Editorial Reviews

Despite having played with the likes of Miles Davis, the Yellowjackets, and Tom Scott's L.A. Express, Robben Ford is still one of the unsung treasures of American music. Widely respected as a guitarist, Ford also possesses a classic singing voice in the tradition of such great pop vocalists as Todd Rundgren. Supernatural presents fully realized compositions where all the parts support the whole, not just lengthy blowing hung on chord changes. Ford does have a nice way with chords, and frequently, it sounds as if he's illuminating a new facet of familiar music. Nonetheless, guitar freaks should be prepared to be dazzled by Ford's commanding fretwork; he says more in a couple of economical choruses than many string-slingers say in a dozen. His cool sting on the deeply soulful "Hey, Brother" has the snarl of a Chicago bluesman. His rhythm work is equally impressive, as on "Nothing to Nobody," where he undergirds his pleading lyrics with a relentlessly climbing guitar riff. Also check out the wah-wah riff he burns (a la Hendrix's "Voodoo Child") on the title cut. Jimmy Earl contributes some massive-sounding bass, and Russell Ferrante, Ford's buddy in the Yellowjackets, is a plus on electric and acoustic pianos. Roger Kellaway also contributes a richly haunting string-quartet arrangement to Robben's "If." But this knockout disc is Ford's show all the way.

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