Alligator [Release date 23.02.24]
JJ Grey & Mofro’s tenth album ‘Olustee’ is a heartfelt journey through the musical swamp lands of North Florida, though the various story telling themes routed in the past, present and fired by his fertile imagination, give it an appeal well beyond his NorFlo region.
It’s a soulful swampy album that straddles funk, blues, rock, gospel and old school R&B.
A wide musical array of styles is frequently framed by a supportive horn section which effortlessly shifts from finely honed arrangements to up-tempo stabs, while the occasional use of subtle strings and orchestration gives the album moments of unexpected grandeur.
Grey is an emotive and versatile singer whose uses his full range from baritone to falsetto as the song demands.
He’s also a multi instrumentalist who places himself at the centre of a story telling roots album.
Both he and his band consistently serve the song, only stretching out when the moment demands it, while the individual songs serve the album’s greater whole.
This is particularly important as the musical diversity here demands much of the listener, but promises rich reward.
Put simply, the more you listen and immerse yourself in Grey’s emotional commitment and musical oeuvre, the more the sonic detail sparkles and the lyrics resonate.
He sets out his stall on the poetic opener ‘I Belong To The Sea’. It’s the kind of sensory-driven song with a startling vocal that he later revisits on ‘Starry Night’, as he revels in an ability to transfer his appreciation of nature into songs.
It also illustrates his ability to make the music evoke a descriptive lyrical line such as: “Laying on the sand, feeling every grain, A billion points of light, along the Milky Way.”
It’s the way the way he channels the emotional set-up into a moving chorus that sets him apart from many of his contemporaries;
“Because I belong to the Sea,
Oh she’s out there somewhere calling me.”
He also uses his falsetto range on ‘Starry Night’, which is a soulful ballad with horns strings and bv’s.
Then there’s the retro soul ballad called ‘Waiting’, which reminds me of J.D. Loudermilk’s ‘Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye’ – the Bettye Swann version – crossed with those moments when Todd Rundgren got soulful.
There is of course a significant counterbalance to all this introspection, with several ebullient tracks, including the celebratory gospel feel of ‘Top Of The World’, which encourages us to immerse ourselves in the moment, while ‘On A Breeze’ uses a combination of acoustic guitar and horns ‘to give it an uplifting feel.
The arrangement matches the song title perfectly, and you feel as if you are being whisked upwards on a breeze.
JJ has a very interesting relationship between his music and the lyrics, in as much as each new musical exploration feels as if he’s revealing another part of a bigger picture, while his lyrics often seem to bring him back to a contemplative mood.
He conjures up filmic snap shots, triggered by his imagination or personal and second generation stories.
There’s rarely any suggestion of value judgements, except perhaps on the musically re-arranged cover of John Anderson’s lament, ‘Seminole Wind’, on which he uses horns instead of an original fiddle line, which arguably gave the original lyrical chronology an extra emotional musical charge;
“Progress came and took its toll,
And in the name of flood control,
They made they plans to drain the land,
Now the glades is going dry.”
In Grey’s hands, he lets the song breathe more, from opening piano line to a sumptuous horn solo and an anthemic finish, which gives the opening two lines of the chorus extra purchase;
“So blow, blow Seminole wind’
Blow like you’re never gonna blow again.”
He repeats the use of a significant solo with an extended ripping guitar break which closes the title track.
Again he creates a tension via some spiky rhythm guitar, a portentous wailing harp and a growled vocal to evoke the feel of rapidly spreading forest fires.
And just when you think you have his measure, he surprises us with the high energy funk of the Sly Stone influenced ‘Free High’, and the brusque, pulsating funk and swagger of ‘Rooster’, a tale of historic patriacrchy, full of horns stabs, handclaps, and a ‘call and response’ section between his breathy vocal and girly bv’s.
Everything flows seamlessly into the meditative ‘Deeper Than Belief’, which rounds off the album with real feel.
He sings it with total conviction to emphasize every nuance of a wonderfully crafted song and lyrics that put a cap on everything that’s gone before:
“Through all space and time and thought and mind
I’m holding on, deeper than belief.”
There’s an inherent integrity and honesty about JJ Grey’s songwriting, admirable qualities which on their own don’t necessarily make for great music.
It’s the way he readily taps into his own emotions and channels them via his road tested band that gives the album a soulful heart with a jagged edge. It’s a combination that makes for great roots music and an album you will want to revisit. ****
Review by Pete Feenstra
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
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Power Plays w/c 29 April 2024
BRIGITTE PURDY Sugar Fried Candy (Dirtshack Records)
ATTIC THEORY The Legacy (indie)
THE HOWLERS I Need Your Love (indie)
VELVETEEN QUEEN Bad Reputation (indie)
WILLS AND THE WILLING Scuffed Knees (Smash & Grab Music Ltd)
READY THE PRINCE Still Believe (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 29 April 2024
09:00-12:00 PRAYING MANTIS Defiance (Frontiers)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023
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