Al Green
(Blue Note)
Lay It Down can’t compete with Call Me or The Belle Album or any of Al Green’s other seventies classics, but it does a fine job of reviving those indelible Hi Records moments. Produced by Green with two hip-hop luminaries, the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson and noted keyboardist / producer James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Common), and featuring string arrangements by the great Larry Gold and the same Dap-King horns that Amy Winehouse borrowed from Sharon Jones, Lay It Down puts to shame the legions of new soul pretenders.
Green still has one of the most seductive voices in pop history (of the three guest singers — Anthony Hamilton, John Legend, and Corinne Bailey Rae —only Rae isn’t outclassed by Green’s slippery sense of timing), and he’s back to focusing on pleasures of the flesh as well as of the spirit. “What more do you want from me?,” Green asks. He’s talking to God in that track, but the question applies to us listeners too, and it’s hard to expect more than what Lay It Down delivers.
Standout Tracks: “Take Your Time,” “Lay It Down” STEVE KLINGE
