Boogaloo Joe Jones

NEW RELEASE – THE WHITE BLINDS

Brown Bag and Muddy Water represent the yin and yang of The White Blinds, organ groove outfit from Los Angeles, California.

Personnel

Carey Frank (organ), Matt Hornbeck (guitar), Michael Duffy (drums)

Recorded

in 2020 at Rich Uncle Records, Los Angeles

Released

as FSPT 1015 in 2020

Track listing

Side A:
Brown Bag
Side B:
Muddy Water

Whatever aspect of soul and soul jazz The White Blinds have chosen to tackle, they never fail to deliver. The trio, consisting of drummer Michael Duffy, organist Carey Frank and guitarist Matt Hornbeck, is a mainstay on the West Coast. They previously released their debut album Get To Steppin’ in 2018 and 7inch homage to Sly Stone and Charles Earland, Sing A Simple Song, in 2019.

Their latest “Homage” 7inch, a black (or shine orange limited edition) disc packaged in a blank sleeve straight from the jukebox era of lore, courtesy of F-Spot Records, combines hard groove with meaty soul song. Brown Bag was originally recorded by guitarist Ivan “Boogaloo Joe” Jones on his Prestige album Right On in 1970. The showcase for guitarist Matt Hornbeck is underscored by the effective rolls and steam engine beat of Duffy and full-bodied accompaniment by Franks. Hornbeck’s angular phrases work towards a rousing climax in a suspenseful manner. Brown Bag is a very pleasant dance floor cooker. The band forcefully flies through the modulations of the tune, the typically speedy Boogaloo Joe Jones lines and its self-penned, dynamic interlude.

On the other side of the spectrum, the original White Blinds composition Muddy Water moves with sensuous, Philly soul-ish ease. It might serve as kickstart to an evening of hugs and kisses, and it might have served, in another time and place, as the background to the vocals of the late great Sharon Jones. There evidently lies a genuine passion for vintage soul jazz at the heart of The White Blinds.

The White Blinds

Find Brown Bag/Muddy Water on F-Spot Records here.

Look at that confident young man on the cover of No Way! Dressed in full funky regalia, caught in the action of playing a solid Gibson guitar, resolutely and in earnest. Boogaloo Joe Jones: sounds hip, dude. And the sleeve shows a man inclined to hit the big time. He wouldn’t, though. Boogaloo Joe Jones, sideman on a small number of soul jazz recordings, before disappearing into obscurity, nevertheless made a series of good albums for Prestige. No Way! is one of them.

Personnel

Boogaloo Joe Jones (guitar), Grover Washington Jr. (tenor saxophone), Sonny Philips (organ, electric piano, A1 – A3, B2), Butch Cornell (organ, B1, B3), Jimmy Lewis (Fender bass), Bernard Purdie (drums)

Recorded

on November 23, 1970 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Released

as PR10004 in 1971

Track listing

Side A:
No Way!
If You Were Mine
Georgia On My Mind
Side B:
Sunshine Alley
I’ll Be There
Holdin’ Back

It shows an uncanny ability to inject the blues, which is the basis of his style, into a repertoire of wide range. It might take a listen or two to connect the party-hardy, viciously outgoing funk of the title track to the sweet and sour white boy’s blues of If You Were Mine – recorded earlier by Ray Charles who’d gone c&w himself. But then it clicks.

In the former, there might be the risk of being blown away by the steamrolling tandem of funk jazz drum wizard Bernard Purdie and electric bassist Jimmy Lewis – a spicy stew – but Boogaloe Joe Jones devours it with relish and throws in punchy lines and fast-fingered licks. Its continuous climactic impulses might might wear one down a bit, but No Way! certainly rocks. Jones also does pretty well in the latter, in which his ‘twangy’ sound and inflected imitiation of the human voice is paramount to its innocent, hum-along charm. If You Were Mine also features a resonant solo by Grover Washington Jr.

So here we have a hip-shaking and eloquent recording of funk, blues, pop and country, jazzed up by a guitar player who, by the way, supposedly was nicknamed Boogaloo chiefly to avoid confusion with the likes of Philly Joe Jones and Jo Jones. Keep good company is what my grandma always used to say.

FLOPHOUSE

magazine