The second full-length from sacred steel genius Robert Randolph & the Family Band delivers, from the studio, the same promise, grit, grease, and sweat that Live at the Wetlands did. Randolph pulls out the stops in the studio, using his own band, without any of the hotshot guest stars who he's appeared with in the last two years. Unclassified features a road-tested, studio-savvy band using all of its collected gifts with producer Jim Scott to make a record that is as much about soul, funk, hard rock, folk, and jam band intensity as it is about the gospel music that first inspired the unit.
Robert Randolph, the virtuoso pedal steel guitarist whose distinctive mix of rock, funk and rhythm & blues has built a fervent, international audience releases his highly anticipated new studio album, Lickety Split, on Blue Note Records. His first studio album since 2010 s We Walk This Road, Lickety Split is produced by Randolph and showcases his Family Band, the powerhouse ensemble that has backed him throughout his career. The Family Band is comprised of actual family members Marcus Randolph, Danyel Morgan, Lenesha Randolph together with guitarist Brett Haas. This album features special guest appearances from Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana and signifies a return to the joyful, high energy music that has become Randolph's trademark. The album was engineered by the legendary Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) and mixed by Jim Scott (Tedeschi,Trucks).
There have recently been a number of legitimate releases of radio shows, most of which have been available only as bootlegs. Some of these have been been poor audience recordings not intended for radio and so I bought this set with some trepidation. I was pleased to find that the sets seem to be genuine radio shows. The first (Wollman Ice Rink 1968) was quite hissy on bootleg recordings and the fourth (Vancouver 1975) criticised for very poor sound and fractured recordings. These recordings on the Sandoz label are curiously labelled as 'mastered at Studio J' and the sound quality is here very good.