I first encountered Anders Osborne when John Brandt brought him and his band to the Supper Club after hearing them in New Orleans. He impressed greatly as a songwriter, having a kind of Lowell George-ness about him that was very appealing, and his then-wife Theresa Anderssen blew us away with her voice and violin.

But changes were in store for Osborne, and after a split with Anderssen and the band of several albums, his career moved in a new, more acoustic direction, to even more critical acclaim.

He produced two historic recordings of Chief Monk Boudreaux, and in 2007 released his own “Coming Down,” another fine album that combined his earlier electric style with his acoustic side. Katrina, unfortunately, held devastation for him along with the rest of New Orleans, and a long recovery began.

“American Patchwork,” his new release, is the result of that recovery. In his own words, “This is the healing, the patching back together, of a man scattered to the wind, broken and in pieces. The rebuilding of my home, a city under water and in ruins, friends lost, my community in disarray, all carefully patched and made whole again by the power of my America, and its endless source of inspiration to me.”

And an intense album it is, bringing in Stanton Moore of Galactic on drums, Robert Walter of the Greyboy Allstars on keyboards, and Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity on guitar, making for a wild ride through soul, jazz, funk and rock, all with a decidedly New Orleans flair.

Osborne’s writing skills haven’t lost a bit of polish, with interesting twists and turns in the music and real depth to the lyrics. “American Patchwork” is just that- a patchwork of American music as seen from the perspective of New Orleans, and it rocks.

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