It's both strange and exciting to find Garland Jeffreys playing in a north London church, for he surely merits the status of an American legend. Now 70, he was born in Brooklyn to African-American and Puerto Rican American parents, and in the 70s and 80s he shook up the New York music scene by mixing rock, reggae, soul, blues and Latin influences with thoughtful lyrics about race and identity. He was admired by Lou Reed, Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen – with whom he has performed – and he borrowed from them all, as well as Van Morrison.
Then he slowed down. There was a 13-year gap before the release of The King of In Between in 2011, and now, following the release of Truth Serum, he is in the UK for his first-ever tour here. It's a low-key affair, without a full band, but he is in remarkable form.
He came into the church carrying an acoustic guitar, sporting a glittery black shirt and hat and backed by two musicians, his British co-producer James Maddock on acoustic guitar, and a respectful percussionist. They started out with one of his newer songs, an atmospheric acoustic rocker, Coney Island Winter, before moving to a ballad from the 90s, and the chugging, Velvet Underground-inspired 35 Millimetre Dreams, from 1977.
Jeffreys had a powerful soulful voice, and bravely walked out into the crowd, singing without a microphone. He told stories of Marley and Springsteen in New York as he switched between the pained reggae of Colour Line to the Latin-influenced Spanish Town and a new song about race, It's What I Am. The songs were written decades apart, but fitted together perfectly. He was called back for three sets of encores, including a furious 96 Tears, the ? & the Mysterians' garage rocker from the 60s. This man deserves a far bigger British following.
. • At the Green Hotel, Kinross, on 7 March and St Bonaventure Social Club, Bristol on 8 March
Source The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/05/garland-jeffreys-review-st-pancras-old-church-soul?