Robert Cray and Hi Rhythm

For his latest project, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm, the Blues Hall of Famer traveled to Memphis with his friend, renowned Grammy Award-winning producer Steve Jordan, to make a classic soul album with Hi Rhythm, the band that helped create that sound.

Robert Cray has been bridging the lines between blues, soul, and R&B for the past four decades, with five Grammy wins and over 20 acclaimed albums. Steve and Cray met in 1987 while working on the concert film Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll, a tribute to Chuck Berry. Steve produced Robert's Grammy-winning Take Your Shoes Off in 1999, and a number of other albums, including the exciting 4 Nights of 40 Years Live.

He knew of Robert's deep love of O.V. Wright and other Memphis soul legends, and suggested they take up residence at Royal Studios, where Wright, Ann Peebles, Al Green, Syl Johnson, Otis Clay, and many others recorded with the venerable producer, songwriter, arranger, and engineer, Willie Mitchell.

The core of Mitchell's Hi Rhythm band used on many of those landmark sessions was still around, though Mitchell himself had passed in 2010. Set inside an old theatre, the funky Royal Studios looks much as it did when Al Green was cutting those classics for Hi Records. Guitarist Teenie Hodges has passed away, but his brothers Rev. Charles Hodges (organ and piano) and Leroy "Flick" Hodges (bass), along with cousin Archie "Hubbie" Turner (keyboards), were still there.

"It was a soul, rhythm, and blues fantasy camp for us. Those guys have been playing in that room for 50 years," says Steve Jordan.