Blackbirds, whose release will coincide with Bettye LaVette's induction into the Blues Music Hall of Fame, represents another step in the 5x Grammy-nominated vocalist's artistic evolution. Working again with Things Have Changed producer Steve Jordan, who also plays drums, and a group of celebrated musicians (Smokey Hormel on guitar, Monty Croft on vibes, bassist Tom Barney and veteran keyboardist Leon Pendarvis), LaVette delivers impassioned readings of songs associated with African American female vocalists of the 1950s.

Nina Simone's "I Hold No Grudge," which was suggested for LaVette by the original writer, Angelo Badalamenti, captures the defiance we associate with Simone while adding warmth and hopefulness. "Save Your Love for Me," popularized by Nancy Wilson, reflects LaVette's development as a vocal stylist who, through the warmth and precision with which she caresses each lyric, creates the kind of intimate mood once associated with smoky nightclubs and after-hours spots. Meanwhile, "Strange Fruit," first performed by Billie Holiday, is a harrowing critique of American racism that still says much about the country today. "I didn't want to do it in any way that had been done before," LaVette says of "Strange Fruit" – an explanation that speaks to her process for the album as a whole – "but I wanted it to be dramatic." The ideal, she adds, is for "your interpretation to be as interesting as that original one."

To that end, LaVette chose songs that she could personalize into reflections of her own experience. Paul McCartney's "Blackbird," while anomalous in that it isn't connected with a particular female vocalist, nonetheless fits into the project's scope because it speaks for the struggles faced by these women – LaVette's musical forebears – as they worked to build and maintain their careers. "All my life," LaVette sings, shifting McCartney's original lyrics into the first person, "I have waited for this moment to arrive." In curating the songs for Blackbirds, LaVette has established a dialogue with the great women who preceded her while reaffirming herself as a vital, living presence.