RAUL MIDÓN

LOST & FOUND

ReKondite Rekords

Raul Midón, vocals/guitar/percussion/bass/drums/banjo/programming; Federico Peña, keyboards/piano; Richard Hammond, bass; Andrés Forero, drums/percussion; Lionel Cordew, drums; Mike Errico & Matt Beck, guitar; Andrew Sherman, string arrangement; STRINGS: Maxim Moston, violin; Hiroko Taguchi, viola; Jessie Reagen Mann, cello; Wayna, vocals; Kathleen Midón, background vocals.

As soon as I heard the first strains of the title song, “Lost & Found,” I could tell that this artist is one of many who are influenced and inspired by the music of Stevie Wonder.  This was before I read in his bio that he also, like Stevie, is a blind musician.  Raul Midón is a composer, singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and multi-Grammy nominee.  Prior to becoming a first call session singer, Midón worked with legendary entertainers like Arif Mardin, Pat Metheny, Bill Withers, Marcus Miller, Lizz Wright, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves and Alex Cuba, to list only a few.  On songs like the title tune and another original called “Next Time” you hear the Stevie Wonder style creep into the arrangements and chordal structures.

But Raul Midón has a style all his own.  He is his own creative man and was invited to perform on the famed NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert some six years ago. They mention how he is respected by both George Benson and Stevie Wonder.  Midón has a way of genre blending when he composes and arranges music.  Consequently, he incorporates a bit of jazz into his folk, pop and soft rock music unapologetically.

This recent album release features Raul’s original compositions, mostly pop music with a taste of folk or soft rock tinging some of the songs, like “Ocean of Doubt,” with its protest lyrics that list his beliefs: meditation, education and love.  On a well-written composition called “Anything at All” Midón shows off his amazing guitar skills during a solo performance, while lyrically encouraging his listeners that they can do anything, anything at all.  Midón also plays percussion on this arrangement, and he shines.

Another well written tune that has a folksy feel, like back in the 1960s, when Pater, Paul & Mary-music was popular, is “When We Remember.”

Raul Midón is an excellent composer, singer/songwriter, and his lyrics are as wonderful as his melodic talents.  For example, “The Ganja Song” is extremely melodic, with a lyrical explanation of experiencing and enjoying ‘Mary Jane.’

He closes with “Wall of Indifference,” a song whose lyrics explain that Raul hopes for better days. In the meanwhile, he has to cope with the world as it is, imperfect.  He leaves the listeners with questions about our own walls of indifference. Still, I am engaged and captivated by Midón’s voice, his compositions, his messages, and incredible musical talent.                                                                                                                                      Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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