Sam Cooke - The Rhythm And The Blues (1995)

Sam Cooke is often forgotten during any discussion of the great R & B masters. Whether this is due to his late '50s break from the gospel tradition that nurtured him, and the resulting string of chart-topping pop hits that was to follow his entry into the secular music world, or due to the fact that Cooke worked outside of the soul factories of the era – R & B labels like Stax, Hi-Lo and Atlantic that have their own passionate defenders – who can say. Either way, Cooke's presence during the late '50s and early '60s was immense, his recorded output magnificent...and well deserving of another look.

The Rhythm And The Blues is that long-awaited second look at Cooke's vocal abilities. As pointed out in Cliff White's extensive and appreciated liner notes, Cooke was a prolific singles songwriter, creating some of the most enduring moments that pop music has to offer. On album, however, which the conventional wisdom of the time declared must be aimed towards an adult audience, Cooke often forsook his own songwriting skills in favor of jazz and blues classics. It is from this background that The Rhythm And The Blues has been created.

The Rhythm And The Blues is primarily drawn from three early '60s Cooke albums: My Kind Of Blues, the classic Mr. Soul and Night Beat. Many of the cuts culled from these three discs showcase the kind of big band arrangement given R & B material in that day and time, with lush strings and sensual horns backing Cooke's already formidable vocals. There's little of anything really new and surprising to be found here for the long-time Cooke fan, although The Rhythm And The Blues stands well on its own as an introduction to the singer's non-pop charting material. Cooke's wonderful vocal interpretation of classic gems like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" or "Cry Me A River" – his voice swollen with passion, silky with soul – easily stand with the masters of the genre, serving to firmly place Sam Cooke's name alongside the great performers of R & B, where it belongs. (RCA Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Rhythm And The Blues from Amazon.com)

Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - What About That: New Year's Eve Live In Bloomington (2006)

Robert Bradley is a vastly underrated, incredibly natural soul singer...by that I mean that he's not a slick, overproduced, studio-augmented and label marketed talent. No, Bradley draws from a musical wellspring that includes gospel, blues and classic '60s soul with no little rock & roll influence. He's a natural in the way that Ted Hawkins was a natural – his imperfect voice cracks, drifts and drops out of sync with the band. Bradley's voice also is capable of great swoons of passion and arcs of fiery emotion, imbuing every song with an enormous amount of heart.

Bradley's myth, in brief, begins in Detroit slightly more than a decade ago. The blind singer was kicking around the Motor City, singing in clubs and coffee houses and in the street, mostly because his muse just needed the outlet, not because it was going to get him discovered and make him famous. He was discovered, however, by the Nehra brothers, Michael and Andrew, local musicians who asked Bradley to be the vocalist for their new band. This original incarnation of Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise recorded two solid albums in the blues-rock jam band vein, but that direction never really comfortably fit Bradley. His band began to evolve with 2002's excellent New Ground and by the time of 2003's Still Lovin' You, Bradley had put together an entirely new group to pursue a new sound.

What About That: New Year's Eve Live In Bloomington captures Bradley onstage on December 31, 2005 showcasing a more soulful sound with a dynamic live performance. The two-CD set features songs from across Bradley's ten year, four-album catalog, his raucous early material re-imagined as rock-influenced R&B rather than bluesy rave-ups -- a small but important distinction -- his backing band supporting rather than overwhelming Bradley's potent vocals. The new(ish) band, led by guitarist Matt Ruffino, plays with much greater subtlety than the original Blackwater Surprise, the sparse arrangements afforded the songs propped up by superior musicianship and sporadic use of background singers. Ruffino is a mighty fine guitarist, not flashy, but rather elegant and graceful with his fluid leads and a style that is equal parts Magic Sam and Stanley Jordan. The rest of the band gets hotter as the night goes on, and by the time they come back from intermission to greet the new year, the joint is figuratively on fire.

As if a two-disc set featuring Bradley's entire new year's eve performance wasn't enough, KUFALA Recordings throws a little bonus on the end of disc two with a handful of soundcheck recordings. Bradley's a cappella reading of the gospel classic "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" showcases the man's vocal abilities at their best, giving a more proper reading of his talents than, perhaps, anything that he had previously recorded. Stop watching American Idol, turn off the television and check out What About That if you want to hear what a real singer sounds like...one day you'll thank me. (Kufala Recordings)

(Click on the CD cover to buy What About That from Amazon.com)