By Bari Finkel

Looking back on the marvelous music Motown made can sometimes be difficult. It can be upsetting to hear the beautiful blare of the trumpets, the echoes of the claps, and the powerful voices that ring out knowing that many of these artists have either passed on or are simply are not what they used to be. Tuesday Temptations may help revive the memory of Motown, but it is not enough. Luckily, there are still new artists making music that revives the memory better than my words ever could. One of the most famous modern Motown artists, with three Grammy nominations and an iTunes Store favorite album of the year award, is Raphael Saadiq.

The first listen of Raphael Saadiq’s “Love That Girl” may make you feel as if you are taking a trip back to a 1970’s Hittsville, but I guarantee your feet are still dancing in the year 2010. Raphael Saadiq grew up surrounded by R&B and was bold enough to make Motown influenced music without straying far from its roots.  He succeeded. His timid-yet-forward falsetto voice carries the song through the echo chamber claps, call and response choruses and catchy repetitive bass line. Even the lyrics of “Love That Girl” stray from typical modern love songs; they are reminiscent of the rhyme schemes and story telling themes of old soul music. The style of the band, as seen in the video, is also classic Motown. Motown was not only about recording but also about performance and presence on stage. The recording studio now hosts a museum exhibit of the sequence dresses and matching suits that express the class and professionalism on which Motown prided itself. Saadiq understands the necessity of class; every member in the video is dressed to impress: from the band’s matching suits and ties to the flowing red dress and short up-do of the back-up vocalist, to Raphael himself. Raphael Saadiq does not copy the looks and sounds, but transforms them into relevant music for today.

Not every song off the album “The Way I See It” is strictly Motown-sounding; often Saadiq performs with hip hop artists like Jay Z to blend what R&B has evolved into with what it used to be. On his first solo album, “The Way I See It,” he also works with last week’s article’s subject, Stevie Wonder, as well as Joss Stone, a young female soul vocalist (and personal favorite).  His variation of music never strays far from the Motown touch, and his performances exemplify this. Raphael Saadiq is a current artist who thrives on soul, and is still performing in his prime. If this video was a sample of Saadiq for you and you want some more free and legal Raphael Saadiq, check out four live songs.  Raphael Saadiq is not currently on tour, but keep an eye out for him in music website performances like NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” and Daytrotter, and for music festivals like last year’s Lollapalooza. Stay soulful like Saadiq, until next week!

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