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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Melodic Boogie-meisters have a field day. On a visit to Bangor north Wales, I drop-visited world famous Cob Records for a mooch. Shifting through the CD racks, I heard snippets of the most incredible music playing on the house system. Curiosity got the better of me. I asked the guy behind the counter who it was. His answer was simply, ”Mofro”. Don’t know these I thought. Check it out double quick. He passed over the CD cover. It read JJ Grey and Mofro – Orange Blossoms. I said it was great, sounding like a cross between The Band and Little Feat. The knowledgeable chap agreed. On return I contacted Alligator Records. They replied, saying a copy would be sent by UK distributors Proper Records. Now it’s here, and the whole album is sensational. Being a fan of The Band and Little Feat, Mofro has to be up there with their genre stablemates. As Boogie is a dying art, that makes this band the best exponents in the world right now. Cleverly, they throw in elements of Soul, Funk, R&B and Blues. They describe their music as "front porch soul". Coming from Jacksonville, Florida, they compose of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist JJ Grey, Daryl Hence on guitars, Adam Scone on Hammond organ and new drummer Anthony ‘AC’ Cole. There’s also a brass section known as the Hercules Horns. Mofro’s debut album Blackwater was named as one of the best records of the decade by Amazon.com
It’s no secret that 40-year-old Grey is a huge soul fan and some of influences are credited to Otis Redding (others include Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway and Tony Joe White), which can be found on the smooth-styled ballad She Don’t Know and stunning The Truth. Grey has the old-school knack of delivering a note with achingly beautiful precision. Their funk stylings emerge on WYLF, bordering on the urban grooves of Fun Lovin’ Criminals - this is where the band manages to hold the tightest of performances. The wiry old soul-styled guitar solos are pure magic. It’s classic boogie that opens the proceedings though. The guitar riffs and picks give the entire album its hook, drawing you in instantly, and then there’s that mega-catchy chorus - <>"When I smell those orange blossoms then I’m there", providing a radio-friendly touch. They can also get down and dirty on the heavy R&B-flavoured gem The Devil You Know, while the ‘brass boys’ give it some stylish '60s retro textures: those girly backups are the icing on the cake. Taking it to a laid-back mode, the dreamy Dew Drops is a masterclass in soulful balladeering: plenty of brass and deft guitar solos make it a classic. When you’ve got a great album like this, it’s hard to pick a ‘best track’, but as a soul fan, the Stax-styled I Believe In Everything takes the prize, because of the sensational tenor sax work by Art Edmaiston. File under: It’s a classic!
Weblinks: alligator.com / mofro.net
The full list of tracks included are :
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
