That’s What I Heard is the 20th studio long player by Robert Cray, the latest in one of contemporary blues’ strongest catalogs, and once again, Cray left production up to drummer Steve Jordan. That seems to be a slam-dunk call when you look at the job Jordan did on albums like Take Your Shoes Off , In My Soul and my favorite late-period Cray, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm.
As before, Jordan lets Cray be Cray and everything his fans love about him, whether it’s that recognizable soul croon, those vicious guitar licks or an underrated rhythm guitar attack mated to songs that were crafted with care. Jordan’s touches are found on the margins, whether it’s nonintrusive horn charts or placing the organ just so in the mix, making it easy to listen to this album for what Cray’s music does to your soul, not for what Jordan does to Cray’s music.
Like Hi Rhythm, That’s What I Heard has a good deal of covers, and there are only five Cray originals in this batch of twelve songs. But all of these tunes are likely to be “new to you” as the covers are obscure gems. The Robert Cray Band returns after the Hi Rhythm guys subbed for them on the last album: original Cray Band bassist Richard Cousins, along with Dover Weinberg (keyboards) and Terence F. Clark (drums), with Jordan adding drums and percussion in spots.
The blues stomper “Anything You Want” or the soul ballads “Promises You Can Keep” and “To Be With You” — a song Cray penned for his just-passed friend Tony Joe White — could have been put smack in the middle of Strong Persuader or Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark without disturbing those signature albums’ vibes, but as Cray is apt to remind you, blues is just one ingredient in his stew. Gospel — not gospel-influenced, but real, little-church-in-backwoods-Alabama gospel — is how “Burying Ground” is played. Here, his guitar is nowhere to be heard, but he is testifying convincingly just with his still-stirring voice.
“You’re the One” was the B-side to Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Turn On Your Love Light” hit single, and Cray stays pretty faithful to the 1961 original, though Clark’s brushes and Cray’s rhythm guitar give the song a subtle kick. Echoes of classic Motown adorn “You’ll Want Me Back,” one of many 60s songs Curtis Mayfield wrote Major Lance.
A prowling backbeat paces the dark funky soul of “This Man,” a veiled broadside at Donald Trump and essentially a jam that sets the stage for Cray’s guitar goodness. On another Cray original, a swinging rock and roll rhythm propels the irresistible “Hot.” “Can’t Make Me Change” has a cool, jazzy strut about it, but Cray never lets go of the blues at the core of the song and his richly satisfying guitar solo assures that it’s going to stay that way.
The very title of Don Gardner’s “My Baby Likes to Boogaloo” makes no bones about Cray’s love for 60’s Latin RnB, but the Cuban percussion is traded in for Cray’s dirty fuzz guitar lines. The early 70’s Detroit club scene receives a nod with Billy Sha-Rae’s “Do It.” It fades in as a flat-out foot-stomping, kick drum-driven jam, Cray and his band letting their hair down on a tune that doesn’t need a formal song structure because it’s fueled by passion and some extra guitar provided by Ray Parker, Jr.
After nearly 40 years, Robert Cray remains as viable as ever. In a world turned upside down, his music continues to serve as comfort food for the soul.
That’s What I Heard is set to drop on February 28, 2020 from (Nozzle Records/Thirty Tigers.
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