Orange Blossoms Out NOW!

JJ Grey & Mofro are proud to announce the release of their fourth studio album, Orange Blossoms, which hits stores nation-wide, today, August 26, 2008. You can also order your copy of the album at the JJ Grey & MOFRO online store.

In support of the new release, the boys will head out for a West coast tour in early September, and then head back to the East Coast in October. Rounding out the Fall will be a Midwest run in November. Don't miss your chance to hear JJ Grey & MOFRO perform their new songs and old favorites! Joining them on many of the upcoming dates are good friends Hill Country Revue featuring members of the North Mississippi Allstars. Check out the tour dates page for all the details on the Fall 2008 Orange Blossoms Tour!

Orange Blossoms in USA TODAY Picks of the Week

USA TODAY Pick of the Week: "Orange Blossoms"

allmusic Orange Blossoms Album Review

By: Hal Horowitz
It's difficult to find a review of JJ Grey's music that doesn't use the word "swamp" to describe his blend of deep Southern soul and murky funk. So that's taken care of in the first sentence here, which leaves plenty of room to focus on his fourth album's low-key yet surging backwoods R&B. The disc's title and title track refer to Grey's home state of Florida's official flower, but there is little that is floral or sunshiny about his music. Rather, the Jacksonville-based Grey prefers to hover in the gloaming, layering horns and backing vocals over grinding, midtempo blue-eyed soul. This is the most elaborately produced of his albums, but like the chitlin' circuit blues in his blood, there is nothing slick about it. Similar to the illicit affair at the heart of "Everything Good Is Bad," the disc's only cover (the original was done by the obscure act 100 Proof [Aged in Soul]), Grey's music generally stays in the shadows. The funeral piano that opens "She Don't Know" is jazzy yet ominous and sounds as humid and muggy as his hometown on an August night. Ditto for the strings that appear at the song's end and pop up like wild weeds throughout this dozen-song set. Grey has matured into a compelling vocalist and it is his emotional yet subtle singing that elevates this already powerful material. His sluggish Southern drawl on the funky "WYLF" (short for "what you're looking for") infuses a laconic, easygoing, almost lazy feel, a distinguishing characteristic of his style. That's brought into sharp relief on the sticky, sweaty sex of "Move It On," a sly, nearly seven-minute deliberate groover that sounds like something the Temptations might have recorded if they had been bred in the South. Although Grey deserves the bulk of the credit for this disc's unassuming success, longtime co-producer Dan Prothero (who has worked on every Grey/Mofro project) and in-the-pocket drummer Anthony Cole are crucial elements of the stealthy vibe. It's an album that grows on you slowly like moss at the base of a withered old tree and transports you to the dank, mosquito-infested bayou at the heart of Grey's evocative sound.