JJ Cale - Roll On album flac

How the world changes … I can still feel the day J.J. Cale first floated into my house, then captured my heart with his Tulsa Sound, where his inventive restrained style of conversational speaking and singing in the same breath, found a warm spot in the center of my musical soul. Twanging his way though this album, where he still manages to bury his vocals into the mix, he’s never sounded better, especially on a haunting song such as “Old Friend”, though with due consideration, Cale, during his middle years, like Mr. Dylan, doled out only a few great songs per album, keeping things riding low in his back pocket for another time and another place, though here, as on his collaboration with Eric Clapton Road To Escondido, Cale holds nothing back, and delivers with the same tenor and voice he used so many years ago, making it nearly impossible to discern his later from his earlier material.Roll On is a superlative and delicate achievement, yet through his hands, most of the songs have a jazz laced blues feel to them, where J.J. plays most of the instrumentation himself, showering listeners with piano picking [of sorts] that is effortless and fluid, finishing his career with material that is driving, laid back and as warm and smooth as butter melting on corn muffins. In all honesty, there’s little you can say about the music of J.J. Cale, he’s like your favorite bottle of wine, you hand reaches for it almost instinctively, and you know what you’re going to get, and where it’s going to take you each time you pop the cork.Cale was never in a band, he had all the advantages of being famous, yet could still get breakfast at IHOP without anyone knowing who he was, and yet, within that construct, there are few musicians who didn’t find a path to J.J.’s front door over the years. To say that he was a private person would be an understatement, yet with a guitar in his hand he was able to with but a dozen casual notes, say more than most people could achieve in an entire song. Roll On is a delightful collection, able to stand toe to toe with his classic Naturally, where he’s still the same man in the same shoes, doing what he’s been doing since he was a young man, after all, there’s no need to go changing what works, making music on his own terms, and never overstaying his welcome.Review by Jenell Kesler