YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: MICK JAGGER AND RAPHAEL SAADIQ

I happened upon this by accident when I was looking to see if Mick Jagger's new group Super Heavy had any songs on iTunes. It's Mick's cover of Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love," backed by Raphael Saadiq and his band, at this year's Grammy Awards. It was one of the highlights of the show, in my opinion. I didn't realize that the performance was released on iTunes, so I figured I'd share the news.

By the way, Mick's group Super Heavy also features Indian composer and pop star A.R. Rahman (famous in the U.S. for scoring Slumdog Millionaire), Joss Stone, Damien Marley and Dave Stewart. I think they're using Marley's backing band on the album.   I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more of this. But it would have been cool if Mick and Raphael worked together after the Grammys.  Raphael's Stone Rollin' is a one of the best albums of the year.

P.S. I got the image from this blog.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: BEN HARPER, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, ROME, BOOKER T, BLIND BOYS

Longtime readers of No Expiration know that on Wednesday mornings at 9 am ET, I go on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick to talk about music. Sometimes I have a theme: tomorrow the theme is cool new music.  I know, that's a bit vague.

First off is the new Ben Harper album, Give 'Till It's Gone. I wrote about that the other day: I like it a lot, and I prefer it to his last album with Relentless7 (R7 is the backing band on this one, and they are credited with co-writing songs, but for some reason the album is being referred to as a "solo album").  Ringo Starr and Jackson Browne both guest on the album... Ben is slowly entering the classic rock echelon of artists, and rightfully so.

I am digging Raphael Saadiq's new album, Stone Rollin'.  He is such a talented musician, and I give him a lot of credit for doing an album like this.  There's almost no imaginable context where this could be a hit in 2011.  Shame on us: it deserves to be a hit. He kind of splits the difference between classic Motown and classic Chess here, with maybe a bit of Stax thrown in. He plays most of the instruments, and there are very few guest stars on the album, and I have a feeling that this is going to be a hard one to sell.  So do your part as a music fan and go BUY it.

Rome is a very cool project that I just wrote about: it features producer Danger Mouse and Italian film composer Danielle Luppi paying tribute to spaghetti western scores. Jack White (him again, uh oh) and Norah Jones are the featured singers on the album. It's a score to a film that hasn't been made yet.

Booker T Jones just released his second solo album in a row (I guess he doesn't want to make records with The MG's again?). On his last album, Potato Hole, he used The Drive-By Truckers plus Neil Young as his backing band, and the album was all instrumental (which is fitting, because his Hammond organ playing is so lyrical). This time, on The Road To Memphis, he uses The Roots and Questlove co-produces.  There are a couple of cool guest singers, including Sharon Jones, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and even Booker T himself.

Finally, Take The High Road, the new album by The Blind Boys Of Alabama. It has a bunch of country collaborations on it (including one with Willie Nelson) and the album was produced by Jamey Johnson. It's a good album!

Hey, if you're a reader and haven't gotten to hear me on the radio (and if you want to), why not get a free online subscription trial, at www.siriusxm.com/freetrial .

RAPHAEL SAADIQ - STONE ROLLIN'

Is Raphael Saadiq the most underrated guy in music these days?  Could be! He has the respect of music fans and musicians alike, and is relatively well known. He's never become a huge star. That's a shame, I really dug his last album, 2008's The Way I See It, and I also like his new one, Stone Rollin'.

The last one was a tribute to old school Motown, and this one sort of splits the difference between Motown and Chess. He still brings his distinctive voice, as a singer and songwriter, to the record. The title track is the standout here (as "100 Yard Dash" was on the last album) and sounds like Smokey producing Muddy.  I know that that's high praise, but I really dig the song.

The thing that strikes me about the album is how out of synch it is with the mainstream. There aren't really many nods to contemporary hip-hop or R&B on the album (other than Taura Stinson's guest vocals on "Good Man"). No high profile guest appearances: Robert Randolph plays on "Day Dreams" and Larry Graham makes a guest appearance on a hidden bonus track.

Saadiq knows where the mainstream is: his original group, Tony! Toni! Tone! had quite a few hits.  And he's worked with superstars like Whitney and Snoop. But he's not letting it sway his vision, I just wish there were more outlets to help make this record a commercial success.  That's why it's important for YOU to pick it up (I mean to say, BUY it) and tell other music lovers about it.

ON ITUNES: RAPHAEL SAADIQ LIVE EP

One of my favorite albums of 2008 was Raphael Saadiq 's very underrated The Way I See It. The album was like a tribute to early Motown, it was just great, and it didn't get the credit it deserved. Well, Raphael just released the Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) EP, you should check it out. In other Raphael news, he produced and co-wrote Mary J. Blige's song "I Can See In Colors" for the film Precious, which is supposed to be incredible.

HEAR LIVE TRACKS FROM RAPHAEL SAADIQ

An album from 2008 that I really liked was Raphael Saadiq's The Way I See It: it was kind of a tribute to Motown. It was a bummer that it didn't get more attention. You should check it out. And if you like it, check out some live versions of songs from the album at Daytrotter. 

BEST OF '08: RAPHAEL SAADIQ'S THE WAY I SEE IT

I've never really followed Raphael Saadiq's career too closely: I enjoyed some songs by his first band Tony! Tone! Toni! and then by Lucy Pearl. He's a talented guy: in recent years, other than doing his own solo stuff, he's also produced for D'Angelo and Joss Stone, among others. 

This album is pretty ballsy, in that it makes very few references to the present (other than a Jay-Z cameo).  It's like a love letter, or a thank you letter, to old school Motown. Which might not work if it were covers (there's been so many covers of Motown songs over the years) - he has written great new songs in the style of classic Motown. And if you think that's easy to do, then try it. I bet even Smokey Robinson probably heard "100 Yard Dash" and wishes he wrote that one. This is a great album, check it out. 

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: Q-TIP, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, JOHN LEGEND, KANYE

So this week's theme is going to be
hip-hop and R&B. First off is Q-Tip's new album, The Renaissance. I'm glad it came out at all - his last two albums were shelved by his record labels. He is a really ambitious artist, and doesn't pander, and that may be why he has never sold tons of records, but it's also why people still care about him after all these years. His last album came out in 1999! That's a long time in any genre, especially hip-hop. He has some cool guests on the album, including Norah Jones, D'Angelo (also on sabbatical) and Raphael Saadiq. It's a really ambitious album, and I really dig it.

Speaking of Raphael, I really dig his album, The Way I See It. It's more than a tribute to Motown, it's more like a thank you letter. I believe in saying "thank you," and I love old Motown, so I'm cool with this album. I'm sure some people will complain that it sounds too old-school Motownish. This is my favorite of the albums I'll be talking about this week.

I was really looking forward to John Legend's new album, Evolver. I like it, but don't love it. it sounds very contemporary R&B, and is a bit more Brian McKnight than Al Green or Marvin Gaye. That's just my take. I like "Everybody Knows," and also his Estelle collaboration, "No Other Love," which features the great reggae sax player Dean Fraser. I also like his Barack Obama tribute song, "If You're Out There." The great thing about John Legend: you don't have to enjoy every album equally, he's gonna be around for a long time.

I'm also talking about tracks from upcoming albums by Common and Kanye West. Common's has a very Afrika Bambaataa electro sound (the songs were actually produced by Pharell) and I like them. I'm not super into Kanye's new autotune heavy singing.