| The incendiary soul/jazz/funk of The Royal Sessions is a hard-hitting and authentic modern take on Memphis’ original soul-stew sound – a mixture of original instrumental and vocal features that fuse R&B fundamentals with elements of modern hip-hop.
An all-star section of Stax sidemen – Ronnie Williams (The Bar-Kays, David Porter) on Hammond B-3 organ, drummer Willie Hall (The Bar-Kays, the Blues Brothers), and Charles “Skip” Pitts (Isaac Hayes) on wah-wah guitar – joins garage rock prodigy Scott Bomar (Impala) on bass to lay down deep funk grooves for a mighty horn section consisting of Memphis’ finest young players.
Recorded and mixed at Willie Mitchell’s (Hi Records, Al Green) Royal Studios, The Royal Sessions is steeped in the Memphis tradition. But it’s much more than an homage: it’s the sound of Memphis now– familiar, fresh, and unquestionably fantastic.
“Breathes new life into classic sounds... a Memphis tour-de-force.” —Meredith Ochs, NPR’s All Songs Considered
“A band steeped in tradition but with a thoroughly updated sound... a bubbling stew of Southern-fried soul.” —Steve Jones, USA Today
“There aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary & thesaurus combined to lavish on The Royal Sessions... unquestionably one of the best releases of 2004.” —Lou Friedman, Musictoday
“This is funky, greasy, gritty soul, rooted in the tradition, but timeless in its heat-seeking groove stealth... the perfect disc for that time when the party kicks into overdrive.” —Thom Jurek, All Music Guide |