Ry Cooder Shares Title Song From New Album ‘The Prodigal Son’

Ry Cooder has shared the title track from his first new solo release in six years, The Prodigal Son, which – as uDiscover Music previously reported – is set for release by Fantasy Records on 11 May.

The Prodigal Son, is essential Cooder. A masterwork of roots, blues and R&B, the album conjures our own history of the spirit, sounding completely fresh and contemporary, framed by Cooder’s expressive vocals and graceful, elegant guitar work. The album’s 11 tracks include three Cooder originals along with a carefully selected collection of vintage blues, gospel and bluegrass by the likes of The Pilgrim Travelers, The Stanley Brothers and Blind Willie Johnson. Taken together, it forms an unflinching look at the state of play in modern America.

The LA Times described ‘Shrinking Man’, (a Cooder original and first track released off the album) as “an up-tempo blues shuffle featuring scratchy bottleneck guitar work for a treatise on living more responsibly and respectfully.”

“I do connect the political/economic dimensions with the inner life of people, since people are at risk and oppressed on all sides in our world today,” Ry Cooder states in the album’s liner notes. “There’s some kind of reverence mood that takes hold when you play and sing these songs. ‘Reverence’ is a word I heard my granddaughter’s nursery school teacher use, a Kashmiri woman. She said, ‘We don’t want to teach religion, but instil reverence.’ I thought that was a good word for the feeling of this music.”

Cooder has also shared the details of The Prodigal Son Tour, his first full solo outing since 2009. The fabled musician will be joined by chief collaborator, drummer, percussionist, and keyboardist, Joachim Cooder; accomplished singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Robert Francis; a unique saxophonist who has recorded with some of the most recognizable names in jazz and popular music, Sam Gendel, and the Grammy-award winning vocal trio from North Carolina, The Hamiltones.

Ry Cooder plays the following North American tour dates:

4 June: Alexandria, VA, Birchmere
6 June: Ridgefield, CT, Ridgefield Playhouse
7 June: Boston, MA, Wilbur Theatre
8 June: New York, NY, Town Hall Theatre
11 June: Alexandria, VA, Birchmere
12 June: Derry, NH, Tupelo
22 June: Ann Arbor, MI, Michigan Theater
24 June: Chicago, IL, Thalia Hall
26 June: Toronto, ONT, Massey Hall
27 June: Ottawa, ONT, Centerpoint
29 June: Montréal, QE, Jazz Festival @ Maisonneuve
30 June: Burlington, VT, Flynn Theater
1 July: Lenox, MA, Tanglewood
3 July: Philadelphia, PA, Mann Center
13 July: Seattle, WA, Moore Theatre
14 July: Courtenay, BC, Vancouver Island MusicFest
17 July: Portland, OR, Revolution Hall
20 July: San Francisco, CA, Great American Music Hall
21 July: Napa, CA, Uptown Theatre
10 August: Calgary, AB, Jack Singer
14 August: Denver, CO, Paramount.

Format: UK English