Robert Cray Expands Boundaries on His Exuberant New Release

Robert Cray | That’s What I Heard | (Nozzle/Thirty Tigers)

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

After 20-some studio releases starting back in the 80s, the challenge at this stage of veteran blues/soulman Robert Cray’s career is how to stay fresh. He hasn’t always been successful.

Many feel some of his albums duplicate the blueprint he forged with 1986’s breakout Strong Persuader. There is some truth there but to Cray’s credit, he has never let that stop him. As much as his overall attitude has only nibbled at the edges of the genre’s boundaries by adding horns, introducing elements of psychedelia and garage rocking, along with nailing a Memphis groove, his singing, guitar playing and overall performance level has always been impressive.  In producer/drummer Steve Jordan though he found a partner perfectly suited to highlighting his strengths and nailing a pocket that pushes the five-time Grammy winner out of his comfort zone. This is their sixth, and arguably finest, collaboration. 

Part of the reason for the success of That’s What I Heard, an album that comes six years after his previous studio set (the longest he has gone between releases), is that by choosing a handful of obscure soul, R&B and even funk covers, Cray is freed from having to compose a full batch of new songs. That takes the pressure off so four freshly written Cray tracks sit comfortably beside selections previously performed by Bobby “Blue” Bland (mining classic Bland yearning on “You’re the One”), Major Lance (the heartbroken ballad “You’ll Want Me Back”) and even a call and response gospel from the Sensational Nightingales (a sizzling Sam Cooke inspired “Burying Ground”). 

Cray sinks into deep R&B waters for his own Steely Dan styled “Can’t Make Me Change” and turns up the heat with a James Brown’s influenced “Hot.” He unearths some obscurities in a rocking and raw version of Don Gardner’s “My Baby Likes to Boogaloo” and Billy Sha-Rae’s “Do It.” The latter feels like a Sly and the Family Stone outtake featuring a stinging guitar solo that kicks everything to the next level. It’s arguably the toughest and most grinding performance Cray has committed to tape yet. 
Few want Cray to radically alter the sound he has crafted over four decades of making roots soul and blues music. With the powerful That’s What I Heard, he and Jordan still find ways to broaden, expand and magnify that template without breaking it. Established fans will rejoice in the sheer exuberance, professionalism and variety displayed here. But even those who may have dismissed Cray over the past decade should jump back in and enjoy the ride.