REVIEW : Robert Cray keeps blues flame alive
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — Robert Cray sounds good in an intimate blues club, at a riverside festival and even inside a formal performance hall.
Over the years, no matter where he’s playing, he only gets better. The blues kind of grows on you, and so does Cray. His soulful style radiates through his fingertips with every touch of his Fender Stratocaster.
Now 55, Cray has been playing professionally for 34 years. A guitar master and dynamic vocalist, he is a bridge between the older generation of bluesmen and the future of the genre.
A great connection with his fellow band members — Kevin Hayes on drums, Jim Pugh on keyboards and Karl Sevareid on bass guitar — made for a solid, tight sound during the entire 90-minute show Thursday night at the Walton Arts Center.
They could have made it better two ways: by playing louder and longer. Most of the night’s songs were from Cray’s 17 th album and first live recording, Live From Across the Pond. The two-disc set was recorded in 2006 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, when he opened for Eric Clapton, and released that same year. As his second song, he played “Smoking Gun,” one of his bestknown songs, from his 1986 album, Strong Persuader, which won him one of five Grammys in the 1980 s and 1990 s.
With “Smoking Gun” and others, he moved easily from his signature falsetto to a husky baritone. His voice is strong and soft. And he makes his guitar sing.
Cray often closed his eyes while playing guitar solos, and the music seemed to come right through his facial expressions.
“The Things You Do To Me” was a super slow tune with a mystical sound, but he threw in a few hard, fast notes. He raised an eyebrow as he started the first high note of a guitar line. This song was mesmerizing as band members all got gradually quieter. Then, Cray whipped his guitar to signal a loud end.
Cray seemed so comfortable on stage and was personable, talking to the crowd. He thanked them often for their vigorous enthusiasm.
For one really good song, “12 Year Old Boy,” the band slowed the beat way down. During one part, Cray sang a line and answered with guitar licks, then repeated that several times. Later, he made his guitar sound like it was having a conversation.
“Poor Johnny” showed off Cray’s storytelling skills, and the slow tune was dark and brooding. For a very cool effect, he made his guitar echo, then played more notes so they overlapped.
“The One in the Middle” was a fun song that displayed Pugh’s skills on piano and Hammond organ. He played a solo in the middle of the song, as the crowd clapped along and Cray watched intently from the edge of the stage. Then the rest of the band joined him again, and Cray played an interesting syncopated sound. And they got really loud, which the crowd loved.
They mellowed out with “Twenty,” a poignant song, with a sometimes desolate sound, about a soldier. The line “got to fight the rich man’s war” elicited yells from the crowd. Cray’s vocals and guitar playing were particularly soulful and emotional.
From that, he went straight into “I’m Walkin’,” a fun, funky tune that got loud and rocking at the end.
For the two-song encore, they offered the sweet “Time Makes Two” and the fun, sassy “Sitting on Top of the World,” a folkblues song from the 1930 s.
The wonderful thing about hearing Cray live is the way he improvises variations on the melody. Those watching Cray play have an idea of where he’s going but are never certain of how he’s going to get there. That’s the in-the-moment magic of this bluesman and his guitar.
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