This is another review of a monoblogue music alumni, and it’s an album that was a long time in the making.
You may recall back in January, when I followed up on my previous top 5’s, that Rich had been in the studio over the early part of 2018 but “the trail (seemed) to have grown cold.” This review is the bloodhound regaining the scent.
As it turned out, this album came out at the back end of 2018 but rather quietly, considering the album release party didn’t occur until just a couple weeks ago. And Juma was there: Juma Sultan is a longtime percussionist whose initial claim to fame was sharing the Woodstock stage with Jimi Hendrix. That bloodline is immediately set forth on the album’s first track, Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), which was a song Hendrix wrote and performed.
I can’t say whether The Groove’s version is as good as the original because it’s not a Hendrix track I’m familiar with. What I can say is that, if I didn’t know it was a remake, I’d be digging it anyway as a seriously good jam.
“Jammin’ With Juma” is a good mixture of covers that I knew and some variant of the following: covers which were so obscure that a Google search couldn’t dig them up, or stuff that Rich had kept in his back pocket. In the category of covers I knew you can place the old Eric Burdon song Spill The Wine and a song originally by Freddie Scott and redone by a solo Ron Wood called Am I Grooving You? (That one came via Rich’s song listing on his band’s website.) The remake of Wine starts out a little shaky but improves as it goes, while the take on Grooving is that of a more straight-ahead rock song placed on a sea of very psychedelic relics and jams.
There are two other songs on here that are only done once. I honestly thought Ghosts of Jimi was also a cover, but the other song that has a similar title isn’t the same track. Too bad for it, because The Groove made this song into a jam band tune with very catchy lyrics. Similarly, Paranoia Blues isn’t the version Paul Simon made famous: instead, this one has a large Tom Petty influence with a really cool outro.
I say “only done once” because the final two tracks on “Jammin’ With Juma” are reworked versions of two previous songs. Be Here Now is already a strangely successful interplay of a hint of dub music (lots of echo) with some country overtones. I noted on the original play (it’s track number three on the record) that it had a good jam band potential but seemed rushed to finish – well, the producer picked it up with a reprise in track eight for an extra minute and a half to a more satisfactory close.
The other example is track two: the heavily reggae Seven Sunsets, which is nicely done except for being a touch weak on the vocals. On the last track this one is really dubbed out and (naturally) rechristened Sunset Dub (Head Mix). The song is definitely made different by the effects.
But as I generally say, you’re the best judge of what’s good to your ears so feel free to listen for yourself. I know I liked this one a lot, and although it’s waaaaaay too early to consider this year’s top 5 I can see “Jammin’ With Juma” being a contender.