Mimi Jones: For Granted
Musicians:
Mimi Jones (vocals, bass), Marvin Sewell (guitar), Marcus Gilmore (drums),
Miki Hayama (piano, Wurlitzer, keyboards)
.Composed by Miriam Sullivan
.Recorded: New Jersey, December 2007-May 2008
Rating: 81/100 (learn more)
Mimi Jones' "For Granted" manages to entertain even though its final results are average. The first aspect of the music that stands out is the groove, which mixes live sounding drums with a rather standard rhythm and blues/funk/soul vibe. However, the band winds up sounding musically indebted to both Steely Dan and Spyro Gyra as a result of the musicians' incorporation of mu major chords into the presentation.
Of course, none of this is as fluid (or as interesting) as the music recorded by those two fusion groups, but the players do attempt to sound like Larry Carlton, Victor Feldman, and Steve Gadd, and some keyboard flourishes that can be heard in the works of both Donald Fagen and Herbie Hancock exist.
Listeners will wish that Jones and company had explored the musical form more instead of relying on a single chord with few distinct changes and some recorded sounds that lack clear rendering, but, as they say, "the cut ain't half bad." She manages to emit a sultry sound while being devoted to the tune as it stands, and, in this, there is merit.
Reviewer: Marcus Singletary
Tags: 2000s jazz · jazz vocals
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