Regardless of what Metro 1 wants to believe, this disc is a side
\nproject for label leader and executive Crystal Lewis. But what a
\nside project! Lewis is “it” right now, appearing with all kinds of
\nperformers in nearly every imaginable format.<\/p>\n
Her own
\nGold<\/i> has been all over Christian pop and adult contemporary
\nradio for the last year and a half and she just released a live
\nalbum
\nLive@thewoodlands<\/i>. She won a musical battle with R. Kelly,
\nBono, and Mary J. Blige on Kirk Franklin’s ultra-cool “Lean On Me”
\nand appeared with Metro One rapper K2S on his version of the Bee
\nGees’ “How Deep Is Your Love.” Now what?<\/p>\n
Now, The Screamin’ Rays and a surreal mixture of swing and
\nrock-a-billy she’s calling “swing-a-billy.” Someone get the woman a
\ncool drink – is she hot or what?<\/p>\n
This disc is so retro it’s new. From the style of the music to
\nthe visual 50’s horror movie style cover which features a terrified
\ncouple clinging to each other as The Rays’, in cartoon form, come
\ncruising’ in from outer space.<\/p>\n
But Lewis, who goes by the name C-Ray on this project, is far
\nfrom the only talent on this disc. There are also great appearances
\nby Jonny Ray, Sting Ray, X-Ray, and T-Ray. Their website also lists
\na Gamma-Ray, but he’s not credited on the disc. Who are these
\npeople? Beats me, but they are some hep-cat musicians, baby,
\nyeah.<\/p>\n
At least one other member of The Rays is known. A couple of the
\nsongs are written by Chris Brigandi, a founding member of Wild Blue
\nYonder, which was the band where Lewis made her debut. The website
\nidentifies him as Sting Ray. This disc is mostly new songs and a
\ncouple down-home gospel-swing chestnuts. A righteous cut on the
\ndisc is Cab Calloway’s “We the Cats (Shall Hep Ya).”<\/p>\n
“Livin’ and the time is right\/Livin’ and tonight,
\ntonight\/Livin’, oh reet, oh right, come on oh man, come on\/We the
\ncats shall hep ya, so reap this righteous riff — bop bop\/Here’s
\nthe beat to hep ya, so reap this righteous riff -bop bop”<\/p>\n
Throughout T-Ray shares vocal duties with C-Ray, sounding much
\nlike a rougher Brian Setzer. Alongside Lewis’ crystalline soprano,
\nT-Ray adds an appealing alleycat feel to the project. Topically,
\nthe songs vary from overtly Christian content to fare fit for your
\naverage juke joint.<\/p>\n
In the disc opener, “Someday,” T-Ray sings about the ultimate
\nchoice each person must make:<\/p>\n
“Someday — you got to make a choice\/I said someday — a really
\nbig choice\/Oh someday – what you going to do with your life\/Peace
\ncomes from knowing that you’re loved from above\/And when you find
\nthe answer, you’ll know what I’m talking of\/Someday — keep your
\nmind open brother\/And someday you will see\/He came down and gave
\nhis life for you and me”<\/p>\n
Fans of Lewis’ diva songs don’t despair! “Why Are You Cryin,”
\nwritten by Lewis’ husband Brian Ray, would fit right into that
\nmold. With Greg Leitz’ steel guitar, Lewis is flirting with country
\non this song – and it winks right back at her.<\/p>\n
“I feel the deepest part of my life is gone\/I was healed, I was
\nheld and I’m holding on\/When you’ve been forgiven of so much, you
\nlove so much\/When you called my name right then I knew it had to be
\nyou\/I’ve seen the Lord\/He is alive”<\/p>\n
Struttin’ through “Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky” like a stray cat, T-Ray
\nputs some attitude into his singing while C-Ray ably backs up with
\nsome echo backgrounds. Gene Eugene lays down some screamin’ piano
\nlines and the brass section of Doug Webb (tenor and baritone sax)
\nand Sal Marquez (trumpet) make their presence known and, if the
\ntunes are loud enough, felt.<\/p>\n
In addition to vocals, T-Ray adds some harmonica throughout.
\nSting Ray brings guitars, tambourine, and vocals to the party.
\nX-Ray slings even more guitar and Jonny Ray plays upright and
\nelectric bass.<\/p>\n
Here’s hoping The Rays are not a one-off act. This kind of
\ntalent deserves to go on and on — and, hey, man, I don’t know
\nabout you, but I need the hep! Take my advice and reap this
\nrighteous riff while you can.<\/p>\n
Lewis succeeds at everything she puts her hand to these days.
\nOne can only wait and speculate about what she’ll conquer next –
\npolka?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":27895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7526],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39283","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-screamin-rays","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39283"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}