Album Review: Brighter Days: The Film and Live Concert Album by JJ Grey & Mofro

Jacksonville’s JJ Grey has been delivering his brand of funky, countrified blues-rock to true-believing audiences ever since his debut album Blackwater was unleashed in 2007. Grey’s voice is soulful, scratchy and impassioned, as capable of crooning a tender ballad as unleashing a fiery torrent worthy of a hard rock band in its prime. With a string of memorable albums already under his belt that includes 2008’s Orange Blossoms and 2010’s Georgia Warhorse, Grey and his band Mofro have now released a combination live album and DVD set documenting a recent performance in Atlanta.

Full Review >>

If you've ever seen JJ Grey & Mofro, you have an idea of what to expect from this concert-length DVD and accompanying 78-minute CD. That said, since this gig, recorded in January at Atlanta's Variety Playhouse, was pre-planned with the end result being Brighter Days, maybe you don't. For starters, there's the band. For this engagement, Mofro was a sextet that included saxophonist Art Edmaiston, trumpeter Dennis Marion, organist and pianist Anthony Farrell, drummer Anthony Cole, electric and lap steel guitarist Andrew Trube, and bassist Todd Smallie.

Full Review >>

Mofro guitarist Andrew Trube, also of Austin funkateers Greyhounds, struggles to describe the band's sound on the video portion of this live DVD/CD. A documentary brimming with riveting concert footage recorded in Atlanta, the video portion of Brighter Days is the best calling card yet for this group's clear-eyed Southern rock and horn-laden soul. In a certain light, bandleader Grey comes across as Springsteen from the Florida swamps – in love with his roots, yet literate enough to make his message a universal one.

Full Review >>