It's always been in my player." And that's the player without and within: "I hear music all day and all night," Saadiq says. "I hear music in my dreams." To get the songs out of his head, he says, "You go through the chords and progressions, play drums. I jump on all the instruments until I hear something I like."

Such mental agility — and such a work ethic — must come from his now-70-something guitar-player father, speculates Saadiq. "He was working two or three jobs since he was 10," says the songwriter, who regularly gets back to East Oakland to see family. "Now he owns some buildings, and he's always trying to work on them and be helpful to tenants. He'll say, 'I gotta get back to Oakland, so I can take out the garbage,' and I'll say, 'What garbage? Are you crazy!?' He's a different kind of guy." It goes without question that his pops must be able to relate to Way's sound? "It's music," Saadiq comes back, "that anyone who lives under the sky can relate to right now."

RAPHAEL SAADIQ

Wed/20, 8 p.m., $22

Bimbo's 365 Club

1025 Columbus, SF

www.bimbos365club.com