It's been more than 50 years since Sam Cooke first discovered the Womack brothers, and while his brother Cecil sadly passed away at the beginning of February, Bobby Womack is very much still alive and dancing. He's enjoying something of a career renaissance after releasing his first album in 12 years, The Bravest Man in the Universe last June, to great acclaim.
Apparently the soul survivor has another record in the works too, due out this year, tellingly titled The Best is Yet to Come, but before then he's headed to our way for one night at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, accompanied by his 15-piece band, on Saturday May 18.
It'll be the first time he's been to Auckland since he toured here with the Gorillaz back in 2010, having contributed his distinctive vocals to one of their Plastic Beach hits, Stylo. Gorillaz leader Damon Albarn returned the favour by producing The Bravest Man, creating an blend of "sentiment, regret, pain, and a plea for forgiveness and insight ... in songs which crackled with disconcerting electronica or went back to origins in deeply felt spiritual settings" as Graham Reid described it in a review last year.
It's not the first time Womack has been considered something of an innovator. He played on Sly & the Family Stone's break-through album There's a Riot Goin' On, and was a session guitarist for everyone from Janis Joplin to Elvis Presley, as well as penning multiple hits for himself like That's the Way I Feel About Cha, Woman's Gotta Have It, and It's All Over Now - which was an early hit for the Rolling Stones.
You can expect to hear a grab bag of soul songs old, current, and brand new at his Civic performance, all of them performed with the knack of 50 years' experience.
