Jammin Jay Morton Lives Up to His Namesake

For the first review via artist submission I chose ‘Jammin’ Jay Morton. The bio on his site says that he draws large influence from both traditional blues and classic southern rock. Listeners will notice he can switch from one vocal style to the other on the fly, as demonstrated in ‘So Into You’ from Coffee JamZ.

The two albums he sent to me were Rockin’ The National and Coffee JamZ.

Rockin The National, as described it to me is ‘delta blues inspired with all songs done on my Style O National Resonator. The theme of this CD is to take the influence of the great Son House Delta Blues and put it to some modern Rock songs done interpretively. For instance, Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog, CCR’s Born on the Bayou, and ZZ Top’s Cheap Sunglasses. The others are original: Desert Cries, Depot Man, Blues in My Bottle, and Shake Em on Down.’

The songs on Coffee JamZ had a different spin: ‘This album was covering songs interpretively to be something you would hear on a station such as ‘Coffee House’ on XM and Sirius.’

Whichever album you pick, his songs are all very minimalistic, which in many aspects makes the songs more challenging because there aren’t a bunch of computerized, overproduced parts to each of them. There is nowhere to hide, as the saying goes.

The only other people you will find on the records are John Dubuc, who can be heard playing the harmonica, and a tambourine player. Interestingly enough, the tambourine is actually played by Jay. With his foot. He also does this in his live shows. On ‘So Into You’, and on the entire Rockin’ the National album, John Hall plays a traditional Washboard. This adds a great blues/folk rock groove reminiscent of the early delta juke tunes.

Coffee JamZ is very reminiscent of Josh Kelley’s debut, For the Ride Home. For me, that is a hell of a comparison, as I can still listen to that album from the first track to the last and I credit it as being the disc that got me into this whole acoustic/singer/songwriter genre.

His voice is perfect for the Simple Man cover (which was also covered in the past few years by Shinedown). While Shinedown’s version was really not that good in my opinion (I didn’t think the lead singer’s voice fit the song at all), this one with Jay turned out awesome. The soulfulness in his voice fits the song perfectly.

I am also a big fan of his cover of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance.’ His vocal tone is a perfect accompaniment to songs that have a soulful side to them. It’s no surprise that the majority of the track listings fit that bill.

Check out this YouTube video of the Freddie King song ‘Big Legged Woman’, which can be found on Coffee JamZ. The jam session features Michael Somma on the electric guitar, which adds an extra element not found on the album. Definitely a sweet jam session, check it out:

Jammin’ Jay Morton & Michael Somma – Big Legged Woman

For the latest news on Jay Morton – including merchandise, tour dates, photo galleries, and streaming songs from these two albums – visit www.JayJamZ.com.

Become Jay’s friend on Facebook HERE and while you are at it, don’t forget to become a Fan of Outsider Vocals!

All photos, music, and videos copyright of their respective owners. Used only for promotional purposes and to gain notoriety for the artists featured.

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