J.J. GREY & MOFRO

                                                       

JJ Grey & Mofro (formerly Mofro) is an American Southern soul-rock band from Jacksonville, Florida.

The early days of Mofro can be traced back to the mid-nineties when John Higginbotham aka "JJ Grey" and Daryl Hance signed with a United Kingdom label and played shows in Europe as Mofro Magic. Grey and Hance met in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida while working for an air conditioning company and developed a friendship through music. Their first band together was a rock band called Faith Nation followed by a funk band called Alma Zuma.The deal with the record label in London fell through, and Grey and Hance returned to their native Jacksonville and formed Mofro, then signed with Fog City Records in 2001.

The name "Mofro" was coined by JJ Grey as an explanation of the sound that the band made. Grey says the word was originally a nickname that a co-worker gave him and Grey adopted it as the band name because it "sounded southern." Grey later changed the band name to "JJ Grey & Mofro" when his grandmother asked him if he was ashamed to use his own name.

Blackwater (2001) and Lochloosa (2004)

The first studio album released by Mofro was Blackwater, released in 2001. The album is full of songs inspired by the surroundings of where JJ Grey grew up, such as "Blackwater" and "Florida". A car accident in late 2001 involving several members of Mofro slowed things down for the band and it was not until 2004 until they released their next album Lochloosa.This album continued to deliver songs about where Grey grew up and the industrial progress that continues to plague the natural beauty of the areas around Lochloosa Lake and Orange Lake. The title track, "Lochloosa", describes the changing landscape in northern Florida and JJ Grey's soulfulness and deep beliefs come through in the song. Lochloosa would be the last album with Fog City Records and the last album under the name Mofro.

Country Ghetto (2007) and Orange Blossoms (2008)

In 2007, JJ Grey & Mofro became the new name of the band under new record label Alligator, and the album Country Ghetto was released. The album featured slower, more soulful songs such as "The Sun is Shining Down", along with faster, and more rock and roll type songs such as "War" and "Country Ghetto". The song "The Sun is Shining Down" is featured in the opening scene of the Season 3 Finale of House of Cards. The next studio album was Orange Blossoms, released in 2008. Orange Blossoms features songs such as "On Fire" and "Wylf (What You're Looking For)" that revolve around sexual themes more so than previous songs performed by JJ Grey & Mofro.

Georgia Warhorse (2010) and This River (2013)

Their fifth studio album is Georgia Warhorse that was released in 2010. The album is named after a cricket that is found in northern Florida that is known for its strength despite its small size. The album features songs such as "The Sweetest Thing" that includes vocals from Toots Hibbert, from Toots and The Maytals. It also features Derek Trucks, from The Allman Brothers Band and The Tedeschi Trucks Band, on the song "Lullaby" playing slide guitar.Daryl Hance, who was an original member of Mofro, left the band in 2010 before this album was made to pursue a solo career. Hance was replaced on the guitar by Andrew Trube. JJ Grey & Mofro released This River in April 2013. The album features familiar upbeat songs such as "Florabama, "99 Shades of Crazy", and "Your Lady, She's Shady".

Ol' Glory (2015)

JJ Grey & Mofro released Ol' Glory on February 24, 2015, marking their first release on Provogue Records. Like many of their previous records, Ol' Glory contains tracks with southern inspired narratives with a unique blend of blues, rock, folk, funk, and gospel.

Musical style and influences

JJ Grey and Mofro's music has been described as a combination of blues, funk, soul, and rock.All of the songs are written by JJ Grey and reflect the region where he grew up in around Jacksonville, Florida. JJ Grey attributes artists such as Big Bad John and Jim Reeves due to their style of story songwriting and how that style has influenced the way he writes his songs.Grey also credits southern rock acts such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jerry Reed as artists who have influenced his style of music, as well as more soulful artists such as Toots Hibbert and Otis Redding. JJ Grey and Mofro are also known for their extensive touring schedule and have continually played at major summer music festivals including Bonnaroo, All Good Festival, Austin City Limits, Wakarusa, and Rothbury. Early on in their touring days, JJ Grey and Mofro gained fame within the jam band scene while touring with acts such as Widespread Panic, Galactic and Ben Harper. JJ Grey attributes most of the band's strength to their stage performances rather than in the studio.

El sello Alligator Records es el más importante de música blues de los últimos 40 años. Aquí cuenta con la distribución de DiscMedi y debieran seguirle la pista no sólo los seguidores del blues en su más estricto sentido. Decimos esto porque siempre han tenido artistas que se salen de esa línea como el soul de Jesse Dee, el todo terreno Anders Osborne, o una de sus bandas más vendedoras de siempre, JJ Grey & Mofro que se acercan al soul sin dejar de lado ningún palo de la mejor música de raíces americana. 

Pasaron más de una década en el sello de Bruce Iglauer por expreso deseo suyo y dejaron ventas por encima de los 100.000 ejemplares con discos como Orange Blossoms o Georgia Warhorse. Ese éxito motivo la publicación de Brighter Days: The Film And Live Concert Album, un impresionante directo al que se le añadía una excepcional filmación en el DVD. Se despidieron del sello hace un par de años con el soberbio This River que merece la pena recuperar una y otra vez. Tienes más información de todos estos discos y la forma de conseguirlos en www.discmedi.com.

El caso es que querían ir un paso más allá y salir a un sello discográfico de miras más abiertas como es Provogue, dentro del Mascot Label Group. Aquí se han juntado con otros grandes como Joe Bonamassa o la reina de las jam bands, Gov’t Mule, de quienes por cierto acaban de aparecer en poco tiempo dos estupendos y totalmente diferentes discos para conmemorar su 20 Aniversario. Se trata de Sco-Mule, doble LP y doble compacto (de más de 150 minutos) junto a John Scofield y totalmente instrumental y volcado en el jazz de Miles Davis, John Coltrane y John Scofield, claro. También han publicado Dark Side Of The Mule retando a esa obra magna de los Pink Floyd. 

Pero centrémonos ya en el discazo que es Ol’Glory. Se trata de su obra más enfocada hacia la música soul, aunque el rock de raíces campa también a sus anchas. De entrada, además, Provogue les ha proporcionado unos invitados de auténtico lujo como son Luther Dickinson al dobro y la guitarra eléctrica y Derek Trucks (The Allman Brothers Band) también con las 6 cuerdas. Siguen contagiando alegría y optimismo y así comienzan abiertamente soul con Everything Is a Song con un JJ Grey cantado de maravilla muy bien acompañado por el piano de Anthony Farrell (miembro clave de los Mofro) y los vientos. The Island es un buen y emotivo lento con una estupenda slide guitar de aromas country-blues. En Every Minute vuelve a desbordar su optimismo a la manera de un Ben Harper y Andrew Trübe se sale con los punteos. Con Light a Candle regresa el emocionante soul calmado, mientras que con Brave Lil’ Fighter aparece el contagioso y festivo soul entre James Brown y The Temptations más psicodélicos. 

Home in the Sky es estupendo soul-rock blanco al estilo de John Hiatt y con excelente acompañamiento otra vez de la banda. La pasión por Curtis Mayfield o el Marvin Gaye de los 70 se palpa en Hold on Tight. Con las destacadas Tic Tac Toe y la titular Ol’ Glory las voces parecen otras y nos traen a la mente otros grandes británicos como el recientemente desaparecido Joe Cocker o Eric Burdon. La despedida con The Hurricane es también muy especial porque comienza a pelo y de manera acústica para finalizar con folk-rock de primer nivel con la banda. ¡Una hora completísima y variada de música americana mayormente soul que conforma su mejor disco hasta la fecha y uno de los mejores del recién iniciado 2015!

Así se refería a J.J.GREY & MOFRO : 

Txema Mañeru 2015 En EL GIRADISCOS