
"Mary Flower is one of those rare guitarists who manages to create a tincture of the aged authentic with the freshly original." -Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine
Folk Roots Magazine Spring 2004
"Ragtime Gal is Mary Flower's fifth album and it shows off her many musical talents to perfection. She can run rings around a lot of the boys when it comes to guitar playing. Mary's guitar picking has a ragtime uptempo feel, and her lap slide playing (at which she's particularly adept) is featured on a couple tracks -- including Blind Willie Johnson's 'Keep your Lamp Trimmed and Burning' -- which are superb."
-Folk Roots Magazine (UK) (Spring 2004)
Sing Out Magazine Winter 2004
"On Mary Flower's new CD Ragtime Gal, she wrote a majority of the twelve tunes presented, and the ones she brilliantly arranged were written by the likes of Duke Ellington, Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and an anonymous slave woman named Dink. The transparent sound, and her choice of backup musicians and singers (including Mollie O'Brien, Nick Forster of Hot Rize, and members of the Subdudes) can't be argued with either. On "Monday Morning Blues" she gets John Hurt's guitar part eerily right, to the last iota of soul. It's Mary's best work to date, and in itself, a high water mark for the rest of us. It apears to be self -produced, so if it isn't nominated for a Handy or an Indie or a Grammy, I may just do it myself." - Sing Out Magazine (Winter 2004)
Westward Magazine:
Mary Flower is a hero of American acoustic guitar music - and proof that the most moving art is often found in one's own back yard. Ladyfingers, which sees release on Friday, November 16, at Swallow Hill, is the Denver native's finest recording yet. Flower's seasoned singing and acoustic playing dig into deeper layers of gristle and grit, maturity and mastery. Recorded in unadorned fashion at Sawtelle Studio, the disc delivers a dozen originals and covers(by Memphis Minnie, Mance Lipscomb and Ivory Joe Hunter, among others) that ramble from ghostly, Piedmont-style laments to living-room friendly vintage jazz. Flower's hard-blues cuts are naked and nimble and cut to the bone with ease, while her sunnier numbers are sly and spare, laced with hints of nicotine and bitters. All of them benefit from her supple vocals, string bends and a rare I-know-just-who-I-am swagger. The disc also sports a wonderful supporting cast of locals (John Magnie, Pat Donahue and Mollie O'Brien, to name a few). Flower closes the disc with a thoroughly heartbreaking instrumental that echoes Mark Knopfler's most tender playing, across chord changes that are guaranteed to open the emotional floodgates. It's a gloriously sad closing the the disc - almost as sad as the fact that while less-worthy Americana artists reap accolades, Flower struggles to be noticed. Go see this woman play her beautiful, blue-collar art and find out what Flower power is all about. - Marty Jones
December 2001 Vintage Guitar Magazine:
This is some of the best acoustic blues you have heard in a while. It's mostly Mary, in a setting that allows her to display wonderful fingerpicking and single-line work and husky vocals that fit the songs perfectly. Unlike some albums of this ilk, it's well-rounded. From the good, old-fashioned country blues of "Virginia Bound" with nice chordal work, to the very reflective "Song for Samantha," with very nice lapsteel by Flower, it covers a lot of ground. One of the oddest pieces is a medley of "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Green Onions." It seems like an odd pairing, but it works perfectly. Mary shines on lapsteel and Pat Donohue does a great job on acoustic. "Monkeys on a Binge" is a monster display of fingerpicking that lets Flower show off a bit. Same goes for a wonderful ragtime medley of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby, " "I'll See You In My Dreams, " and "Darktown Strutters Ball, " done solo, and her playing and vocal are great. There's also a version of the classic Ivory Joe Hunter tune, "I Almost Lost My Mind" that sounds like it was just made for this style. It comes out sultry and sexy, and has a solo that matches. Great Stuff. Just to make sure there's a jazz piece here, there's a lovely take on Toots Thieleman's "Bluesette." Gorgeous guitar work and nice vocals. I recommend this in a minute if you love acoustic tunes that rest in the blues-folk category. She's a wonderful songwriter and interpreter. Check out maryflower.com - JH (John Heidt)
A Fan
A fan at Mary's performance: "That was an 80 year old dude off the plantation in the body of a Caucasion suburban woman!"
