That's What I Heard

ロバート・クレイが、スティーヴ・ジョーダンをプロデューサーに迎えロバート・クレイ・バンド名義で新作をリリース。

新曲4曲に加え、カーティス・メイフィールド、ボビー・"ブルー"・ブランド、センセイショナル・ナイティンゲイルズなどのカヴァーも収録。また「Promises You Can't Keep」には、元ジャーニーのスティーヴ・ペリーが参加している。

Robert Cray was hailed as the man who saved the blues from commercial extinction when his album Strong Persuader became a breakout hit in 1986, and blues fans are still the bedrock of his following. But anyone who has been paying attention can tell you that vintage soul and R&B have always had more to do with his best music than standard-issue 12-bar blues. Crays albums with drummer/producer Steve Jordan -- 1999s Take Your Shoes Off, 2014s In My Soul, and 2017s Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm -- have put his Southern soul influences up front, and that doesnt change in his fourth project with Jordan, 2020s Thats What I Heard. Something else that doesnt change is how comfortable Cray sounds with this material, and how well his unfussy but passionate vocal style, narrative lyrical stance, and exciting but never overdone guitar features blend with the soul grooves generated by Crays band and the guests brought in for the occasion. (Jordan himself plays drums or percussion on most of the tracks.) Youre the One is a smooth R&B number with a strong Sam Cooke vibe, This Man is powered by a groove thats lean but full of funk, Hot is an uptempo workout that pulls out the stops, Promises You Cant Keep is a slow and sorrowful testimony to a romance on the rocks, and Burying Ground is an effective detour into gospel. Cray wrote five of this albums songs, and its telling that they blend so seamlessly with the vintage soul and R&B tunes that share space in the set, and though he stretches out more on guitar than the average soul man, he has both the chops and the taste to make that work for him. Cray generally isnt one to deal in politics, but the metaphor of This Man is clear and well-chosen. At a time when deep Southern soul isnt doing a whole lot better than the blues in the marketplace, Robert Cray is an effective cheerleader for both forms, and Thats What I Heard shows that after 40 years of record-making, hes in no way tired or short on ideas and inspiration. ~ Mark Deming