His soul is in his head
In a bustling Chicago breakfast spot, Raphael Saadiq is on the phone doing one of his favorite things: rhapsodizing about soul music. Since he began singing and playing bass guitar with a gospel choir at age 9, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Oakland, Calif., has kept himself busy as a solo artist and with his '90s group Tony! Toni! Tone! As a songwriter and producer for hire, he's worked with folks like D'Angelo, Joss Stone, Mary J. Blige, the Roots, and the man for whom he opens a show tonight at the Orpheum Theatre, John Legend. Saadiq, 42, is touring behind his beguiling new album, "The Way I See It," a note-perfect homage to his childhood musical forebears, from Motown's finest to artists like Sam Cooke and Curtis Mayfield. SARAH RODMAN
Q. What is it about classic soul music that is endlessly inspirational to so many artists?
A. I'm haunted by it, it's different than being inspired.
Q. How does that haunting manifest itself in your life?
A. I dream about it. It's with me all the time. I hear it in my head. I can't read but half a paragraph before I hear the music and then I have to go read the paragraph again. I've been like that my whole life.
Q. It sounds kind of like an affliction.
A. It is, exactly. I would be in class reading, but I wouldn't be comprehending anything because I would be hearing [Motown session bassist] James Jamerson. (Laughs) It was like "Hurry up and graduate and get out of here before you go really crazy."
Q. What was it like to get the seal of approval from Stevie Wonder and Funk Brother percussionist Jack Ashford, who guest on "The Way I See It"?
A. It was lovely. They both reflected on their stories at Motown. We had a very memorable time.
Q. Your friend Joss Stone is part of a recent surge of white female Brits gaining notice for performing soul music. John Legend's protegee Estelle recently complained that because they're white, it's not true soul music. Is race a factor for you when listening to R&B?
A. No, I don't have an issue with that. We ain't doing it, somebody gotta do it. It's like a baby drowning and nobody helping the baby out, and then some white girl came and helped the baby and everybody get mad? Somebody had to help the baby. 