ROBBY KRIEGER: Robby Krieger And The Soul Savages (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

At 78, Robby Krieger hasn't had anything to prove for a long time. His past as a rock legend is behind him, and he hasn't been making rock music for a long time. After the excellent 'The Ritual Begins At Sundown', released in 2020, it's with a new instrumental jazz album that the former Doors guitarist returns at the start of this year, accompanied by a new group, The Soul Savages, The band, created for the occasion, features a host of Grammy-nominated stars including bassist Kevin Brandon (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson), keyboardist Ed Roth (Ringo Starr, Annie Lennox) and drummer Franklin Vanderbilt (Chaka Khan, Stanley Clarke). All these musicians came together for jam sessions in Krieger's studio and helped write the tracks. And perhaps that's the main problem with 'Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages'.

Of course, a good musician is not always synonymous with a good composer, but in this case, the compositions are less lacking in quality than in depth. And even if the groove is present on most of the tracks, most of them convey a diffuse boredom, mainly due to a lack of musical ambition and sometimes to obvious melodic poverty ('Contrary Motion', 'Bouncy Betty', 'Blue Brandino').

With the exception of the excellent 'Shark Skin Suit' and 'Never Say Never', the cohesion between the musicians never really shines through, each playing his part with impeccable technique but too little conviction. In trying to do justice to the talent of each member of the band, Robby Krieger himself struggles to stand out from the crowd and his inimitable playing fails to get certain tracks off the ground, confining themselves to ambient soft jazz with no surprises and no real musical direction ('Samosas & Kingfishers', 'A Day in L.A., 'Killzoni'), as evidenced by the abuse of the fade out to end the tracks.

"Robby Krieger & The Soul Savages' is therefore a relative disappointment, balanced only by the talent of the musicians. Jazz fans will undoubtedly find something to their liking in a bass line or a groovy drum pattern. But on the whole, the album never really takes off and all too often forgets the listener, excluding them from a play that only seems to amuse its creators. - Official website

ROBBY KRIEGER

ROBBY KRIEGER AND THE SOUL SAVAGES

MASCOT LABEL GROUP

ROCK