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Album Reviews

On his first outing in two years, Ivan Neville takes his funky keyboard road show to Los Angeles, calls in a mess of friends, and has a party. Scrape was written by Neville with producer and multi-instrumentalist Gary Gold. Featuring 14 tracks of tight, grooved-out, funk and roll, the album is the best thing he's recorded since If My Ancestors Could See Me Now, his solo debut from 1988. Hard soul, funky, L.A. studio gloss, and dynamite performances from an inspired group of players who include Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Sweet Pea Atkinson, Harry Bowens, Michael Brecker, Waddy Wachtel, George Duke, Darryl Jones, Aaron Neville, Robben Ford, and a dozen others. Standout tracks include the hip hop reggae and soul groove of "Ghetto Street," with its riff purposefully lifted from Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me," the Stax shuffle of "A Lil' Humility," the bluesy New Orleans second line rhythm, the shimmering, funky blues of "Dance For Free," and the swampy, greasy funk of the title track, which is a tribute to the Meters. This is a gloriously wrought album, and an inspired performance, by one of America's grittiest and essential soul men. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide