Booker T Returns To Stax With 'Sound The Alarm' Featuring Mayer Hawthorne, Anthony Hamilton, Vintage Trouble, Estellle, Gary Clark Jr. + More June 25

Musical Director Of PBS' "In Performance At The White House: The Memphis Sound" Airing Nationally Tonight

"Fun" Streaming at Wall Street Journal, Listen Here: http://on.wsj.com/XPbzMB

Booker T. Jones will follow back-to-back GRAMMY wins for his previous twoalbums with 'Sound The Alarm' out June 25 on Stax/Concord Music Group. This marks Booker's return to Stax, a label revered for the gritty soul sound he helped create with Memphis' first integrated band in the early '60s, and features collaborations with some of the finest talents in modern soul and R&B including Mayer Hawthorne, Anthony Hamilton, Vintage Trouble, Estelle, Gary Clark, Jr., Luke James and more.

'Sound The Alarm' is a celebration of the past, present and future of R&B with flares of hip-hop bravado on the title track with Mayer Hawthorne and "Gently" with Anthony Hamilton, plus an explosive performance from Vintage Trouble's Ty Taylor on "Your Love Is No Love." Booker's B3 is front and center, especially on instrumentals "Feel Good," "Austin City Blues" with Gary Clark, Jr. and "Fun," a joyous, pulsing jam. "Watch You Sleeping" features Bill Withers' daughter Kori on a vocal duet with Booker, and an instrumental with his son Ted on guitar on "Father Son Blues" closes the album.

Booker T wrote or co-wrote all twelve songs on 'Sound The Alarm.' He co-produced the album with brothers Bobby Ross and Issiah "IZ" Avila, who haveworked with Usher and Mary J. Blige. The Avila brothers also play in the rhythm section on most of the tracks.

Booker T has won 4 GRAMMY Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award andis a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As a producer, he has helmed sessions for million sellers including Bill Withers' debut album 'JustAs I Am,' and Willie Nelson's 'Stardust.' He's written and/or played onsome of the most enduring songs of all time including "Green Onions," "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay" and "Born Under A Bad Sign."

'Sound The Alarm' tracklist:
1. Sound The Alarm - featuring Mayer Hawthorne
2. All Over The Place - featuring Luke James
3. Fun
4. Broken Heart - featuring Jay James
5. Feel Good
6. Gently - featuring Anthony Hamilton
7. Austin City Blues - featuring Gary Clark, Jr
8. Can't Wait - featuring Estelle
9. 66 Impala - featuring Poncho Sanchez and Sheila E.
10. Watch You Sleeping - featuring Kori Withers
11. Your Love Is No Love - featuring Vintage Trouble
12. Father Son Blues - featuring Ted Jones

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For more information please contact:
Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) or Bryant Kitching (bkitching@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media,718 522 7171Joel Amsterdam (joel.amsterdam@concordmusicgroup.com) at Concord Music Group, 310 385 4206

Who says you can't go home again? In the sixties, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones, as both a session player and with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, helped define the sound of one of America's classic record labels — the Memphis R&B powerhouse Stax Records. That's Booker T. you hear on Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign." And of course, his own "Green Onions." Jones split with the label in 1971, but now they've reunited: June 25's Sound The Alarm will indeed mark Jones's return to Stax. And on the heels of back-to-back Grammy wins for his last pair of solo albums, he's bringing some boldface names with him back for his Stax return: The set features collaborations and cameos from Mayer Hawthorne, Anthony Hamilton, Vintage Trouble, Estelle, and Gary Clark Jr.

ANDY LANGER: How did you meet Gary Clark Jr.?
BOOKER T. JONES: We met a couple of years ago in Cupertino. I was at Apple doing a demo, playing one of my songs for them. Gary was doing the same thing downstairs. I heard what he was doing down there and it caught my interest. I left my sound check to watch him play. It was just Gary and a drummer. And it was awesome, what he was doing, blending blues and hip-hop. I introduced myself. "I'm Booker T. Jones. I've been in the business a long time. You sound great today. Let me know if you need any help." I didn't know Gary was already a star. I had no idea. But he was gracious about it. And we stayed in touch.

AL: The song you wrote for him is loose, but also very warm. That's by design?
BTJ: It's the real thing. It's all feel. There's nothing pretentious about it. It's called "Austin City Blues" because Gary's from Austin and that made me think about the seventies in Austin, when I used to hang out with Willie Nelson and the great blues club owner Clifford Antone. I wanted people to hear the way the music was back then, the music I was exposed to in Texas. I wanted to it sound authentic. Gary got it. He nailed it.

AL: You were in Austin to produce Stardust, one of Willie's most important records. What else do you remember about the town at that time?
BTJ: Willie had a ranch down there in Pedernales, Texas, just outside Austin. He'd play golf every day with the football coach from the University of Texas, Darrell Royal. I didn't play golf, so I'd go into town and hang with Clifford and the blues players. I found Austin to be such an amazing place with its own well-defined culture — the way Memphis and New Orleans feel. Gary's from that culture.

AL: And the real deal.
BTJ: Indeed. The real deal. And he's such a nice guy. With young musicians or musicians you want to work with, it's never just about the music and the ability. It's about the person — where they're coming from, how they feel about the music, and how open they are. Gary is very open. And very fluid. It's in his soul.

AL: And he's playing the blues for huge crowds. That's good for the blues.
BTJ: It is. And I love the blues. We didn't do all that much blues at Stax. We were an R&B company. So now I get to branch off into that. The blues is an American art form — it comes from the cotton gins in Memphis and from up and down the Mississippi River. And it's the one kind of music that I don't think will ever change. And that's why I value someone like Gary so much. Here's a younger player that wants to continue it. That's amazing to me. That really means something.

AL: And it must mean something that he grew up listening to Booker T. & the M.G.'s. That there are multiple generations of players that were influenced by your work has to feel good.
BTJ: The legacy is gratifying. That the music I fostered and help bring about is thriving and appreciated is humbling. To actually be physically here to be a part of it is cool. Really cool.