" data-original-title="" title="">Billie Holiday's groundbreaking and gruesome ode to lynching, "Strange Fruit." Keller's allusive voice enriches both, as it does on every track save "Marjorie" and "Water," which were written for short films by Kalimah Abioto that will become available with the download of the album. Track 3, "Woman's Work," introduced by Keller and bassist Bill Athens, uses an R&B groove to unfold the story of the hard-working women of Maxville, while the generally placid "Marjorie" recounts the vision of the wife of a Maxville logger who dreams of a glamorous life in the city as a musician, abetted by Jasnam Daya Singh's lyrical piano and Mieke Bruggeman's sinuous baritone sax.

"Stacked Deck," another bar-lit blues, asks how anyone can win at cards or in life when the deck is clearly stacked against them, while "Water," a second theme written for film, veers from playful to ominous as its deep chordal phrases portend the ruinous Vanport Flood of 1948. The powerful finale, "From Maxville to Vanport," is an homage to the endurance of people who abandoned a peaceful and familiar life for an uncertain future: "Oregon didn't want black folks to stay / But we planted roots here anyway"—roots that held fast and flourished in the face of every obstacle to win the day. For what it is, a thematic pilgrimage of sorts, From Maxville to Vanport is quite well done on every level, from composition to lyrics to letter-perfect performances by Keller and the Portland JCE. Whether that strikes an auspicious note with listeners rests in the ear of the beholder.