Robert Cray Band This Time On Vinyl LP

Robert Cray’s This Time is his first studio release on his own imprint Nozzle Records and it arrives at a vital juncture in the musician’s career, marked by creative renewal and a key reunion with an old performing partner.

The five-time Grammy Award winner summarized 35 years of mastery on the debut Nozzle release Live From Across the Pond (2006), an electrifying two-CD concert set drawn from a series of shows (opening for Eric Clapton) at London’s Royal Albert Hall. When the time came to follow up that widely praised collection with a studio recording, Cray viewed it as an opportunity to move his sound in other directions.

He found exactly what he was looking for by turning to one of his oldest friends and colleagues: bassist Richard Cousins, whose tenure with the Robert Cray Band began with its barnstorming regional origins in Eugene, Oregon, in 1974 and extended through 1991, encompassing such early high-water marks as Strong Persuader (1986) and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1988), both winners of the best contemporary blues performance Grammy.

As ever with Robert Cray’s undefinable sound, the music on This Time remains stubbornly beyond category. He has been internationally admired as a stylist whose innovations have brought new life to the blues, and such punchy outings as “Chicken in the Kitchen” and “That’s What Keeps Me Rockin’” should satisfy the most demanding blues fans. But the new album’s barrier-busting material, whether it’s the soulful “Love 2009” or the profound balladry of “This Time” and “Forever Goodbye” demonstrate once again that attempting to slot Cray in a single genre is an exercise in futility.

Robert Cray This Time Track Listing

1.  Chicken in the Kitchen
2.  I Can't Fail
3.  Love 2009
4.  That's What Keeps Me Rockin'
5.  This Time
6.  To Be True
7.  Forever Goodbye
8.  Trouble & Pain
9.  Truce