Riverstone Suite inspires a musical journey for the listener, weaving between rock and blues, jazz and folk across 10 lyrical narratives.
I came across Mountain Grey back in 2018, when they gave an acoustic set down at the Fyansford Papermills. Later they performed at Sleepy Hollow Blues Club.
Now they have a CD, Riverstone Suite.
First impressions? This is a wonderfully polished piece of work. From the first track, I was irresistibly drawn to the saying “less is more”. Miles Davis was known for his use of silence in this way.
With Riverstone, there is an element of this, but more in their arrangement. You get the feeling that nothing more is needed, but equally, nothing could be left out. That is the polish, the feeling of completion.
The CD covers a number of different styles of music, but what all of them have in common is that they are delivered directly without unnecessary embellishment.
Mountain Grey hail from the Bambra / Deans Marsh area.
The band members are Steve James (guitar), Kev Foster (drums), Luke Hynes (bass), Michael Robinson-Koss (harmonica) and Josh Rigg (guitar). Also featuring on the CD are a number of guest artists including Josh Rigg (electric guitar), Kym Kelaart (Hammond organ), Ian Hergstrom (soprano sax), Mark Fagan (flute) and Tobias Johnson (piano).
Cross over to Bandcamp, and make sure you listen to Driftin’ – that’s my pick.
