CD Review: Robert Cray "Time Will Tell" (Sanctuary)

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 16:27:36 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews
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Robert Cray "Time Will Tell" (Sanctuary)
Astute critics (that is, those who don't dismiss Cray out-of-hand for his
cross-genre forays) have pointed out that Cray is more fully in tune with
late-60s and early-70s soul music than traditional blues. Though his guitar
leads borrow from the book of B.B., his songs, singing and arrangements look
more to the optimistic and rhythmic edge of Atlantic and Stax. His first
album for Sanctuary shows off his combined blues and soul to fine effect.
In addition to taking on a co-producer (keyboardist, Jim Pugh), Cray has
expanded both his lyrical and musical range. "Survivor" surveys the world's
political turmoil, blending funky second-line drumming and low-end piano
runs with Cray's urban blues. The Family Stone's Cynthia Robinson and Jerry
Martini's add sly trumpet work on "Your Pal," and "Up in the Sky" features
both an electric sitar (forever bringing to mind B.J. Thomas' "Hooked on a
Feeling") and the fullness of the Turtle Island String Quartet. It's an
engaging pop turn that's sure to make the blues purists howl.
The album does have some more calculated moments, but they're balanced by
soulful exchanges like Cray's chording and Pugh's organ on "Spare Some
Love?" It's exactly when Cray bends soul into a blue groove (something he
does here more often than not) that he brings invention to his music -
invention that reinvigorates his blues and soul sources.
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