JORDAN OFFICER
THREE RIVERS
Spectra Musique
Singer, guitarist and songwriter Jordan Officer is from Montreal in Canada and began playing violin and drums as a youngster.
This is relevant to this CD as he plays excellent swinging violin on three tracks here, including the closer, Buck Jumping In New Orleans, on which the drum beat is very pervasive, and there are shades of the great jazz and sometimes rhythm and blues session guitarist Al Casey.
As you may have gathered, Jordan is not one to stick closely to tried and tested blues clichés then.
Right from the off, his warm vocals boom out in a way most decidedly not the blues norm – Your Body’s My Home really took me by surprise.
His playing is impressive too, as for example when he supplies some sacred steel licks on the lively Dream Of You And Me, which also has hints of country and 50s pop.
Young Love has affinities to early 60s pop-soul, whilst the catchy One Handed Push-Ups is an excellent swing-blues, and Jordan’s voice is extremely well-suited to this type of material.
Driving Back From Three Rivers is cool and reflective, leading into the beat and grooving Where Has This Come From.
Just To Be With You is a minimalist blues ballad and it is followed by the lively pop-blues of Found It All (nice slide guitar too), and He’s Got It All, a fine slow blues.
The CD was produced by Charley Drayton, who has worked on drums for The B-52s, Divinyls and Keith Richards. And somehow, that fits nicely with this rather different set too.
Album Review by NORMAN DARWEN
