JP Jones
Broken Open
© 1999 JP Jones (612456129329)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
SPECIAL: 40% discount if you buy more than one copy of it today!
1999 remixed and remastered reissue of 1994 all-acoustic release. Great songs. Great arrangements.
tracks
try this
albums you will love
genres you will love
By Location
Recommended if you like ...
notes
In Brief:
A polished and engaging collection showcasing Jones' sharp wit and powerful vision, "Broken Open" is an intimate and intense record peppered with humor and personal insight. An acoustic disc with folk, country and rock influences, "Broken Open" feels good and has something to say... a winning combination of form, substance and world-class musicianship.
Quote:
"..calls to mind a "Nashville Skyline"-era Dylan, "Unplugged" Clapton, and Springsteen at his best." --Ken Stroebel, Norwich Bulletin
Reviews:
"I want to be a force in this world," says JP Jones. "I want my voice to be heard."
What the Voluntown singer/songwriter means is he wants a wider audience to hear his voice, his work, captured on a new CD, "Broken Open," available at Mystic Disc and getting airplay on many college radio stations.
Jones, who plays Friday at Natone’s Coffee House in New London, looks the part of an intense troubadour with his hawkish features, dark eyes, wiry frame and battered guitar case.
The CD is a folky collection of mainly acoustic songs with nice hooks and thoughtful lyrics.
Jones studied Classical music growing up, but was drawn to rock and folk, influenced by greats such as Paul Simon, Neil Young, James Taylor, and Bob Dylan.
On songs like the quiet ballad "Hymn," Jones’ voice calls to mind a "Nashville Skyline"-era Dylan, but it can also remind you of the new "Unplugged" Clapton, as on the straight blues tune "Poodles from Hell."
Like Springsteen at his best, Jones is able to write songs that seem to dwell on loneliness, despair and disappointment, yet somehow evoke a feeling of hopefulness.
"Moving Train," the CD’s opening track, is a prime example, about a "two-time loser" who finds and clings to love; simultaneously joy and fear.
Optimism is also a cornerstone of Jones’ family based production company, Vision Company Records, founded four years ago.
Jones recorded "Broken Open" over a year in a studio donated by friend and colleague, Lloyd Salisbury, using all local musicians. The depth of instrumentation, purity of sound, and polish of production is remarkable for an independently produced record.
There are lots of subtle touches to appreciate, like the beautiful background vocals of Adele Tarkowski, on many tracks, the soft brush work and quiet keyboards on "Good Night Baby," the bold guiding bass line on "She Knew What She Was Doing," and the understated strings on "Bold Troubadour."
Jones also makes use of a Lloyd Salisbury’s trumpet on songs such as "Drummer Boy," and especially "In the Kingdom."
While his earlier "Voluntown" included rock-edged, electric tracks, "Broken Open" is almost straight acoustic, most of it recorded live, with little over-dubbing. Jones said some of the songs were written during the recording session, while others go as far back as the ‘70’s.
Jones said he strives to keep his tunes accessible, although his lyrics are more complex than those of the average pop song. "I want them to have an immediacy, but to stand up to repeated listenings," he said.
Jones said the new record is even more personal than "Voluntown," and that many of the songs address the frustrations of the artist at odds with the business world and other factors that keep him from being heard by a wide audience.
Frustrations Jones knows well.
"The music business if feast or famine. Either no one’s interested in you when there’s no money involved, or there’s a potential for sales and everybosy wants a piece of the action," he said.
Jones said the machinery of the music business is shameful, and eats up a lot of good artists. "For everyone making it there’s ten people as good or better out there working in anonymity," he said.
Jones started Vision in the hope of helping some struggling artists get their work out to at least a limited audience.
"The idea of the company is to go beyond music and into other fields," he said. "There’s a vision that people involved with the company share. It’s positive and hoipeful for the potential of humanity, not like the cynical opinion that’s popular in today’s culture."
© Ken Stroebel, Norwich Bulletin
Info/Lyrics: www.jpjones.net
reviews
Please log in to review this album.
JP Jones is a master of lryics melded with musical spirit.
author: Angela C. HowellBroken Open is one of my favorite CDs from JPJones. It typifies our life struggle while showing JP's brilliance. My favorite cuts are Bold Troubadour, If You will Walk with Me, If Pigs, & Poodles from Hell. Great music, fabulous musicians, wonderful & very ingenuitive lyrics. It's a definite must-hear/own.