STEVE CROPPER & FELIX CAVALIERE > Nudge It Up a Notch

Just when you think Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere’s Nudge It Up a Notch might be getting a little too slick, Cropper pops up with a beautifully judged bit of blues guitar playing that’s anything but genteel. For that matter, Cavaliere-the voice of white-soul pioneers the Rascals on a slew of great singles and albums-keeps it down-home even as he sounds as airy, optimistic and powerful as he did back in 1970.Label: Stax
[Rating: 4 stars]

Just when you think Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere’s Nudge It Up a Notch might be getting a little too slick, Cropper pops up with a beautifully judged bit of blues guitar playing that’s anything but genteel. For that matter, Cavaliere-the voice of white-soul pioneers the Rascals on a slew of great singles and albums-keeps it down-home even as he sounds as airy, optimistic and powerful as he did back in 1970. It’s a perfect pairing, and a completely successful modernization of soul music. With co-producer Jon Tiven bringing on board drummer Chester Thompson and bassist Shake Anderson, Nudge It Up features first-rate material. “If It Wasn’t for Loving You” works a classic two-chord structure for all it’s worth, while “Without You” recalls a lush, burnished Bobby Womack recording. Like the veterans they are, Cropper and Cavaliere observe today’s political situation on “Impossible,” which features one of Cropper’s brilliant, structural guitar solos. “Full Moon Tonight” is an irresistible instrumental full of blues feeling. Other subjects include impossible-to-please women and days where nothing goes right. Nudge It Up artfully combines the styles of Cavaliere’s work on Atlantic Records with Cropper’s on Stax, with entertaining, accomplished results all around.