(Rounder)

www.rounder.com

The low-lit vocals, modest melodies and humble arrangements suggest a performer with tightly-reined ambitions, a singer/songwriter who's been content to veer only marginally from the same template over the course of a 35-year career.  In truth, J.J. Cale is more accomplished than even he lets on, boasting a proficient prowess as not only a singer/songwriter, but also as a multi-talented instrumentalist, producer and engineer.  Add the occasion standard - "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" for pal Eric Clapton, "Call Me the Breeze" as covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and songs such as "Cajun Moon," "Travelin' Light" and others that were farmed out to the likes of Santana, the Allman Brothers, the Band and Johnny Cash - and the image of an icon begins to take focus.

Even so, Cale's rarely mentioned in the same breath as those other artists who started out in the same era.  Blame his unassuming style, his easy, unhurried approach or the fact that neither his singing nor his songs ever revealed much of the inner man.  Cale's earned a respectable living no doubt, but superstardom never seemed a part of his plan.  Consider the fact that it took him over thirty years to earn his first Grammy, which came courtesy of The Road to Escondido, his 2006 collaboration with Clapton.

Roll On, Cale's latest effort - his sixteenth so far - will likely do little to alter that humble impression, although it does find Cale slightly more assertive when it comes to modifying his signature stance.  While songs such as "Who Knew," "Cherry Street" and "Down to Memphis" maintain his basic blues template - a sound that's earnest and yet unhurried -- others alter the palette.   Cale's vamp-like delivery on "Former Me," the jaunty banjo plucking of the otherwise foreboding "Strange Days," the low-key love song "Fonda-Lina," and the warm and easy embrace of "Old Friend" offer a personable perspective that diverges ever so slightly from his usual motif.   Even though the majority of this set would fit quite comfortably on any his early albums, it's not the consistency that's key.  To the contrary, Roll On paints a picture of an artist who has little left to prove, an erstwhile troubadour settled comfortably in his groove.

Standout tracks: "Old Friend," "Strange Days," "Fonda-Lina" LEE ZIMMERMAN