Rad. - East Babe (2007)

rad. managed to carve out her very own niche as a singer-songwriter and furious soloist over the last decade or so. Though sporadic album releases mostly kept rad. under the radar of the mainstream, her genuine signature style and uncompromising originality brought on attention from musical connoisseurs around the world. And now rad. returns with a vengeance: EAST BABE is a powerful statement and a homage to her home area, the East Bay, filled with airtight, syncopated funk and soulful interludes. After months at Paisley Park in Minneapolis and touring with Prince for the better part of a year, the petite keyboardist took a rain check from Prince's Musicology tour in 2004 to focus on her newborn daughter and her own album production, EAST BABE. As a child of the 70's, rad. remains true to the art of the ALBUM. Not as a succession of single tracks, but a continuous musical experience that allows the listeners a look into the artistic state of mind of the musician(s), a snapshot of their disposition. Identifying the roots of today's dance music and weaving them into her own trunk of funk is something that rad. does well. And in this context rad. digs deeper, goes for essence - minimalist at times, orchestral when needed. Knowing that it's the currents that move the vast, she navigates safely through the treacherous waters of the sea of music out there. EAST BABE is a handmade record. No loops were used and no samples. All musicians contributed their part in live recordings. rad. and husband/producer Michael Kirsch have been a team for well over a decade. Back in the 1980's Michael was a student of sound engineer Fred Catero who along with David Rubinson recorded the early Tower of Power and Headhunters albums in the Bay Area. The couple shares a mutual love for the analog sound and conventional 70's style album production as an art form. No doubt they have a drummer fetish, and this is for all of us to enjoy. On this ride, they enlisted the talent of drummer extraordinaire John Blackwell, a fellow Prince alumni and East Bay resident. He deals a good dose of pyrotechnical exchanges, quoting and innovating in the fields of Funk and Soul. John particularly shines on heavy Funk tunes like the Bush-critical "That Ain't No Way". Also on the bus is rad.'s usual Bay Area crew of drummer David Garibaldi, guitarist Ray Obiedo and bassist Marc van Wageningen. When not on tour with his band Tower of Power, David Garibaldi is always enthusiastic with the musical challenges rad. serves up. He skillfully blends Afro-Cuban Rhythms with his own funk sensibilities. The drummers are tastefully complimented by percussionist Michael Spiro, who lent his talents to artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Latin legends like Cachao or Airto. Bassist Marc van Wageningen, a definite talent deserving wider recognition, lays his driving and poetic bass. Herbie Hancock veteran Ray Obiedo adds special flavor as he has on rad's previous albums. Adding to the explosive Funk numbers, French Bistro flavored Cha cha "Baby Girl" and the powerful soul ballad "Before We Say Goodbye", featuring Saxophonist Charles McNeal, make EAST BABE a versatile reflection of the East Bay's musical melting pot. Guest appearances by another Prince (and rad.) alumni, Norbert Stachel, on Soprano saxophone and Nigerian master drummer Sikiru Adepoju, who the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart refers to as the Mozart of the Talking Drum, round off the album.