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Elly Roberts reviews
Alligator Records
- Released: September 2008
- Rating: 10/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
Melodic Boogie-meisters have a field day.
On a visit to Bangor north Wales, I drop-visited world famous Cob Recordsfor a mooch. Shifting through the CD racks, I heard snippets of the most incrediblemusic playing on the house system. Curiosity got the better of me. I asked theguy behind the counter who it was. His answer was simply, Mofro.Dont 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 besent by UK distributors Proper Records. Now its here, and the whole album issensational. Being a fan of The Band and Little Feat, Mofro has to be up therewith their genre stablemates.
As Boogie is a dying art, that makes this band the best exponents in the worldright now. Cleverly, they throw in elements of Soul, Funk, R&B and Blues. Theydescribe their music as “front porch soul”. Coming from Jacksonville,Florida, they compose of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist JJ Grey, Daryl Henceon guitars, Adam Scone on Hammond organ and new drummer Anthony AC Cole.Theres also a brass section known as the Hercules Horns.
Mofros debut album Blackwater was named as one of the best records of thedecade by Amazon.com
Its no secret that 40-year-old Grey is a huge soul fan and some of influencesare credited to Otis Redding (others include Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway andTony Joe White), which can be found on the smooth-styled ballad She Dont Knowand 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 FunLovin Criminals – this is where the band manages to hold the tightest of performances.The wiry old soul-styled guitar solos are pure magic. Its classic boogie thatopens the proceedings though. The guitar riffs and picks give the entirealbum its hook, drawing you in instantly, and then theres that mega-catchychorus – “When I smell those orange blossoms then Im there”, providinga radio-friendly touch. They can also get down and dirty on the heavy R&B-flavouredgem The Devil You Know, while the brass boys give it some stylish ’60sretro textures: those girly backups are the icing on the cake.
Taking it to a laid-back mode, the dreamy Dew Drops is a masterclass insoulful balladeering: plenty of brass and deft guitar solos make it a classic.
When youve got a great album like this, its hard to pick a best track, butas 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: Its a classic!
Weblinks:alligator.com /mofro.net
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Orange Blossoms
2. The Devil You Know
3. Everything Good Is Bad
4. She Dont Know
5. The Truth
6. WYLF
7. On Fire
8. Move It On
9. Higher You Climb
10. Dew Drops
11. Ybor City
12. I Believe (In Everything)View the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.