Laurence Jones - Destination Unknown

Principle #1:  As Todd Rundgren once said, if you’ve got a single, put it first.  Now nobody’s going to mistake Laurence Jones for a singles artist anytime soon, but the principle still applies, and Jones has followed it by opening Destination Unknown with a real attention-grabber of a track in ‘Anywhere With Me’.  Bursting into action with a taut, Schenker-like riff, it’s bright and fresh, and packs in plenty of twists and turns to keep your ears on alert.  The rhythm section are right on it, with neat variations from drummer Samuel Jenkins, Bennett Holland supplies some

Laurence Jones feels the spirit move him.

dandy blasts of organ, and Jones himself adds surging chords, guitar fill garnishing, and a zesty solo leading into a strident bridge.  Oh yeah, and a confident, spirited vocal too.  Okay Laurence, I’m in.  What’s next?
What’s next is ‘Can’t Keep From Loving You’, which opens with a bouncing riff over throbbing bass from Jack Alexander Timms and swinging drums from Jenkins.  It’s a good tune, with a witty guitar turnaround at the end of the chorus.  Which brings me to Principle #2: As someone once put it, “You get the chorus, and then at then at the end you milk it.  Do it five times!”   It’s a maxim Jones and co seem to have grasped, hammering home the hook here - and elsewhere - even while Jones sends guitar licks flitting between the lines.
There’s a tense urgency about ‘Give Me That Feeling’, which suits a lyric about getting all hot and bothered over a girl.  The pushy, low-end, stop-start riff works a treat, another catchy chorus comes swathed in organ from Holland, and Jones adds a clever, needlingly different guitar break for good measure.
Do they keep up this glowing standard over the course of the remaining tracks?  Well, perhaps not – but they give it a good go.  There’s an air of Foreigner-like AOR to the likes of ‘Gave It All Away’ and ‘I Won’t Lie Again’, the former swirling and kicking and the latter neat and swinging, if less memorable.  And there’s a similar vibe later with ‘Said And Done’, this time with a mellow opening of pulsing bass and chocolate box piano before Jones enters with a probing guitar line, and then a yearning vocal backed up by satisfying harmonies.
‘Tonight’ veers from sensitive verses to a muscle-flexing chorus, and if the value of adding a delayed coda initially seems doubtful that’s soon brushed aside as it swells into a whirling organ solo and some lofty, sweeping guitar work from Jones.  There’s a touch of latterday King King-like soulfulness too, on the romantic ‘Holding Back’, which veers between a breathy chorus and a strong guitar theme, and on the closing title track, with its glossy harmonies and ascending chorus, plus its good use of dynamics and the impactful bridge that prefaces Jones’ melodic solo that wraps itself around the final replays of the hook.
Destination Unknown is a worthy follow-up to previous album Laurence Jones Band - an enjoyable ensemble performance from Jones and his amigos, this time with a new rhythm section in Timmis and Jenkins.  The arrangements are concise but punchy, slipping in enough flourishes to sharpen interest along the way, and the sound is clear, tight and well-balanced.  Well done chaps.
 
Destination Unknown is out now on Marshall Records, and can be ordered here.

Laurence Jones Band/Matt Pearce & The Mutiny - Oran Mor, Glasgow, 1 December 2019

It’s three years since I last saw Laurence Jones play live.  And a lot has happened in the world of Laurence Jones since then.  He’s changed from a three-piece to a four-piece, bringing in Bennett Holland on keys.  He’s grown his hair and grown a beard.  He’s changed record labels.  And he’s released two albums, last year’s The Truth, and the most recent Laurence Jones Band.  He’s still smiling though, in the same rather endearing way as always.

Tonight’s set leans heavily on those two most recent albums, kicking off with ‘I’m Waiting’ from Laurence Jones Band.  With Bennett Holland giving it some welly on organ, and new bassist Jack Alexander Timmis supplying bubbling bass, it conjures up a surging late 60s

The guitar may gently weep, but Laurence Jones smiles 

rock sound that’s one of the strengths of the new album, and which continues through the following ‘Stay’.  ‘Wipe Those Tears Dry’ is funkier, with loose-limbed bass from Timmis providing a great groove, and its also apparent that Jones’ voice has developed further over the years, especially backed up by Holland and additional backing vocalist Abbie Adi.

By the time they get to the soulful, retro ‘Quite Like You’ it’s apparent that the new songs have that bit more oomph than on the album.  In sub-zero Glasgow, drummer Phil Wilson had come onstage swathed in a scarf, but by now he’s getting warmed up on the song’s bouncing rhythm, while Holland supplies some funky organ.  And on ‘Mistreated’, propelled by a great bass line, Jones delivers a big wah-wah solo which is the focus for them to collectively whip things up.

Jones reverts to a trio for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s slow blues ‘Lenny’, on which he does a good turn, with delicate use of his whammy bar contributing to interesting bendy segments.  Then he sits down with an acoustic for an appealing run through ‘Long Long Lonely Ride’, with bluesy piano tinkling from Holland and a tasteful, twanging guitar solo.

If I had to choose a song from The Truth for them to play live, the romantic ‘Take Me’ probably wouldn’t be it, and although Jones’ solo kicks off a rousing crescendo the ensuing singalong doesn’t seem a good fit.  ‘What Would You Do’ is more interesting though, a twitchily funky, danceable affair that grows from choppy riffing, through an organ solo to a call and response guitar and keys passage.

Personally I’m more interested in seeing what Jones can do with his satisfying guitar showcase on his slow blues ‘Thunder In The Sky’ than the admittedly decent stab at ‘All Along The Watchtower’ that precedes it, great song though it is.  And another cover in the form of CCR’s ‘Before You Accuse Me’ chugs along rather stiffly at first, but starts to swing nicely after a boogie-ing piano turn from Holland leads into a Jones’ solo, with Wilson playing nicely behind the beat.

They close with the Stonesy, good-time handclapping vibe of ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’, before returning to encore with ‘Live It Up’, a bit of a throwaway enlivened by Wilson

Phil Collins lookalike Matt Pearce gets stuck in

standing as he whacks out the drum intro, and some “Hey Hey” audience participation initiated by Holland.  Jones and co are a tight band, and they warmed up a freezing night, but I can’t help thinking Jones really needs to comb his repertoire for a couple of more powerful songs to create a set that really takes off.

Support band Matt Pearce & The Mutiny are no slouches, and make their own sizeable contribution to the evening’s entertainment.  Pearce, the guitarist with hard rockers Voodoo Six, is a dapper specimen in jacket, waistcoat and feather-adorned titfer, and a confident performer on both guitar and vocals.

‘Scarecrowing’ opens their forty minute set with tight-but-loose funkiness, Pearce pitching in some controlled wah-wah playing alongside a clavinet-style solo from Joe Mac on keys.  ‘Like A Hammer’ is all slinky verse and crunching chorus, with Pearce getting into some busy guitar/bass harmonising with Kelpie McKenzie.  There’s a ballsy fuzziness to his guitar sound on ‘Ordinary Blues’, which as he hints in his introduction has a decidedly Rush-like riff going on under the verse.

He switches from Les Paul Gold Top to a hollow body to contribute slide guitar on the bluesy riff of ‘Gotta Get Home’, the title track from their first album, which also features some gutsy vocal harmonies on its Beatle-ish anthemic chorus.  New song ‘Got A Thing Going On’ is muscular and bright but also jazzy, and ‘Set Me Free’ is another well-constructed track, slower and with Pearce’s solo built around some strong themes.

They close with a medley of Prince’s ‘Strange Relationship’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’, giving it some serious biff on the latter, with fuzzed up guitar on the riff and some blazing organ, before going off to a big cheer.  Matt Pearce & The Mutiny are a serious proposition with their brand of rocked-up funk, and I fully expect them to be out there drawing their own audiences before long.

Laurence Jones Band - Laurence Jones Band

So it’s goodbye to Laurence Jones, solo artist, and hello to the Laurence Jones Band.  And there they are, on the cover of their eponymous new album, looking moody and meaningful, with LJ himself out front with a new layer of face fuzz, arms folded and staring straight at the camera.  It’s all very assertive - looks like it should mean something.

I’ll tell you what it means. It means that after his last album The Truth, a soul-pop kinda thing that was okay in its own terms but felt constrained and emasculated, young Laurence and his band of brothers have decided to have some goddamned fun, that’s what it means!

I could be talking bollocks – what’s new about that, says you – but I reckon Laurence has found some inspiration by going back to the Sixties for some of this stuff, be it Swinging Sixties R’n’B or soulful funky business.

Laurence Jones Band - three parts facial hair, one part quiff

Pic by Rob Blackham

Take the opening track ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’, fr’instance – which itself sounds like a statement of intent.  You know how the Dandy Warhols’ ‘Bohemian Like You’ sounds like a Stones out-take? Well, this kicks off with a piano riff from Bennett Holland that’s straight out of ‘Bohemian Like You’, underlined by some ringing chords from Jones.  Do I care if they’ve lifted it?  Nah, the main thing is that it’s loose-limbed and rocking, and it’s got a chorus that’s a rush of energy, plus some “wooh-oohing” female backing vocals courtesy of Di Reed, a nifty little guitar solo, and some more rinky-dinky piano on the outro.

In similar fashion ‘I’m Waiting’ has driving guitar and surging organ competing for attention like a modern-day ‘Hush’, over racing drums and bass from Phil Wilson and Greg Smith, to which Jones adds a wig-out wah-wah solo.  The following ‘Stay’ emerges from some blues guitar twangery to encompass more boogie woogie from Holland, and more Di Reed backing for Jones as he hollers lines like “Gimme Some Lovin”.  (Ms Reed, in fact, does sterling work across most of the album.)  There’s some organ chucked into the mix too, and even a few Sgt Peppery twiddles in quieter moments, and by the end I can visualise Phil Wilson doing some Ringo-like head-tossing as it swings along.  Oh yeah, and they do a decent cover of ‘Day Tripper’ too, which on one level seems pointless, but hey – it fits.

Does all this represent a new musical frontier?  Nope. And I’ll tell you this too – the lyrics are mostly pretty banal.  But I don’t care – ‘cause it’s fun!

The same goes for the soulful and funky ‘Wipe Those Tears Dry’.  It’s a decent little tune that captures the desired mood nicely, with understated licks and riffs hither and yon from Jones, and an appealing arrangement epitomised by the middle eight.  In a similar vein, ‘Quite Like You’ is a bit of relaxed funkiness with a lazy rhythm, bluesy little licks and soulful organ.  At times it hints at Royal Studios in Memphis in the Sixties – doesn’t hint that hard, to be honest, but you get my drift.

Even better is the utterly simple soulfulness of the mellow ‘Beautiful Place’, which is a salient reminder that Bennett Holland also played keys on King King’s Standing In The Shadows album.  So here we have a somewhere-down-the-lazy-river rhythm, spot on vocal harmonies, and even a cheeky little bass turnaround from Greg Smith.

There are some bluesier moments too, as on ‘Mistreated’, for example – no, not that one, Purple fans. Restrained blues guitar picking over deep, deep down bass, leads into a tasty, tumbling guitar riff, and if Jones’ solo starts off measured, it shifts into overdrive as Phil Wilson’s shuffling drums gain intensity.  Meanwhile ‘Long, Long Lonely Ride’ is based on even more back-porch style guitar picking over a simple beat, with a suitably bluesy vocal and solo to boot.

There’s other good stuff too, and only one instance of real filler in the humdrum ‘Low Down’. Producer Gregory Elias brings a modern polish to the sound without stifling the energy, and he continues to get better vocal performances out of Jones than in days of old.

Look, I’m not gonna tell you that Laurence Jones Band is some consciousness-expanding classic. But as I sat on a warm afternoon giving it a proper listen, I found myself being seduced by its good vibrations – and yes, even excitations.

Laurence Jones Band is released on 27 September by Top Stop Music.

For tour dates in Europe and Britain from 14 September check the band's website.

Laurence Jones - The Truth

If Take That had envisioned themselves as a blues rock band, this is what they might have sounded like.
Okay, take a deep breath. I’m not saying this to slag Laurence Jones off. I might find the whole TT schtick as unappealing as any other blues/rock fan, but I’d still argue Gary Barlow and chums have shown a handy way with a pop melody down the years. And I’d submit that what we have here, on Laurence Jones’ first outing with Gregory Elias as producer and label boss, is something that similarly majors on catchy choruses, sophisticated harmonies, and glossy production.  Jones may have come up with some similar basic material in the past – ‘Don’t Look Back’ on What’s It Gonna Be, for example – but this is a whole different animal.

Laurence Jones - smooth operator

Pic by Rob Blackham

Vocal coaching for Jones has been a declared component in the development of The Truth, and his singing here is smoother and more controlled than on previous albums. Which fits with a vibe in which Bennett Holland’s keys are often as much to the fore as Jones’s guitar – in fact more so now and then.  And you’ll wait a long time to hear drummer Phil Wilson give a cymbal a resounding crash across the ten songs here.
‘What Would You Do’ sets the tone with a tense guitar riff, an earworm of a chorus, lots of cleverly arranged backing vocals, and a restrained, tasteful guitar solo, all conveyed by means of a crystal clear sound. But several songs, such as ‘Hold Me Close’, the four-on-the-floor ‘Keep Me Up At Night’, and ‘Take Me’ rest more heavily on warm piano from Holland, and drum rhythms from Wilson so rock solid in their constancy that they could be programmed.
Things are more up tempo and urgent on ‘Don’t You Let Me Go’, with its stop- start guitar and keyboard chords, and ‘Give Me Your Time’, in which Jones contributes a nice solo that sits unnecessarily low in the mix. ‘Gone Away’ is perhaps as gritty as it gets, built on wah-wah guitar and some edgier vocals from Jones in the verses, with a brief but sparky guitar solo and some lush organ to complement the very Take That chorus.
Blues fans may well incline most towards the two tracks that go for an Aynsley Lister-ish vibe, namely the title cut and the closing ‘Never Good Enough’ with its ooh-oohing backing vocals and laid back, ticking guitar. With none of the ten tracks on the album reaching four minutes in length I reckon ‘The Truth’, a slowie with a bluesy guitar intro, should have been an opportunity for Jones to stretch out and bring some more guitar to the party.
What Jones and his new mentor Elias have given us on The Truth is very well done, but it does feel a bit constricted in style. A couple of bursts of more spontaneous rough and tumble, in the manner of an earlier song like ‘Stop Moving The House’, would have provided some leavening variety.
After four previous albums showing varying degrees of maturity, and god knows how many shows across Europe as a veritable road warrior, Laurence Jones is certainly entitled to try a new direction.  The blues-pop of The Truth does that stylishly, if within a very contained framework. It’ll be interesting to see how he makes this stuff work in a live setting.

Laurence Jones - The Caves, Edinburgh, 17 November 2016

A hundred and eighty gigs so far this year hasn’t dimmed the enthusiasm of Laurence Jones and his band.  Which is just as well, because that enthusiasm is infectious, and does a lot to sustain their set.

Launching into action with ‘Got No Place To Go’, they immediately demonstrate one of their strengths, with a chunky, funky riff that folds in Roger Inniss’s bass and makes clear early on that drummer Phil Wilson is now well and truly in the groove since joining a year or so ago.  They keep up the good work with ‘Can’t Keep Living Like This’, which features some interestingly twangy guitar in the verse, a huge riff in the bridge, and a Hendrixy solo from Jones.

"I've told you Rog, you can have a bass solo in a minute!"

Jones is a technically impressive guitarist, and he makes good use of effects to add variety to his sound, as on the offbeat, twitchy ‘Something’s Changed’.  He’s also capable of mining a fruitful seam of funk – and why wouldn’t he, when he has the not-so-secret weapon of Roger Inniss and his six-string bass at his disposal? His latest album Take Me High hinted at him going further in this direction, but it’s less in evidence than I expected, which is a pity.

They add a shot of reggae to ‘Something’s Changed’ though, morphing it into ‘I Shot The Sherriff’ as a prelude to more echoes of Clapton with ‘Cocaine’.  ‘Thunder In The Sky’ offers a slow blues epic, which shows off a good sense of space, and also demonstrates that Jones’s voice has come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years.

There are a couple of good hooks too, on ‘I Will’ and ‘Live It Up’, the latter featuring another novel, squelchy guitar effect.  ‘Addicted To Your Love’ is a slow grind with some howling guitar, and ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ closes the loop with another chunky riff.

I like Laurence Jones and his band, but four albums in it’s time for him to make a big stride forward.  He needs to push beyond the prosaic lyrics evident in a lot of his songs, really connect with things emotionally, and bring that out in his playing.  Strangely, his set omits

Johnny Boos does some finger pickin'

tracks that have that resonance about them, such as the struggle of ‘Down & Blue’ – which I’m sure has personal connotations – or the humour of ‘Stop Moving The House’.  But they encore strongly with the R’n’B of ‘Every Day I Have The Blues’, with it’s mic-less singalong, and I like ‘em.  I’d just like to see what Laurence and co can really do.

Full credit to support band GT’s Boos Band for trying to come up with material that doesn’t plough a predictable furrow.  The punchy opener ‘Seven Questions’ is followed up by the imaginative ‘High N Dry’, with its tempo changes and shimmering passages.  They get well and truly ambitious with the epic feel of ‘Amsterdam’, which has an interesting up tempo segment and atmospheric guitar from Johnny Boos, but begs the question whether the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  A more coherent attempt at doing something adventurous is the set closer ‘What I’m Wishing’, with a powerful closing solo from Boos.  In between, ‘Letham City Blues’ is gutsy, and ‘Real Born Winner’ dishes up some bright rhythm and blues.  I look forward to seeing them add greater consistency to the variety.

Laurence Jones - Mash House, Edinburgh, 15 April 2016

It may say Laurence Jones on the ticket, but if you’ve seen Jones before you’ll know that this isn’t a one-man show.  Young Laurence may get an infectious degree of pleasure from his work, but much of the vitality of his band’s performance comes from the interaction between Jones and his trusty bassman, Roger Inniss.  Anyone remember Tom and Jerry?  The Inniss/Jones relationship reminds me of protective bulldog Spike, beaming “Dat’s my boy” at the antics of his pup, Tike.

Laurence Jones and Roger Inniss - "Dat's my boy!"

Joking aside, Jones often capitalises on the funk that Inniss brings to the equation with his 6-string bass, for example on ‘What I Need’, which they bring down to a murmur before an explosive finale.  A cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Higher Ground’ is also a natural tour de funk, stylishly executed with Jones producing a great organ-like guitar sound through a Leslie pedal, while new kid on the drum kit Phil Wilson shows he can swing.

Wilson’s arrival is the main change since Jones toured last year, following the return of his predecessor Miri Miettinen to Finland.  Miettinen’s are big shoes to fill, with his looseness and sense of space, but on this showing Wilson has slotted in well.  He punctuates the brooding opener ‘Southern Breeze’ neatly, and contributes heavily to the twitching, shifting rhythms of new song ‘Take Me High’, a chunk of bump’n’grind with a hint of Johnny Winter’s ‘Rock’n’Roll Hootchie Koo’ about it. It’s an encouraging foretaste of Jones’ new album in the offing, produced by Mike Vernon.

Funk isn’t the only game in town though, as Jones lets loose plenty guitar fireworks with a howling solo on ‘Good Morning Blues’, and rolling guitar licks on ‘Thunder In The Sky’ as a prelude to a solo that veers towards epic proportions in the manner of a Michael Schenker wig-out.  There’s more variety too with the bright, Celtic feel of ‘Set It Free’, while ‘Fall From The Sky’ features some interesting variations, and Jones also introduces us to his new baritone guitar.

‘The Price I Pay’ features a lively guitar/bass duel playing around with great riffs you have known and loved, before Inniss underlines his groovemeister credentials with a squelchy bass solo.  They encore with a brisk ‘What’s It Gonna Be’, before vacating the stage to make way for some bleeding club night that’s taking over the venue for the latter part of the night.  A compact set from Jones and his compadres, but still great value in the keeping music live stakes.

The Black Circles - a Bratley with a Strat

Mancunian supporting trio The Black Circles also provide their fair share of the entertainment.  Guitarist Sam Bratley conjures up a full, colourful sound with ease, and on the slow blues ‘Bad Luck’ his voice hints at the late Jimmy Dewar’s soulfulness, while his extended solo stays interesting by dint of good dynamics, and great control, tone and variety.  ‘Gypsy Girl’ is as Hendrixy a rave-up as it’s title might suggest, right down to Bratley’s wah-wah heavy solo, while ‘She’s Dynamite’ is an SRV-like blast of boogie.

Stevie Ray influences are also abroad on the closing slowie ‘Stop Acting This Way’.  By the sound of it Bratley is well immersed in the works of Messrs Hendrix and Vaughan, but good on him and his bassist buddy Martin Saunders for translating their influences into something original, rather than just trotting out covers.  It’s an impressive support set, and if they can inject more of their personalities into their performance, in the manner of the headliners, they could be an exciting proposition.

Laurence Jones - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, 21 June 2015

To paraphrase George Peppard in The A-Team, I love it when a band comes together.

Laurence Jones is undoubtedly a whizz kid in the guitar stakes, but the smartest thing he has ever done musically is probably to recruit the excellent Roger Inniss on bass and Miri Miettinen on drums as his band.  As this belter of a show demonstrates, these guys have the chops to form a trio that knits together in the most relaxed way, whilst really letting the Jones boy take flight.  The chemistry is evident throughout, whether in the way Inniss and Jones bounce off each other, or in the sense of playfulness that comes about because they’re all sympatico with each other.

Laurence Jones goes for lift off

Photo courtesy of Stuart Stott

The sound is big and meaty right from the opening ‘What’s It Gonna Be’, and if ‘Touch Your Moonlight’ is a rather slight song on record it comes alive more here, with Inniss carrying the riff asJones solos. The rocking ‘Don’t Need No Reason’ cranks things up another notch, and paves the way for the highlight that is ‘Good Morning Blues’.  The blues have got us alright, as Jones plays a blinder with a squelchy wah wah solo before making his Strat howl big time with a few shots of whammy bar – and then getting into some lock tight harmonised guitar and bass runs with Inniss as icing on the cake.

A tribute to B.B. King in the form of ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ offers a breather, and demonstrates Miettinen’s effortless sense of time and space, and ability to subtly vary the beat.  They go on to tackle ‘All Along The Watchtower’, and while I might often regard that as a redundant exercise, Jones sensibly doesn’t go for Hendrix but follows his own path, with some funky messing around before really taking off – and then briefly quoting ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for a bit of extra fun.  (And here, just to underline the point, my notes go on to say: “LOVE the rhythm section!”)

Maturity is a word Laurence Jones must hear a lot these days.  His voice is in the zone now, and his song-writing is getting stronger – it’s no surprise that the set draws most heavily on his latest album What's It Gonna Be.  There’s still room to grow though – there are fireworks aplenty on the guitar front, and he has his own character rather than being beholden to some obvious influence.  But I sense he can still acquire more soul, more sense of light and shade.

Jones and Inniss - a successful chemistry experiment

Photo courtesy of Stuart Stott

But hey, this isn’t about damning with faint praise; it’s about a recognition of more to come.  Jones’s guitar playing, it has to be said, took me aback with its range and confidence, and he is trying to break new ground on the song front – new song ‘Whisper In The Wind’ shows his adventure, with shifts in mood, reflective lyrics inspired by his late uncle, some neat finger picking, and an exploration of a Bad Company like style that’s more interesting than his cover of ‘Can’t Get Enough’ on his latest album.

Enough of all the discerning critic bit.  The crunching boogie of ‘Evil’ makes for a satisfying set closer, and they come back for a roof-raising encore of ‘Stop Moving House’, epitomising the effervescence and fun of the whole night – and of Laurence Jones himself.

In the support slot Blueprint offer up a set of 70s blues rock ranging across the likes of Rory Gallagher, Robin Trower and Led Zeppelin.  That’s a challenging palette, and they still have work to do to give it some coherence, imbued with their own voice.  But Chris Drysdale on lead guitar and vocals throws himself into some Jimmy Page moves with gusto, and if they can give that energy and enthusiasm greater focus they should get tighter.