Stax/Concord

“Still life is overrated,” Warren Haynes sings on the first line of Man in Motion’s title track – a churning, bluesy, funk gem that opens the album. “Burn-out factor is part of the game. Life should be an adventure. Anything else is a crying shame.” The tune – told from the point of view of an artist with an unquenchable thirst for change and challenges – is clearly autobiographical. It’s a sort of mission statement for the enormously gifted guitarist, singer and songwriter who is forever on the move – regularly thrilling audiences with his work in both the Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule yet somehow also fitting in countless guest spots and solo work. Sure to become a showcase jam on Haynes’ forthcoming tour, the song has the six-stringer letting loose against tangy horn-section breaks.

For Man In Motion, Haynes dug into his roots as a soul music devotee. He brought along the right players for the job, including three New Orleans stalwarts – Dumpstaphunk organist/singer Ivan Neville and drummer Raymond Weber, and Meters bassist George Porter Jr. – plus Faces pianist Ian McLagan, background vocalist Ruthie Foster and veteran hard bop tenor saxophonist Ron Holloway. He goes straight to the source with a juicy cover of Stax/Volt star William Bell’s “Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday,” pairing sweet three-part harmonies on the chorus with another sprawling guitar workout.

The other nine tunes in the hour-plus set – recorded on analog with vintage instruments at the same Austin, Texas studio that was home to Gov’t Mule’s By a Thread sessions in 2009 – are Haynes originals. He makes a palpable emotional connection with this material, including the post-breakup lament “Sick of My Shadow,” a clavinet-injected showcase for Holloway’s effects-laden declarations. “River’s Gonna Rise” has both a theme and a groove – and Foster’s rejoices – all suggesting New Orleans, while the organ-flooded ballad “Your Wildest Dreams” is a slow and soulful song of regret for a broken romance that can’t be fixed.

The second half is nearly as impressive as the first, with such highlights as the laidback, slow-burning “Hattiesburg Hustle,” which features one of Haynes’ longest and most creative solos, and the gospel-tinged closer “Save Me,” with Haynes backed solely by McLagan and Neville. Man In Motion was worth the wait. Here’s hoping that Haynes’ next solo album comes much more quickly.