JoJo Green – Paint the Sky – Part 1 – EP
This is a brief, eclectic 5-track sample of songs by JoJo Green, a band that has a well-balanced menu of music with wonderfully tight bass slapping funky rhythms, soulful grooves with pinches of jazz, rock & instrumental passages. It’s the first of 2. The second is expected in 2027.
But for now, the Sharisse Germain (lead vocals/organ/keyboards/bgv), Scott Yonke (bass) & Matt Patrick produced Paint the Sky – Part 1 – EP (Drops Sept. 26/In Mono Records/26:43) recorded in Minneapolis, MN will whet the appetite. Sharisse’s vocals dominate. She’s a powerhouse vocalist who isn’t too raw but is convincingly solid with her pipes. She holds notes with ease & despite the band’s great support the focus is her voice.
Equally tight in the pipeline is drummer Nancy Long who lays it down with no room to insert a knife point. The song titles could use some help since they’re all cliches. However, “Get Me Back” doesn’t suffer that injury since the tune itself is muscular & energetic. The song “Two Different People” is basically Stax/Muscle Shoals in soulfulness with a Genya Ravan (Ten-Wheel Drive) oriented vocal. Bluesy, tough & superb sounding Zach Miller saxes have propulsion. The music is as standard as its precursors: Sly & the Family Stone, the Average White Band, Dreams & Ballin’ Jack. But I say again, the band is tight; they know how to turn the knobs on their musical reactor.
Sharisse never fails since she’s picking up where others have left off. Genya Ravan, Janis, Candy Givens (Zephyr), Brenda Patterson, Elkie Brooks & Chi Coltrane. The group knows how to turn down the steam with a pleasant “Paint The Sky” ballad. While the first 2 songs were drawn in oil, this is watercolor. Sharisse shows her diversity & sings with a little less drama & substitutes the whiskey for gin.
There’s nothing new under the sun. But there is a new set of young ears that aren’t familiar with those past artists, so JoJo Green is perfect. Maybe those ears will explore. That’s how the music genre survives. That’s why I go to Billie Holiday, because I listened to Madeleine Peyroux first.
With “Couldn’t Do Wrong” a quiet ballad building to a wonderful Zach Miller (alto/tenor saxes/bgv) coda the way Johnny Almond of Mark-Almond used to do (“Everybody Needs Friend” “Here Comes the Rain – Parts 1 & 2”) with the epic “Timothy B. Schmit.” Zach even gets wild bordering on Jaroslav Jakubovic (“Checkin’ In”) & Jack Lancaster (Blodwyn Pig’s “See My Way”). JoJo Green is an interesting bunch of musicians to keep an ear on.
Highlights – “Get Me Back,” “Two Different People,” “Paint The Sky,” “Couldn’t Do Wrong,” & “Timothy B. Schmit.”
Musicians – Conner Allen (guitar), Doug Christianson (percussion), Dawson Redenius (trumpet) & Annie Hicks (bgv).
Color image by Sammie Jean Cohen. CD @ Bandcamp & https://jojogreenmusic.com/epk-for-media