Voodoo Visionary Soars ‘Off the Ground’ with Their Sophomore Album
Atlanta’s Voodoo Visionary, a dynamic quintet (plus one), has just released the band’s second album, Off the Ground, and it is a perfect complement to their first effort, Spirit of the Groove, which came out in 2015. Since that time, the band has played at numerous festivals and club and concert dates far and wide.
“Improvisational Funk and Dance Grooves” are what the band claims to deliver, and they absolutely make good on that claim. Voodoo Visionary are: Dennis Dowd, keyboards; Jimmy Lynch, bass; Scottie MacDonald, vocals; Mac Schmitz, drums; and Mike Wilson, guitar. The ‘plus one’ is Vanessa Graniero, who is featured on both albums. You can read much more about them and Spirit of the Groove in our On the Rise feature from 2015.
For Off the Ground and in shows in the Atlanta area, special guests include Martin Anderson, saxophone; Chris Blount and Austin Cobb, backing vocals; Paul Nelson, trombone; Ben Otieno, trumpet; and Jose Rivera, percussion.
The album was produced and engineered by Mark Michelson and Josh Thane at WonderDog Sounds Studio in Marietta GA, with assistant engineering by Adrian Barrie, and it was mastered by Rodney Mills Masterhouse. You can blame those guys, because the recording is superb.
All tunes were written collectively by the band.
Voodoo Visionary is back on the road this week, beginning Thursday at Dunedin Brewery (FL) before playing both days at Funk Fest 8 in Punta Gorda. Anderson, Otieno and Rivera will join them at Funk Fest. Check out more dates below, but now let’s jump Off the Ground!
“Cold Shallow Moon” begins with a flourish from Dowd on keyboards before Wilson’s guitar and Schmitz’s drums fall in. This is a great funky beginning to the album, Dowd on electric piano and excellent vocals from MacDonald, an energetic frontman with a great voice. To paraphrase that scene from Jerry McGuire, they had me at 1:47 when Dowd lights up his synthesizer (and he does it two more times in this song). Lynch is so rock solid on bass.
It is an unusual song. The band explains:
“Cold Shallow Moon” is about a struggle to find reality. It’s about escaping a prison which is metaphor for breaking the boundaries of what one thinks to be impossible.
The band backs off the intensity for a ballad titled “I’ve Got a Feeling,” a ballad about a young man explaining to a young lady that, although they’ve only just met, they are destined to be together. Schmitz’s drums provide the perfect pace, and Anderson offers a great alto sax solo.
The tempo kicks right back up with “Harmony,” a tune that has been in the band’s repertoire for some time. The lyrics would be relevant at any time but ever so much more so now:
We’ve all got our problems
The world isn’t right
To make this place better
We’ve got to get smart in the fightIn times of devastation
Could you lend a helping hand?
In times of deviation
You’ve got to know where to begin
Wilson’s guitar introduces the tune with some Jimmy Herring-style jangling. Graniero takes the first stanzas, MacDonald the next, with unison vocals during the choruses. So much is happening during this funky song: clavinet, B3, piano, chunky guitar, bass, synths again, and sax in the background.
The title track to Off the Ground mines that New Mastersounds/’70s funk vibe. Dowd punishes his Hammond B3 with Lynch pulsating on bass. Wilson rips a great thoughtful solo, and the horns add a great dimension to the sound. The song is encouragement to play the music within you: “Pick yourself up off the ground” and “Get your head out of the clouds.”
“Saving Face” is straight out of the Meters tradition, with deep lyrics again reflecting our current situation:
To be free
What’s the price to pay?
Saving face
It could look good at the end of the day
Wilson has another excellent solo as Lynch drives the song on bass. Dowd’s B3 work shimmers again. Schmitz’s drumming is spot-on. There is a great buildup to the song’s coda.
Electric piano and shimmering cymbal work led us into “Bring It Back,” some sweet soul music. MacDonald’s voice offers a plaintive plea for an unsteady love. Wilson again shines, as does Anderson on sax.
The story about “Hero on the Horizon” is truly magnificent. Two years ago, the band was asked to join with Sing Me a Story Foundation to create a song based on a child’s story, in order to encourage creativity and independence. Camp Twin Lakes is a series of camps for children with a variety of disabilities, illnesses and challenges.
Here is the story they selected, written by 11-year-old Noel:
Drums, percussion and B3 lead into the lyrics the band adapted from Noel’s story. Clavinet and saxophone percolate underneath. Wilson and then Dowd on piano solo, bass and drums setting the pace start to finish. This has also been a concert staple since its debut at Sweetwater 420 last year.
“Gunk” is the only instrumental on the album, mid-tempo funk, clavinet, horns, guitar, B3 and electric piano all in the mix, harkening back to the great jazz funk of the late ’70s and early ’80s.
There is a ska-ish start to “Roscoe,” about a bad dude:
He’s a low operator
Manifest destitute
He’s coming to your city
With the risky whiskey blues
This is more dirty South funk, horns accenting the action. And, once again, thank heavens the clavinet is a staple of keyboard players! Dowd also mistreats his B3 again. Otieno’s trumpet stands out.
It would seem that “Hold Tight” is about music, but further examination reveals its much wider reach:
Communication is the secret
We often miss this simple fact
You never know what one is thinking
Your own thoughts can hold you back
More funky rock here, and Dowd unleashes his synthesizer for more bounce to the ounce. If you aren’t dancing by now, better call EMT.
“Jangalang” talks about those “living in the bottle,” as Gil Scott-Heron put it. Anderson has a nice sax solo before the song gets heavy, then sax, then heavy guitar, and synthesizer one more time! B3 and guitar both make closing statements.Tough to argue with this:
Can’t find the answer when the question’s wrong
Look inside yourself and see where you belong
The integration of the horn section into Voodoo Visionary’s sound is seamless. Another fine example is the intro to “Sip of the Sunshine,” a happy, bouncy song. Dowd on electric piano and Wilson on muted guitar work together, then Wilson rips and Dowd finishes the solo portion of this uplifting song.
The last tune is “Tortoise Told,” a half-sung, half-spoken poem. The band explains:
“Tortoise Told” is an improvised jam we recorded in studio in one take. We were getting warmed up and ready to start, so Scottie started singing some of his poetry. The two pieces he used were about different relationships, building fences to hide the truth, stressing the dichotomy of the way we live today. It’s about the distractions we face on our path to understanding ourselves and our interactions with one another.
We have mentioned Dowd and Wilson often, because they are the main soloists, but repeated listens and live sets demonstrate how vital the contributions of Lynch and Schmitz are as rhythm section. And MacDonald’s singing is a pure delight.
Off the Ground and Spirit of the Groove are highly recommended, their live shows even more so. Find them on the road, on Bandcamp, and more.
Photographs by kind permission of Mandi Nulph / Mandi Nulph Photography
03/02 Dunedin Brewery | Dunedin FL
03/03 Funk Fest 8 | Punta Gorda FL w/ The Motet, & more
03/04 Funk Fest 8 | Punta Gorda FL w/ The Motet, Dumpstaphunk & more
03/07 Tanqueray’s | Orlando FL w/ Voodoo Visionary
03/08 St. Matthew’s Tavern | Orlando FL (open jam hosts)
03/09 1904 Music Hall | Jacksonville FL w/ Gang of Thieves
03/10 Fire Betty’s | Tallahassee FL
03/16 Preservation Pub | Knoxville TN
03/17 Mercy Lounge | Nashville TN
03/18 Revelry Room | Chattanooga TN
04/15 Infinite Energy Arena | Duluth GA (Georgia Swarm pre-game)
04/22 Sweetwater 420 Fest | Atlanta GA
04/28 Good Ol’ Days | Cumming GA
05/04-07 CukoRakko Music and Arts Festival | Steele AL
More VV info:
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