Coda.fm

Jehro

by Jehro

• Buy it at Amazon.com

Jehro -- the troubadour with the angelic voice -- strips away extravagance with lyrical snapshots of ordinary people in the "eleven sweet pearls" (Le Figero, Paris, France) of his self-titled US debut (April 25, Recall Records). His sound, inspired by Caribbean and American grassroots music, provides an ideal backdrop for his storytelling.

Some tracks reveal a harsh reality of dreams lost such as the melancholic lament of "Long Is The Way" which tells the story of a boy who set sail in "pursuit of fortune and fame" only to return to his island abashed and empty-handed. On the incredibly moving song "I Want Love," Jehro sings about a child soldier who yearns for the basic necessities of life: "they told me I’m joining a family, but here I ain’t nobody’s son, my brothers are right here beside me, we share our hunger and we share our gun."

Jehro also delivers rich and colorful effervescent love songs such as "Sweet," an intoxicating melody about finding love in the most unusual places. He sings "I first saw you in the market place, chopping peeling sticks of sugar cane, I fell in love with your sweet smile." While on songs like "Shantytown Carnival" he transports the listener to an island party with vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds, "rum will flow, crowd will grow, filling the streets as drums start to beat."

Jehro has already received glowing reviews from two of France’s leading newspapers. Liberation (Paris, France) says, "Jehro cross-pollinates island music to create a new, soulful Caribbean sound," and Le Figaro (Paris, France) describes the album as "amazingly fresh and simple, fortified with Caribbean vitamins."