JJ Grey & Mofro

JJ Grey & Mofro

MOFRO is a Soul/Funk/R&B/Blues/southern Rock band from Jacksonville, Florida composed of JJ Grey (vocals, electric piano, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, harmonica), Daryl Hance (electric guitar and slide guitar), Adam Scone (Hammond Organ), and Anthony Cole (drums). George Sluppick (drums) left the band, having spent 5 years with Mofro and anchoring the drums for the first 3 records, in early April, 2008. He was replaced by Anthony "AC" Cole from Orlando; Cole's most recent work has been with Orlando's Legendary JC's and for renowned jazz musician Sam Rivers as part of his Sam Rivers Trio. Cole made his debut with MOFRO at the Wanee Festival in North Florida in mid-April '08.

For the 2007 tour, (beginning in early Feb, '07) Dennis Marion (trumpet), and Art Edmaiston (tenor saxophone) joined up with JJ Grey & Mofro as the "Hercules Horns" and continue to be a part of the line-up. They will also be on the new album coming out in Fall '08.

MOFRO's debut album, "Blackwater" was named one of the best records of the decade by amazon.com.

MOFRO has worked with producer / engineer Dan Prothero since their first studio outing, "Blackwater", released in 2001 on Prothero's label Fog City Records.

JJ Grey (b. 1967) is a huge Otis Redding fan, and he frequently sings a tribute to him during their shows. He also credits his musical chops to Tony Joe White, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, and many of the classic R&B artists. They describe their music as "front porch soul;" it varies from raw bluesy/funk to raucous rhythm and blues--a mix that defies any single genre classification.

In 2007 MOFRO signed with Alligator Records, released the album Country Ghetto, and began performing under the name JJ Grey & MOFRO. Grey has said recently that for many years people have come up to him after shows and inquired as to when he was going to do a solo album. Many did not realize that he is the musical, and lyrical, force behind Mofro, and has been since its inception.

In an interview with Stuart Gaines of the Mountain Xpress in Asheville, NC published on February 21, 2007, JJ Grey spoke about "getting comfortable in his own skin, mirrored in the recent band-name switch to 'JJ Grey & MOFRO,' a subtle yet telling shift," says Gaines.

Grey said,“for some people [the name change] might not be a big deal at all, and for a handful it might be a super-big deal—for God knows what reason. But for me the only thing that made it enough of an issue to address was that this is the diary of my life, so to speak, laid out musically.”

The band toured the U.S. extensively in 2007 to promote "Country Ghetto." Relentless touring has been a trademark of the band since it was founded in the early 1990s by Grey and Hance (and is in keeping with their sub-genre as a jam band.) Also in 2007, the band spent 2 weeks in Northern Europe opening for Los Lobos.

Mofro continues to tour the U.S. in early 2008, played a music festival in Australia in March, '08, and will be playing a number of Spring and Summer Festivals in the U.S. Their touring schedule may not be as extensive this Summer because they are making a new record: Grey has spoken at concerts in January and February, 2008 of having a new studio and being in preparations to cut a new album. He spoke specifically after a show in Lake Worth, FL of his hopes to have Dan Prothero back on board as producer/engineer. On their website, JJ Grey blogged on March 10, 2008 that his intentions are to release it this August but is not prepared to commit to that as yet.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Label
2001	Blackwater	Fog City Records
2004	Lochloosa	Fog City Records
2007	Country Ghetto	Alligator Records
2008	Orange Blossoms	Alligator Records

External links

• Alligator Records: JJ Grey & MOFRO
• Mofro home page
• Mofro MySpace
• Mofro Organist Adam Scone's Website
• Fog City Records presents: MOFRO
• MTV News You Hear It First: Mofro
• Nov. 2008 NUVO profile