Sometimes, we just can’t help it, and we judge a book by its cover. Two young artists with recent releases had me barking up the wrong tree with my preconceived notions based on CD cover images, or what I knew about the artist – and boy! I was pleasantly surprised to find unexpected musical directions and depth. From the UK, there’s 21-year-old, blue-eyed soul singer James Morrison; and from our own world of teleseryes and his past with the Hunks, singer-composer Jericho Rosales and his new band, Jeans.
JAMES MORRISON – Undiscovered (Polydor/Universal)
Forget the James Blunt look of James Morrison, this is not a CD of over emotional, lachrymose You’re Beautiful ballad. Surprisingly, Undiscovered is a strong set of songs steeped in old time R ’n B and Soul. I heard the carrier single, You Give Me Something, and thought to myself, who was this 2006 bluesier version of Terence Trent D’Arby, or early Seal, only to discover it was James Morrison, a white boy from the town of Rugby, in the North of England.
Listen to One Last Chance, The Letter and This Boy, and I’m sure you’ll hear the smiles of Otis Redding and Al Green in the background. While some of the songs I find a tad weak, I’m sure he will eventually come up with a more consistent CD. When you throw in the fact that Morrison composed all the songs, you can’t help but be impressed with this debut. This is more in the tradition of Van Morrison and Paul Carrack than James Blunt; and I, for one, am happy to give this CD frequent play. On some tracks, Morrison even recalls Stevie Wonder. Along with fellow youngster Paolo Butini, Morrison is part of the new wave of raw and honest British blue-eyed soul.
JEANS – Loose Fit (with Jericho Rosales) (EMI)
I know people will not expect to listen to Jericho Rosales and his band, Jeans, and then think Ben Sidran, acid jazz, or Jason Mraz; but believe it or not, that’s what happened as I listened to the Jeans CD. Of course, he does not replace these artists, but I’ll give credit to Echo for pulling the rug from under my feet, and coming up with music that I wouldn’t have expected from him at all. Forget the carrier single and video, Ngayong Gabi (and I can imagine they will kill me for saying that), as it’s the CD’s one nod to what we would expect – a mainstream rock-tinged ballad. It’s the rest of the CD that really surprises and gives us a refreshing take on what Jericho can provide in the music scene.
The first two tracks have a distinctive acid jazz feel to them and set the tone for what follows. The Jeans band is no slouches. It has complex arrangements; and improv and run riffs like there’s no tomorrow. For me, the real strength and core of the CD are the two tracks Kasama Ka and Mr. Mart. Either of these should have been the carrier single, as they would have sent a loud signal to the world that Echo takes his musical vision very seriously, and has a unique statement to make. Jericho is credited with having composed all the songs as well, and if this is what comes out of having a lot of time in between takes when shooting movies and teleseryes, can we please fast track him back into his career, so we can have more of this music. Give it a chance and be ready to be surprised.