Raphael Saadiq
Stone Rollin’
Columbia
Since his days as
bassist/vocalist
in the soul/R&B
group Tony!
Toni! Toné! in
the late ’80s and ’90s, Raphael Saadiq has
quietly worked as a producer and sideman
for Joss Stone, the Roots, D’Angelo, Stevie
Wonder, Whitney Houston, and others,
while also managing to release three solid
solo albums. The most recent,
The Way I
See It, gave him three Grammy nominations
and was selected as iTunes’ Album
of the Year in 2008. With
Stone Rollin’,
Saadiq proves ready to be the marquee
torchbearer for modern R&B and soul.
Like his previous efforts,
Stone Rollin’
has a heavy dose of Saadiq’s influences
spread throughout. “Go To Hell”
is a slamming song carried by a James
Jamerson-like bass line ushering the song
up to its cruising altitude. The vocal interplay
displayed here between Saadiq and a
female choir pays homage to Al Green and
his work with Donna and Sandra Rhodes
in “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”
With “Radio,” Saadiq goes into early
Euro-invasion territory—think Beatles’
“Twist and Shout”—with a hypnotic
guitar rundown groove. Other standouts
include the Dixieland boogie-woogie “Day
Dreams,” a track that’s driven by guest
steel guitarist Robert Randolph’s vocal-like
runs and Saadiq’s bouncing piano parts,
while “Good Man” is a slow-and-steady
song that reverberates attitude thanks to
the authoritative walking bass, as Saadiq
emotionally pushes his raspy vocals over
the song’s aorta. And the reprisal of “The
Answer” showcases some wah-riffing that
Wah Wah Watson and Skip Pitts would
get down with.
Overall,
Stone Rollin’ is a stone cold
album that lets loose the undeniable
talents that Raphael Saadiq possesses
as a musician—playing bass, guitar,
Mellotron, keys, and drums on most
tracks—and as a slick producer bringing
the raw power, groovin’ energy, and
Twist-approved vibes of 1962 into the
21st century.