Aum Studio Music

Hailing from Bakersfield, CA, Soulajar’s sound on their album Pipe Dream is a world-and-a-half away from that of hometown hero and country music legend Buck Owens. There’s no twang to be found here – just funk and groove and soul, wet with enough sweat to make it greasy, yet pretty damn polished for a young band. And when they turn the lights (and the amps) down low, Soulajar knows how to lay it on as smooth and buttery as the Rev. Al Green – no lie.

While vocalist Jim Ranger may be known to some from his 2010 American Idol appearance, make no mistake about it: Soulajar is a total, absolute, to-the-core band. Ranger is certainly a singer with a wicked set of pipes – capable of belting or crooning as needed. But Soulajar’s secret weapons also include a guitarist (Ryan Fergon) who knows how to speak in 6-string tongues ranging from silky/smoky jazzbo to crazy-ass psych-squall. Add to that a rhythm section (drummer Brian Boozer and bassist Greg Bettis) who must’ve grown up together on Planet Funk and you have one very talented band.

“Thank You” is as close as Soulajar gets to walking a country road, but even then they’re doing it in cool, comfy sneakers and loafers rather than pointy-toed boots. “Existential Funk” starts out all drifty and dreamy, but busts wide open at the 2:26 mark courtesy of a churning guitar and Ranger’s testifying vox. And tunes such as “Soulmuse” and the instrumental “C Is For Kidz” are showcases for Boozer and Bettis to do their groove acrobatics.

Many friends add to the mix on Pipe Dream, helping to fill out the sound and set the mood. Among them are Chris Pederson, who adds some beautiful piano work to seven of the album’s thirteen tracks; Paul Perez, who not only lays down some killer sax work, but was responsible for all the guest horn arrangements as well (check out the amazing solos he and Pederson pull off on “Drive”); Cassie Pederson, who actually takes the vocal lead on the sweet “King & Queen”; and a mighty fine guitarist you might have heard of: Mr. Steve Kimock. Kimock’s fingerpicked fretless guitar on the acoustic-backboned “Change” is a dreamy glide – a spotlit moment that serves as a tasteful complement to Soulajar’s mellower side.

The album’s two covers each come with a little bit of risk – but in both cases, the band pulls it off quite nicely, thank you. You might not even realize you’re hearing Soulajar’s take on Norman Greenbaum’s classic “Spirit In The Sky” until the boys hit the chorus, but the slow and easy sway of the new arrangement and Ranger’s delivery will convince you that everything’s just the way it was meant to be. And for as much as anyone’s take on Bill Withers’ “Use Me” has to be seen as a thrown-down gauntlet to prove one’s funky self, Soulajar drives the tune way beyond cliché territory – mainly on the back of Fergon’s fierce (and nasty) guitar.

There’s a little bit of a lot of things to be found on Soulajar’s Pipe Dream – and they do them all well.