Taking inspiration from Ray Charles’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western album, Connecticut’s blues (and other genres) singer Greg Sherrod examines his own genre with Modern Sounds In The Blues. This eight song album shows what Connecticut’s gigantic singer tweaking blues idioms to see how far he can stretch them while remaining true to essence.
The fun bumpity bump groove of “Silver Platter” opens the disc with its mid tempo cruise. Sherrod’s vocal rides that level of easygoing rasp, a pace that lets his sorrowful tale express itself one bit at a time. That pace allows Paul Gabriel‘s guitar lead to express more sadness with its brittle lines in constant motion. This one makes the blues fit into that Robert Cray mode of traditional feeling with modern finesse, getting it all out in a studio that what a studio could do in the past.
“My Little Secret” gets its rails from a tender lead guitar that touches one’s heartstrings with slightly accented notes that tell their own sad tale. As those emotive notes play, Sherrod rides them with a polite surefootedness. His soulful vocal glide expresses the heartbreaking reveal that he can’t let someone know how he feels for fear of rejection. A persistent acoustic guitar strum, loaded with emotive grit, carries a second layer of meaning, as does an electric whose brittle notes pulls us further in.
“All The Beautiful Things” might not have a lot in common with blues. It is more like soulful pop. Older blues music didn’t have the peppy instrumentation that shine with positive energy. Sherrod sings with a restrained joy, a restraint that makes it feel even more passionate. This is not the weepy blues of 1950s Chicago. It’s more like a jump into the 1060s R&B love songs.
“I’ll Be Your Sunshine” kicks off with a sweet, shiny R&B style chorus. Sherrod and his backing vocalists hop, skip, and jump through this fun, bouncy number. Sherrod’s lead vocal, smooth and cool, utilizing soulful sustains, offers a glimpse into the music that has inspired him. The only trace of old school blues is a thick lead guitar line that wiggles its way around the groove. Yet, the song does show how Sherrod can string together blues music with any kind of music. Fitting, since this R&B style emanated from blues.
“Shake It” gets a funk feel bass line that the rest of the song’s architecture is built upon. Drum fills slapped out around that low end line also make a lot of motion for the feet to move to. Sherrod’s sharp rasp makes a plaintive cry for his intended to show more of what she’s got. Clever at tossing his salads, Sherrod has a guitarist move his phrase around like a game of Twister, snaking around the groove.
An electric guitar chord progression swaggers its way into “Perseverance,” a Sherrod anthem about how he has the stamina to manage all that he has going on. His soulful belt, forceful and dynamic, captures the blockbuster energy of himself. A lead guitar erupts with a mighty forceful phrase to represent how Sherrod, who even when he seems straight out, can suddenly make another mighty move into an involving project. This is the man’s theme song, one he might develop into a concept album at some point, based on all we know of him thus far.
A tribute to Jackie Wilson, “Face To Face” has a smooth rocking chair groove that allows Sherrod to belt out his soulful. That groove, followed by strong rhythmic guitar strumming, leaves a lot of space on top for the lead vocal. Sherrod unleashes his approval for his admired person, asking the hip swiveling woman to forget social media and get with him in person. It’s a hip delivery of words he belts mightily.
Close out track “Nobody Home”, a slow boiler blues, crawls with a muscular cool. Bass and drums control everything here with a steady thump. Biting blues guitar rears its head with a sly, slithering phrase. That neighborhood of cool swampy mist makes a good home for Sherrod to spread his anguished vocal. With a timbre that sounds tortured and a belt that practically screams pain with its plaintive wail, Sherrod gives us the dirty low down on his lady.
This album finds Sherrod working with The Greg Sherrod Music Company. It is made up of a band he calls The Core and a choir he calls The Voices. The Core is Chuck Czajkowski, Robert Hibson, Steve Tavares, with guest musicians Paul Gabriel, Willie Moss, Marc Tractenberg, and Jim Heetman. The Voices are Colin Smith, Jim Heetman, Katherine Lord, and Lisette St. Germain. Sherrod and Jack Gauthier produced it at Lakewest Studios in Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Sherrod accomplishes a lot on this Modern Sounds In Blues Music album. He hows how blues can still express the depth of human emotion within its original simple composition. Sherrod also shows how blues can stretch into joyful expressions, especially when it also stretches into a danceable R&B song. Good work.
