could have gone in any direction after 2009's Grammy-winning . He's traveled the musical map with his ubiquitous as recent reissues -- 1977's disco-centric and the 1970 classic , a collection of Beatles covers -- attest. On , and his B-3 choose to do some non-linear musical storytelling: in the title lies the key. This set reveals ' musical odyssey from the early days in Memphis to the places that influenced his thought and playing: the soul sounds that emerged from Detroit, Philly, and Los Angeles; all along a labyrinthine, groove-laden path into the present day. He enlisted -- the seemingly ubiquitous go-to house band of the 21st century -- with and as co-producers, with ' engineering. is loaded with treats: Detroit Funk Brother adds his trademark wah-wah and adds his jazz guitar sounds. Both men do excellent work, adding buckets of feel to ' B-3, 's breaks and beats, and bassist 's low-end theory. Vocalists appear on some of the album's key tracks: and the 's duet on the slow, summery, ; does a stunning turn as a soul singer on the Motown-inspired (who knew?); takes his own authoritative turn on the deep, funky fingerpop of (even his voice has rhythm). And even gets in on the act on album-closer doing his usual "real life happening on the streets" croak. It's in the instrumentals, however, that reveals his story best. Opener uses the main vamp from 's classic (he was backed by on the original), and perform it more like the -era . The reading of offers some of most subtly inventive melodic organ work. have exactly one transcendent idea each (how often can anyone say that about a song?); the band works them to death firing on all levels. has grease, grit, groove, and yes, greatness. ' story is compelling listening, but more than that , it's a backbone-slipping monster of a dance record. ~ Thom Jurek