Originally born Charles Ray Wiggins in May 1966, by the age of six a young Raphael had impressively already mastered guitar, drums and bass. While newcomer Taura Stinson injects a contemporary hip hop hook into the Seventies-flavoured soap opera-style soul balladry of ‘Good Man’. Meanwhile, guest musicians include renowned steel guitarist Robert Randolph (on the Dixieland rag-flavoured ‘Day Dreams’) plus former Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn and Swedish/Japanese indie songstress Yukimi Nagano (of the band Little Dragon), who both contribute to the psychedelic funk-tinged ‘Just Don’t’. Indeed, initially conceived on the road and recorded at the Grammy-winning Saadiq’s own studio complex (The Blakeslee Recording Company) in Los Angeles, ‘Stone Rollin’’ finds self-styled “throwback-artist-with-a-futuristic-twist” Raphael playing bass, mellotron, keys, guitar, percussion and even drums on most of its tracks - with highlights including the grittily-rocking single ‘Radio’ pounding, Sly Stone-influenced ‘Heart Attack’ and urgently spiritual, choir-assisted-and-majestically-orchestrated ‘Go To Hell’. Which - in addition to celebrating the classic sounds of Sixties and Seventies soul with a new twist - this time also finds Oakland, California-born and-raised Saadiq digging deeper to additionally take inspiration from the rawer’n’blusier guitar-driven grooves of such Fifties black Rock & Roll pioneers as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Acknowleged worldwide as today’s standard-bearer for old skool R&B, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/producer Raphael Saadiq this month delivers his eagerly-anticipated fourth solo studio album ‘Stone Rollin’’.
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