|
On March 1st, Forty Below Records
will release Somebody
Save Me, the new studio album from soul blues singer,
Sugaray Rayford. On the album’s opening track, “The Revelator”, Rayford
forcefully sings, “I’m a freak of nature / I ain’t no honey bee /
I’m an unknown creature / The like you’ve never seen” At 6’5” and 300
pounds, this cigar chompin’ ex-Marine with a voice like a force of
nature holds court in any room he enters. Possessing a magnetic
personality, and an old school vocal style that echoes Muddy Waters,
Otis Redding and Teddy Pendergrass, Rayford is also a stellar dancer
with moves reminiscent of the Legendary James Brown.
Somebody
Save Me is an ambitious album that
slides gracefully between the new blues of Gary Clarke Jr. and
Fantastic Negrito, the rock & soul stylings of The War &
Treaty, and the vintage Daptone vibe of the late Charles Bradley
and Sharon Jones, bringing a fresh take to classic sounds.
The album was written and produced by Forty Below
Records founder Eric Corne. Best known for his work with blues legends
John Mayall and Walter Trout, Corne and Forty Below have also launched
the careers of several talented new artists, such as Sam Morrow, Jaime
Wyatt and KaiL Baxley. A number of mainstays from Corne productions
feature strongly here including guitarist Rick Holmstrom (Mavis
Staples), bassist Taras Prodaniuk (Dwight Yoakam), drummer Matt Tecu
(Jakob Dylan), keyboardist Sasha Smith (Sam Beam), guitarist Eamon
Ryland (The Happy Mondays) and the horn section from Late Night with Conan
O’Brien, Corne recorded the bulk of the record live
and the chemistry of the performances infuses the songs with a
spontaneity and raw emotion.
The ten songs on the album explore contrasting
themes of darkness and light. There is social commentary like on “Time
to get Movin’” “The mansions on the hillside / Look down on homeless
camps / While we’re caught in the crossfire / Lookin’ for the exit
ramps.” There are several love songs, including two gorgeous soul
ballads, “My Cards are on the Table” and “Somebody Save Me”, the Stax
inspired “You and I” and the more Motown leaning “Is it Just Me”, “She
could bring peace / To the Middle East / They'd be ready
to sign / Free the worst villain / From the tightest prison /
And have the warden waving goodbye.”
The album is full of inspired arrangements with
several unexpected twists and turns; like the John Barry (James Bond)
inspired bridge of “Angels and Devils”; the wobbly 1950’s inspired
keyboard solo and lush strings of the title tracks, recorded with The
Section Quartet (Ryan Adams, Father John Misty); and the gospel choir,
shape-shifting keyboards and dramatic horns of “The Revelator”
which seamlessly blends blues, soul and jazz with a hint of
reggae. But at the center of it all is Sugaray Rayford’s
commanding voice, tying it all together.
With his 8-piee crack band and personal charm,
Rayford’s live shows are quickly becoming re-known for their
high-energy and celebratory nature, with Rayford whipping the crowds
into a frenzy, like a Gospel Preacher, in the studio and in person,
Sugaray Rayford is developing a reputation as a force to be reckoned
with and an artist to watch in the coming years.
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment