Former Tony! Toni! Toné! bass player and singer Raphael Saadiq (aka Charlie Ray Wiggins) spent much of the last decade super-producing albums for Mary J. Blige, the Roots, Joss Stone and D'Angelo, including the latter's Grammy-winning single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)." Last September, Saadiq super-produced his own fourth solo release, The Way I See It, a joyful evocation of mid-'60s R&B, emphasizing midtempo drive, jangling Stratocasters, sweetly gorgeous backup harmonies and unapologetically lush Delfonics-inflected string arrangements. The album, which garnered three Grammy nominations, includes the single "Love That Girl" and the unbelievably catchy "100 Yard Dash," a song that delivers Saadiq's soulful and soaring tenor over a tumbling Booker T. bass line and rhythmic bursts of guitar, concluding with an old-school fade-out that comes way too soon. Saadiq, who reportedly performed guitar, bass and drums on every song on the album, will presumably handle one at a time at Wednesday's performance.
