AL KOOPER
Black Coffee
Favored Nations 2005
www.alkooper.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
The musician/producer/songwriter is back with his first TRUE solo album in 30 years.

Genre
Rock

The Good
Wow! There’s so much good to talk about here that I have to actually leave stuff out, I don’t want to get too wordy. I described this album in the Genre section as being a rock record, but it’s so much more. Kooper uses Black Coffee as a painter’s easel and he has a wide range of colors to play with. There are songs like “My Hands Are Tied” and “Just For A Thrill” that remind me of the vocalists of the 40’s and 50’s. There is a liberal use of a horn section on the former and the latter is a modern day big band song.

“Am I Wrong” and “Another Man’s Prize” oozes the blues from the dirty guitar lines to the very soulful vocal delivery. The one song that is a straight out rocker is “Imaginary Lover.” It’s a high-energy track from beginning to end. The 14 tracks are comprised of 10 originals, 2 cover songs (including Smokey Robinson’s “Get Ready.”) and 2 live performances with his regular backing group, The Funky Faculty. They appear on 8 of the 12 tracks.

The interesting note about them is that they are all teachers at the Berklee School of Music in Massachusetts. Three of the best tracks, though all of them are killer, include the live cut of “Green Onions” which is simply a great sounding performance recorded live in Norway. The other two songs are a smoking hot “Childish Love” and the sun splashed reggae rocker “Got My Ion Hue.”

The Bad
You’re kidding right? This is a music lover’s album, there’s nothing bad here!

The Verdict
Al Kooper has been involved with the making of songs and albums from Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who. The Beastie Boys, Jay-Z and Pharcyde have sampled his music. You can learn about his long career by visiting his website. All that is great of course, but this album shows that his stellar reputation is well earned. If you are a music lover, this is a CD that is a must have for your collection. It’s that good!

Did You Know?
Al Kooper was the producer for the first three Lynyrd Skynyrd albums. Kooper wrote his autobiography in 1977, titled Backstage Passes. It was updated and re-released in 1998 with the new title Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards. In 2001, Kooper permanently lost 2/3 of his vision, forcing him to leave his teaching position at The Berklee School of Music.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts