By Brian McCollum /Detroit Free Press

The world may be startled, Alicia Keys acknowledges, but she’d love to link up with Jack and Meg White.

Keys says she’s a big fan of the Detroit-born duo whose gritty, high-wire rock starkly contrasts with her own cultivated soul-pop.

The singer-songwriter has several bands with whom she’d like to collaborate, including Linkin Park, U2, Green Day and Queens of the Stone Age — pairings “that are not quite of the same world, or so you think, but when you put them together it’s just really interesting.”

Topping her wish list, though, are the Stripes, who are on hiatus as Jack White tours with the Raconteurs.

“Well, I love the White Stripes because they’re very, very raw. It’s very cut and dried — it’s drums and it’s guitar, or it’s a little drums and piano, or it’s a little drums and bass,” says Keys. “It’s raw and it’s intense, and it’s still fun and it’s still edgy.

“I just think that combining that kind of style with mine — which has already got kind of a raw feel to it — and my voice … I just think we could do something really, really interesting that mixes rock and soul together — the blues and just emotion — in a way that would be really, really touching.”

It’s more than just a pipe dream, insists Keys. She says she has spoken to Jack White about the prospect.

“We’ve had some conversations, so when the time works out it definitely will happen,” she says. “And do I think people would get it or understand it? Definitely, I do. I think that people love interesting things like that. It’s exciting when you try something new and different, and it still has elements of them and elements of me, and you can hear how we mesh together. I think that’s fun.”

By Brian McCollum/Detroit Free Press

When she emerged on the music scene in summer 2001, it was clear Alicia Keys had all the makings for stardom.

Lovely, fashionable and gifted, she ably straddled the worlds of classic soul and modern pop, a classically trained pianist who gracefully infused her hook-laden songs with a cosmopolitan air.

Seven years and 11 Grammy Awards later, Keys resides securely in popular music’s upper tier. Her fall release, “As I Am,” spent four weeks atop Billboard’s album chart and became the fourth-bestselling record of 2007.

Keys has grown leaps and bounds since her early shows, where her sets were as notable for their limited material as for her sweet-hearted performances. Now she’s on her first full-fledged arena tour with a set list that’s certainly no longer lacking for hits.

“I’ve just come more into my own,” she says. “And really, with experience comes confidence, and a little bit more awareness of how I would like to do it, having learned from the past.”

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Al Green, “Lay It Down” (Blue Note)  

By Amy Linden/The Associated Press

If Al Green’s “Lay It Down” sounds familiar, it should. Much like his 2003’s comeback CD I Cant Stop, this is an homage to and re-creation of Green’s ‘70s glory days. That’s when the quintessential love man, with producer Willie Mitchell, delivered classics like “Let’s Stay Together,” and “Call Me” that inspired millions: That apparently included James Poyser and The Roots Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, who, (with Green) produced this joyful if somewhat uneven CD.
The intentions are good. Green’s vocals are still sanctified and sexy - witness the slinky “I’m Wild.” Likewise the mournful title track, “No One Like You” shout out to Green’s 1972 gem “Love And Happiness,” and the proliferation of Hammond B3 organs makes this an old school dream; which is part of the problem.
While no one is expecting Lil Wayne on the hook, the participation of stylists like Thompson and Poyser - along with fellow acolytes John Legend and Anthony Hamilton (who almost steals the jazzy “You’ve Got The Love”) - implied that Green’s trademark sound might be guided into a new direction. Not doing so doesn’t make “Lay It Down” any less soulful- it just makes it a bit too safe.
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Buoyed by guitars with a juke joint twang and a finger-popping chorus, Green preaches about the transcendent power of love on “Standing in the Rain.”

Al Green returns this week with his latest album, “Lay It Down,” off Blue Note Records.

The R&B legend collaborated with several of today’s young hip-hop producers and R&B artists including drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots, John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Check out this feature from Nate Chin of The New York Times as he sits down will Green and the various contributors to his album due out Tuesday, May 27.

To purchase the album from Amazon.com.