Former Entrain member Rob Loyot sings, plays saxophone and percussion, and wrote some of the material for this new project called Sideman Sez. Combing his songwriting, musicianship, and studio production and engineering skills, Loyot created several embraceable R&B songs on this very likable album. Loyot’s voice and saxophone melodies flow smooth as honey while his support musicians build warm, danceable music underneath. All of this magic is captured in an unbeatable clarity of sound. Loyot is definitely re-emerging on the local music scene at a time when his abilities are at their zenith.“Take It Easy” opens the disc with its soft shoe shuffle R&B groove. This song certainly takes it easy while peppering its groove with plenty of tasteful touches from the drums, percussion, keyboards and horns. Meanwhile, as vocalist, Rob Loyot lays out a mellow, earthy vibe with his smooth, soulful crooning. This tune has a way of charming you with its lightness and its abundance of talent at once. It’s a careful balance of having a lot of good things going on musically without overwhelming the listener.
“Let It Slide” marries a singer-songwriter acoustic guitar melody to a thoughtful R&B sax melody and to a deep meaningful groove that builds up with muscular force from the rhythm section. Loyot sounds out the world weary philosophy with his gentle push vocal approach. The song offers heavenly sweeps of saxophone, warm swirls of organ chords, and something in between the beats that cannot be easily defined
Sounding very much like a radio hit for the ages is “Make It Happen.” The guitar chords are alluring and the song is loaded with hooky choruses. Loyot finesses the hell out of this one, singing it out with arena rock largeness and soul singer depth. Lead guitar work by the song’s co-writer Justin Beech is packed with energetic compression, like it’s about to go from incendiary to explosive.
“Soul Searching” is a breezy R&B flavored expression of personal revelation. Loyot croons this one with a sense of largeness. He wraps his smooth voice warmly around the sonic landscape and that invites the listeners into his embraceable vibe. Loyot expresses a lot of personality in his vocal approach, making him not just someone with a beautiful voice but also one of those singers who offers that special something that goes beyond musical talent.
Loyot goes for a funk vibe in “Swing Out West.” His bass player, Jeff Gilman, puts out a palpable bumpiness and Loyot’s keyboard player has a spiraling high percolation going on. This singer then asserts his voice so perfectly over the rhythms and the open spaces that you cannot help but be pulled into his personal groove.
“Letter To The World” finds Loyot self-restrained in both the mellow and the rocking portions. He is the epitome of hip as he sings his environmental message without becoming an overbearing soap boxer. Loyot remains cool while the guitar bristles and ignites. There is nothing like a singer who can get a point across without losing his sense of musicality or his respect for his audience.
“Scatter The Fire” offers bubbly organic organ swirls and a swinging, blaring horn section. The sax solo here is particularly suave. This tune moves with a special low end grace. Loyot provides another fine showcase of his smooth, soulful belt, offering many pleasant coos and sustains. “Stop Your Crying” begins with a warm gospel like chorus before sliding into an expression of compassion, with Loyot sounding quite emotive at his microphone. Lead guitarist Mike Benjamin, too, freely and beautifully emotes all of the emotional yearning of this song.
With hearty acoustic guitar strumming and an amicable harmonica blowing sweet melody, Loyot turns “Passerby” into another potential radio hit. He sings it with a hip swagger in his vocal step, possessing a great feel for how to move around the open spaces created by his rhythm section. You can picture him dancing on air during this number, as his vocal glides in whatever direction he feel like, when he feels like it.
“Sweetest Eyes” is slick R&B at its smoothest. Again, Loyot is hip as ever as a vocalist, yet his tenor saxophone solo is the sweetest voice in this tune. “Hurt Me So” continues the honey flow vocal style over the usual quality organ and rhythm section. Loyot closes out his CD with the shuffling blues inspired “Lucinda.” As singer, Loyot gets more assertive and raspy in the call and response number. Dinty Child’s accordion layers on an Americana roots music feel as guitarist Mike Benjamin hits his notes chicken picking southern style. The effect is to give Loyot the perfect textures to strut over with his country-blues flavored crooning. And he does.
Loyot has achieved a lot on this Sideman Sez album. He creates a huge, powerful R&B sound and he keeps it going strong from beginning to end. His dandy of a soulful voice demands a complex weave of sound underneath him. That’s why Loyot is not flying solo here. He lined up a vast array of great Boston area talent. The result is an album chockfull of good R&B and soul music.
