JJ GREY
BASS PERFORMANCE HALL - FORT WORTH, TX
Daryl Hance
Born:
Topeka, KSInstrument:
Guitar (Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster, Vintage Fender Twin amp)Biography
"Daryl Hance sits in his chair and plays slide guitar with the patience of a blues man three times his age" - MaximuminkA man never accused of saying too much -- or playing too much -- Daryl Hance says what counts when it counts. His approach to guitar is much like his approach to life, and his sound has everything to do with texture and color. His minimalist attitude shines through in his playing, reflecting a host of influences including Curtis Mayfield, Tony Joe White, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, and "whoever is playing guitar on all those Sly and the Family Stone records! Sly & Freddy Stone???".
"Growing up there was always music in our home," Daryl says, "whether it was my dad listening to Waylon Jennings and Charley Pride 8-tracks, or my mother and sisters playing all kinds of different 45's and LP's. But what really shaped my playing was later in life when I started listening to all the old Delta blues and rhythm & blues players."
Daryl was born in Topeka, Kansas, but spent the better part of his childhood in Georgia before his family returned to their native home of Jacksonville, Florida in 1983. While living in Riverdale, Georgia, his father traded a rifle for a drum kit as a birthday gift, launching Daryl's musical interest and beginning a couple of years worth of deafening drum sessions. These thunderous performances came to an abrupt halt one afternoon when Daryl, returning home from school, discovered the drum set was missing and that his Dad's rifle was back on the gunrack. Middle ground was struck a few years later when Daryl bought a guitar, which quickly became his main instrument.
When asked about his approach to playing the guitar and slide guitar, Daryl says "I approach the guitar the same way I approach the drums or any other instrument. I just play shit that I think sounds cool and that doesn't feel awkward. And if I am playing something that feels awkward, I just keep scaling back until it feels right. In fact, I'll just keep on scaling all the way back until I stop playing altogether if thats what it takes to make something sound good."
Daryl and JJ had played the Jacksonville music scene for years, only occasionally running into each other, but eventually connected as co-workers installing air conditioning systems. They became fast friends and eventually musical co-conspirators who have been playing together ever since.
The Players
Art Edmaiston
saxophone
Dennis Marion
trumpet
Andrew Trube
bass
Anthony Farrell
organ
Anthony Cole
drums- Adam Scone
- George Sluppick
- Fabrice Quentin
- Craig Barnette
- Mike Shapiro
- Nathan Shepherd
- Bea Gayle
- Tim Stombaugh
- Steve Cybulski
- Ian Hendrickson-Smith
- Dave Guy
- Cochemea Gastelum
- Alex Norris
- Chris Davis
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Players
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more > What They Say
New York Times Review
Out of the Swamp, Dripping With Both Wildness and Cool
In the first few moments of Friday morning, J J Grey was in the middle of a lean, casually nimble guitar solo, sounding a bit like a young Jerry Garcia. His band, Mofro, had a lock on a sharply credible funk groove, playing “Ho Cake,” a tune from its 2001 debut. Some in the crowd at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza were reacting with gawkily un-self-conscious dance moves. For the moment Mr. Grey and his crew were doing a fine impersonation of a jam band.
For much of the previous hour, though, Mofro had delivered something murkier, deeper and more measured, if no less assertive in its rhythm. Mr. Grey, from Jacksonville, Fla., makes a loose derivation of Southern swamp rock, with undercurrents of Memphis soul. His songs chronicle ambiguous truths and unambiguous urges, occasionally lighting on a righteous cause.
The show’s biggest singalong was on “Lochloosa,” a wistful ballad inspired by the Florida lake and wildlife area of that name. “All we need is one more damn developer/Tearing her heart out,” Mr. Grey sang in his urgent drawl.
The set otherwise drew mainly from “Orange Blossoms” (Alligator), a sturdy album released last year. And, among other things, it suggested that Mofro has one of the great unhurried rhythm sections in rock, capable of heavy track-laying but comfortable with airy fluctuation. “Move It On,” a molasses-dipped entreaty, involved sinuous bass lines doubled on Hammond B-3 organ. “Higher You Climb,” a bitter scold of a song, featured a tersely chugging groove.
Mr. Grey’s bleary take on soul singing felt winningly uncontrived, and his rapport with the six other members of Mofro, including a two-piece horn section, couldn’t have been clearer. Every now and then, during one of his pithy guitar solos, he turned to exchange grins with Anthony Cole, a terrific drummer. By the show’s final encore, a rave-up gospel version of “Got My Mojo Working,” Mr. Grey was huffing hard through a harmonica while the band, loose but driving, flailed on.
Jambase Reviews Orange Blossoms
JJ Grey & MOFRO have been gradually making a name for themselves since the early side of this decade, and following this summer's release of their fourth studio album, Orange Blossoms, it looks like things are going to keep getting bigger and bigger for the front porch soul man from Jacksonville, Florida. The 2007 release of Country Ghetto saw JJ Grey's music break out into a larger audience with the help of quality promotion and a good deal of radio play. But with Orange Blossoms, it's starting to seem as though Grey and his MOFRO cohorts are finally being seen and heard with the crossover appeal they've held from the start.
allmusic Orange Blossoms Album Review
By: Hal Horowitz
It's difficult to find a review of JJ Grey's music that doesn't use the word "swamp" to describe his blend of deep Southern soul and murky funk. So that's taken care of in the first sentence here, which leaves plenty of room to focus on his fourth album's low-key yet surging backwoods R&B. The disc's title and title track refer to Grey's home state of Florida's official flower, but there is little that is floral or sunshiny about his music. Rather, the Jacksonville-based Grey prefers to hover in the gloaming, layering horns and backing vocals over grinding, midtempo blue-eyed soul. This is the most elaborately produced of his albums, but like the chitlin' circuit blues in his blood, there is nothing slick about it. Similar to the illicit affair at the heart of "Everything Good Is Bad," the disc's only cover (the original was done by the obscure act 100 Proof [Aged in Soul]), Grey's music generally stays in the shadows. The funeral piano that opens "She Don't Know" is jazzy yet ominous and sounds as humid and muggy as his hometown on an August night. Ditto for the strings that appear at the song's end and pop up like wild weeds throughout this dozen-song set. Grey has matured into a compelling vocalist and it is his emotional yet subtle singing that elevates this already powerful material. His sluggish Southern drawl on the funky "WYLF" (short for "what you're looking for") infuses a laconic, easygoing, almost lazy feel, a distinguishing characteristic of his style. That's brought into sharp relief on the sticky, sweaty sex of "Move It On," a sly, nearly seven-minute deliberate groover that sounds like something the Temptations might have recorded if they had been bred in the South. Although Grey deserves the bulk of the credit for this disc's unassuming success, longtime co-producer Dan Prothero (who has worked on every Grey/Mofro project) and in-the-pocket drummer Anthony Cole are crucial elements of the stealthy vibe. It's an album that grows on you slowly like moss at the base of a withered old tree and transports you to the dank, mosquito-infested bayou at the heart of Grey's evocative sound.
