If Benjamin Franklin were alive today he might add another of life’s certainties to his pairing of death and taxes – the certainty of a JJ Cale album sounding exactly like a JJ Cale album. Up until now he’d have been right; after all, why mess with a sound that you have patented to the degree that “Calesque” should be an accepted adjective? But at the ripe old age of 70 the boogameister has decided to branch out.
It’s jazzy! It’s brassy! It’s old timey! This is the big news about Roll On. Certainly there’s enough Calesque DNA remaining to ensure that no one could be left in doubt about the author of this work, but he’s added new colours to the established template. Opener Who Knew is a loping jazz ballad, followed by Former Me, in more of a piano-lounge vein. Cale taps into older traditions with Strange Days, featuring a banjo accompaniment, and Leaving In The Morning that has a highly evocative pedal steel part – though one of the things it evokes is Treat Your Children Well. Then there’s Eric Clapton, who contributes a nice bit of lead to Roll On: if only he did this kind of thing all the time…
