Paramount Presents: The Robert Cray Band

An opening set celebrating a new release will be performed by Corey Harris. Corey’s brand new album Chicken Man will be available at the show for the first time!

The Robert Cray Band will be touring the US and UK for the first time since the 2020 release of his album, That’s What I Heard. “Funky, cool and bad,” is how Cray describes the Grammy-nominated album, produced by longtime collaborator Steve Jordan who adds, “I thought, if we could get this thing that Sam Cooke used to have, the kind of sound that early Sam Cooke records had, that we could pull this off.” “Robert Cray is not only making music, he’s making history,” writes Guitar Player Magazine.

Over the past four decades, Cray has created a sound that rises from American roots, blues, soul, and R&B, with five Grammy wins and 20 acclaimed studio and live albums that punctuate the Blues Hall of Famer’s career. On That’s What I Heard, Robert celebrates the music of Curtis Mayfield, Bobby “Blue” Bland, The Sensational Nightingales, and more, alongside Cray’s own songs.

Cray and Jordan go way back, having met during the making of the Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll in 1987. They started working together in 1999, when Jordan produced the Grammy-winning Take Your Shoes Off, and the recent Grammy-nominated LP, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm. That’s What I Heard is their sixth album. “Once you start working with Steve, it’s kind of hard to get away from him,” said Robert. “Robert is just a great person besides being extraordinary talent,” adds Jordan. “People gravitate to his guitar playing first, but I think he’s one of the best singers I’ve heard in my life. Not only because of his singing ability, but his interpretations. He’s such an honest soul in my opinion.” Robert’s band features Richard Cousins (bass), Dover Weinberg (keyboards), and Les Falconer (drums).

Corey Harris

Corey Harris, is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and band leader who has carved his own niche in blues. A powerful singer and accomplished guitarist, he has appeared at venues throughout North America, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean, West Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. He has performed, recorded, and toured with many of the top names in music such as BB King, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, R.L.Burnside, Ali Farka Toure, Dave Matthews Band, Tracy Chapman, Olu Dara, Wilco, and others. His additional recordings include Fish Ain’t Bitin’ (1996), Vu-Du Menz (with Henry Butler, 2000), Downhome Sophisticate (2002), Zion Crossroads (2007),  blu black (2010), and his 20th album, The Insurrection Blues (2021). In 2007, he was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship — commonly referred to as a “genius award” — from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The annual grant, which recognizes individuals from a wide range of disciplines who show creativity, originality, and commitment to continued innovative work, described Harris as an artist who “forges an adventurous path marked by deliberate eclecticism.” That same year, he was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine.