The phone rang. The caller ID said "Isaac Hayes." The caller, Mrs. Isaac Hayes, put Isaac on the line.

"Mr. Hayes, the last time you were in San Antonio ..."

"First of all, I want to tell you something," said Hayes, in that unmistakable, valley-deep voice, "in January I had a stroke. I'm through it now, and I'm almost well."

Now that's a good thing because Isaac Hayes and his eight-piece band are scheduled to work tonight at Sunset Station.

The last time Hayes was in town, in April 2001, he joined Cyrus Chestnut for a night of romantic jazz.

"The stroke hasn't hurt my singing," he said. "I've been working on it. This time we're going to do the old tunes. It's easy to keep the old songs fresh. 'Shaft,' and all that, that's what people want to hear. But you mentioned new music and I think I'll mix some in there, but I won't do jazz and standards like I did last time."

"I listen to everybody," he said, "but the music nowadays, the hip-hop, I've done so much of that. The hip-hoppers and the rappers, they ripped me off. Eventually they sampled me legally, but for a while there it was open season. James Brown helped me get my business in order."

Hayes singled out Mary J. Blige as an artist whose contemporary work he likes. As far as influences, he's quick to name Otis Redding, Little Milton, Ike & Tina Turner and Sam & Dave.

"They turned me out," he said with a rumbling chuckle. "I like what they did."

Right now, though, Hayes doesn't have much time to worry about who is the father of what music because he's the father of a 6-month-old boy, Nana Kojo, his 12th child.

"I got married last year, my fourth marriage, and six months ago Nana Kojo was born. I was in the hospital. I saw the birth. I even cut the cord," he said. "This is the first time I was there because before I was too busy. This is the best thing that's happened to me."

Hayes also has been involved in literacy programs in the United States and in literacy, health awareness and AIDS prevention programs in Ghana.

"I'm still doing that," he said. "Everybody should do that because we made it and if you made it you should spread it around."

But Hayes draws the line at getting involved in politics.

"I try to stay out of it," he said, laughing again. "Some guys want to be politicians, then do that."

A few years ago Hayes published a cookbook, "Cooking With Heart and Soul."

"I'm still cooking, but I haven't done any books since that one," he said, "but I might do another one."

In 2001, he said Memphis barbecue was better than Texas barbecue. Does he stand by that statement?

"Yes," he said with a loud laugh.

So that's about it.

"I don't do 'South Park' anymore," he said.

Pardon?

"I don't do 'South Park' anymore," he said, again.

Hayes was the voice of Chef for several years on the irreverent Comedy Central cartoon series "South Park." He left the series after an episode that poked fun at Tom Cruise and Scientology.

"They kid everybody, but I begged them not to," he said. "Scientology is my religion, and it was a step too much. So I just got out of it. I don't miss it. When it was going, it was fun. The fun ran out."

Isaac Hayes even answers the questions he's not asked.

San Antonio Express-News publish date Oct. 27, 2006