No matter what Raphael Saadiq does, he always has that ability to move you. Initially, I was not gravitating towards the 60s retro style he’s embracing right now. But then I had to eat my words after hearing the single “Good Man” a couple of weeks ago. He has managed to bring back an era and make it interesting to experience again. In a way, it’s genius — Raphael gets our parents to reminisce about their teen years through his music and we, get to hear something that technically is “new”. A win win scenario. The video below was shot by esteemed photographer and filmmaker TONE while on tour with Raph last year, using behind the scenes and performance footage as he talks about the concept behind Stone Rollin‘, which is scheduled to release May 10. Enjoy the video below.

Honesty is always the best policy, and in all honesty, the 60s retro music that Raphael Saadiq has been doing of late, has not moved me. I am not in any way saying it’s bad, in fact it’s very good. His vocal style and even his aesthetic, in some weird way was born to do that kind of music. I’ve been a huge fan of Raph since The Revival days. In my opinion, he’s not adding anything to the style of yesteryear, he’s not remixing it, simply, just doing it over. And that’s why I’m unmoved by it. However, he soon made me swallow my words with this song, “Good Man,” as he brings the chippie tempo down and gives us some good old heartfelt SOUL! He channeled Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes for this one; it is sweet! I’m now excited to hear his forthcoming album Stone Rollin‘. Check it out below and let me know what you think!

“Good Man”

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If the retro 60s soul is your thing, “Radio” was released earlier this month and is available on iTunes.

With a career spanning over twenty years, Raphael Saadiq‘s musical journey has been nothing short of magical. Having created some of R&B’s best heartfelt ballads, and with an angelical vocal range to make your heart melt. To me, Tony Toni Toné, were the progenitors of Neo Soul; they were doing it long before people even realised it was a movement!

The Central Park SummerStage show on Saturday, July 17 2010, also marked Giant Step‘s 20th Anniversary of Summerstage shows and they couldn’t have chosen a better artist for the celebration! The show started off in high energy, with cuts from his latest 50s retro album, The Way I See It, then quickly turning into a Tony Toni Toné, Raphael Saadiq, and Lucy Pearl revival. When Raphael launched into “Lay Your Head On My Pillow,” it became a beautiful moment of nostalgia for the audience as a each song after song, caused an uproar — “It Never Rains,” “It Feels Good,” “Anniversary,” “Just Me and You” (from the Boyz n’ the Hood soundtrack), “Ask of You” (from the Higher Learning soundtrack), to Raphael‘s brilliant debut solo album Instant Vintage with “You Should Be Here,” “Skyy…Can You Feel Me?” to Lucy Pearl‘s “Dance Tonight,” all performed effortlessly. We were reminded of how great a contribution Raphael Saadiq has been to R&B, Soul, and Neo Soul. He commanded the stage as though we were in sermon, and we sang with him in praise. A brilliant performance!

R&B singer, Aloe Blacc was the supporting artist, and was a perfect match as he is also embracing 50s retro movement that Raphael is doing right now. The DJ set was provided by the talented singer/DJ Vikter Duplaix.

Check out the photos from the show below!