Stax
2008
Nudge It Up A Notch
About This Album
Nudge It Up a Notch is a collaborative effort by Booker T. & the MG's/ Blues Brothers guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper and former Rascals organist, songwriter, and frontman Felix Cavaliere. It was recorded at Jon Tiven's Hormone Studio in Nashville, and released on Stax. This trio co-wrote most all of the tunes together, then hired the great drummer Chester Thompson (who else do you know who could play drums with Frank Zappa, Genesis, and Frank Black?) and his pal, former Impressions bassist and musical director Sammy Louis "Shake" Anderson. Backing vocalists Mark Williams and N'nandi Bryant round out the band. David Z. mixed the sessions, which were co-produced by Cropper, Cavaliere, and Tiven.

So what's it sound like? It sounds like Felix Cavaliere fronting a completely killer Southern soul band! Their musical structures come from timeless sources of blues, R&B, gospel, and modern funky reggae. The opening cut, a steamy, gritty broken love song, simply choogles its way along a simple breakbeat-driven vamp in a minor key. Cavaliere's voice hasn't lost one iota of its range or its expressiveness since the Rascals disbanded 35 years ago. Here he offers a sultry, emotionally wrought call and response with his chorus.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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