Derrick Procell

Hello Mojo

Catfood

This is a powerful blues triumvirate – blues singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Derrick Procell, BMA winner and producer Zac Harmon, and label owner/bandleader Bob Trenchard collaborating on Procell’s Catfood Records debut, Hello Mojo.  As you likely realize, given those names, the album was recorded at Trenchard’s go-to studio, Sonic Ranch in Tornillo Texas outside of El Paso and features The Rays as the backing band. All tunes were written or co-written by Procell, who teamed with his writing partner, Terry Abramson, on four of the ten tunes and with Trenchard on three others. This is only Procell’s second solo recording and follows his acclaimed Why I Choose to Sing the Blues. Yet, Procell has been writing songs for over 40 years and his songs have been recorded by such diverse artist as The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Melissa Manchester, and notably by blues artists The Cashbox Kings and Shemekia Copeland. Originally from Milwaukee, he performed for years with the award-winning band, Arroyo. As this writer described him in another outlet, “Procell’s stuff is smart, creative and yet as deeply soulful as any.”  That certainly holds true with these cats (couldn’t help it) in tow.

These cats, or rather The Rays are guitarist Johnny McGhee, keyboardist Dan Ferguson, bassist Bob Trenchard, drummer Richy Puga, trombonist Frank Otero, saxophonist Andy Roman, saxophonist Nick Flood, trumpeter Mike Middleton, and the background vocalists SueAnn Carwell. Meredith Colby and Jessica Ivey. Zac Harmon guests on guitar on three tracks including the opening “Skin in the Game,” a powerhouse soul-blues. The title track has is it all, an infectious groove, witty lyrics, punchy horns with Peter Neumer on sax and Steve Duncan on trombone soloing, swirling B3, energetic backgrounds especially in the call and response with Procell, and the only one with Procell on piano. “A Tall Glass of You” is a soulful shuffle with perky horn jabs, nifty clavinet from Ferguson, and another terrific lead vocal supported by the backing Rays vocalists. “Color of an Angel” is a sweet soul ballad, the kind only a veteran like Procell could deliver. These four represent the co-writes with Abramson.

The collaborations with Trenchard begin with one that could become the soundtrack for the next boxing movie, “The Contender,” the other track with Zac Harmon is the featured guitarist. As he does so often, Ferguson underpins with strong B3 and the backing vocalists jump in to add a soulful touch to what is primarily a blues rocker. “Broken Promise” begins with Procell on blues harp for this syncopated blues, imbued by Munyungo Jackson’s percussion amongst the horns and background vocalists. Procell wields his blues harp again for “Baby I’m Lost,” a mid-tempo soul ballad.

Two of these are completely Procell originals. “I Can’t Say No” has one of the strongest horn charts on the disc and another of Procell’s indelible singalong choruses, perfect for the backing singers. The closer, “Bittersweet Memories,” is a slow soul burner where he mourns a lost loved one, with contributions from Ferguson on piano, a gutty tenor solo from Roman, and the usual potent mix of the full breadth of The Rays. Interestingly, he also delivers a funky cover of a Kinks tune, “Who’ll Be the Next in Line,” featuring more outstanding horn charts and burning guitar from Johnny McGhee.

One more time – these ingredients and this triumvirate can’t help but knock this one over the fence. As a good friend once said, “everything sounds better with horns,” made even that much more potent when combined with great songwriting.

• Jim Hynes

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