Consumer Guide Album

Jo Mama: J Is for Jump [Atlantic, 1971]
A weird one. This is one of those bands that wants to shove its idea of "good music" down the audience's collective throat, and I think most rock and rollers will find the style cute and constricted. But me, I enjoy it, on this album. Danny Kootch's songs are wry, just the way I like 'em, and even the phony cocktail jazz ditty framed by the pseudo-Chick Corea piano excavations sounds good. And though the subtle sexuality that pervades the record is hardly original--vocalist Abigale Haness's stuff goes back to June Christie at least--it still turns me on. So this is recommended to my soul/brain/gonad siblings, with the added warning that it doesn't jump much. B+