One of Ivan Neville's ancestors is his father, Aaron Neville, of the Neville Brothers. Ivan Neville has played with the Nevilles, Rufus and Bonnie Raitt, and most recently he backed Keith Richards. But you'll hear precious few of these influences on Neville's solo debut. Being a keyboardist of the Eighties, Neville does get into the big, wide, wonderful world of synthesizer technology, but he never lets it get the better of him – the art-rock overtones of Ancestors are tempered by a flair for the pop hook and by Neville's voice, a tough and gritty instrument that falls somewhere between Huey Lewis's and Richie Havens's.

Besides Neville, virtually all of the musicians on the album are L.A. studio veterans, including drummer Jeff Porcaro, guitarist Waddy Wachtel and producer Danny Kortchmar. Neville's odd meters and synthetic timbres challenge them, and they make some of the most unusual music of their careers. A big drum sound and those synths lend Ancestors a commercial sheen, but there's also a lot of musical credibility here. If Ivan Neville's ancestors could see him now, they'd have reason to be proud. (RS 543)

MICHAEL AZERRAD