John Simms

Music:

Member Since: 4/9/2006
Band Website: john-simms-myacousticsoul.com/
Band Members: The songs featured on this web page are from the cd album
"My Acoustic Soul.
All songs written,arranged and performed by John Simms.
Lead acoustic guitar and vocals:
John Simms.
Rhythm guitars :
John Simms
and James Belloni
Acoustic Upright Bass :
Nicolas Chelly.
Drums : Stephane Sangline.
Saxaphones and flute : Bobby Rangell.
Keyboards : Johan Dalgaard.
Mandoline: Dave Kavanagh
All backing vocals :
John Simms "Ce site respecte le droit d'auteur. Tous les droits des auteurs des oeuvres protégées reproduites et communiquées sur ce site sont réservés. Sauf autorisation, toute utilisation des oeuvres autre que la reproduction et la consultation individuelles et privées sont interdites".
Influences: Far too many to mention without leaving someone out.
Sounds Like:Originally from Baltimore, MD, but now based in Paris, John Simms, together with his late brother, Arthur, released an eponymous album on Casablanca back in 1980, scoring on the r&b charts with the single therefrom, ‘That Thang Of Yours’. The title here (My Acoustic Soul) refers more to the nature of being stripped down to often personal lyrics than to the musical accompaniment, John being assisted (except on the multi-John plus guitar, ‘She Told Me’) by six further musicians, who make a good backdrop for his compositions, the whole coming across like some sort of menage à trois - the French connection! - between Terry Callier, Eric Bibb and Dobie Gray, plus more than a soupçon (!) of originality. (I’d even venture to add Cat Stevens into the mix for the gently toe-tapping, mandolin-supported ‘Anything For You’.) This generally low-key outing earns such adjectives as ‘profound’ (the Bobby Rangell sax and Johan Dalgaard keyboard-supported ‘Does It Matter Now’), ‘impactful’ (‘You Lift Me Up’, sax again) and ‘complex’ - ‘It’s Hard To Say Goodbye’, which gets some reggae beats thrown in occasionally. Although Simms often provides his own vocal backings, he is assisted by Ms Jean Carpenter for the gentle ‘When The Storm Is Over’ and by Kieran Mahoney and Cormac O’Neil for the upbeat ‘You Can Handle It’. ‘Keep The Good’, the set’s closer, is dedicated to brother Arthur, while the most commercial offering is the beat-ballad, ‘I’ve Got To Know’. Regular ITB?contributor, Frederic Adrian, drew my attention to this most worthy set. He is hoping to catch one of his Paris gigs shortly and, on the strength of this, will doubtless have a moving experience.Review of the album My Acoustic Soul - In The Basement magazine – May-July 2008David Cole - Editor
Record Label: Bluegamm

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Type of Label: Indie