ANA POPOVIC "STILL MAKING HISTORY" Source: Suncoast Blues Society Date: 09/2007 Writer: Tom Carter

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Guitar goddess Ana Popovic has jumped recording labels and her debut release on Electra Groove is a real ear pleaser. The slightly built Balkan blonde packs a heavy punch with her axe and she exhibits her prowess in short order on U Complete Me which opens and closes the album in different versions. In between lays a wealth of stunning chops and Ana’s marvelous vocals which range from suggestively breathy to full-throated growl.

Still Making History swings from straight up blues to straight ahead jazz and bridges the two with rock on the Clapton hit Hungry and a taste of reggae in her own Between Our Worlds. The petite powerhouse lays down her best blues licks on covers of Big Mama Thornton’s You Don’t Move Me and Snooky Pryor’s How’d You Learn To Shake It Like That? which alone are worth the price of the disc. All the remaining tunes are written or co-written by Popovic proving that her talents extend far beyond her jaw-dropping string work. The distinctly jazzy Doubt Everyone But Me features some of Ana’s best singing along with stellar keyboard offerings by John Cleary on piano and Mike Finnigan on B3. Other shimmering jewels in the jazz groove are the haunting title track and My Favorite Night which leaves one panting for a taste of the experiences described there. Popovic’s string bending takes the spotlight again on the smoldering Shadow After Dark and it will simply blow you away on the closing blues version of U Complete Me.

Still Making History is absolutely Ana Popovic’s finest all-around recording to date and it leaves no doubt that she has plenty more history to make.