I picked up the new Joss Stone the other day largely because of Saadiq, and I am really enjoying it. Joss is a fine singer, even though I think she tries a bit too hard to be "soulful" sometimes. Saadiq is simply killer. IMO, he is the originator of Neo-Soul bass. As great as Pino is, remember that Tony Toni Tone came around almost ten years before D'Angelo's
Voodoo, and Raphael produced a fair amount of that CD too. In fact, around 2002, Pino mentioned how he realized that he and Saadiq had a similar rythmic sense, and worked well together.
Back to the CD. Raphael plays great in the pocket grooves throughout. He is understated and mixed pretty low, but he is really affective. In a way, what he does is the opposite of the funk era, in your face bass that so many of us here at TB love, however, the discipline to the groove that he shows is a great lesson for all of us. my personal favorite on this CD is "Headturner" where Saadiq is deep in the pocket, but he unleashes Verdine White style, upper register vibrato licks that really accent his groove. Check it out if you can!
After 3 tries, I just put it in the bottom of the pile.
