Search - Go Jimmy Go :: Soul Arrival

Listening to Soul Arrival is an experience.

TJ | San Jose, CA | 12/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What you can expect from this album is great musicianship and excellent songwriting. This disc definitely takes you on an emotional journey. Listening to Soul Arrival is an experience.So what makes Go Jimmy Go good? Great musicians with a high technicality to their playing, excellent songwriting, the lead singer's voice (which has so much soul that it sticks in your head like good oldies tunes), a terrific horn section and I'll be damned if everyone in this band doesn't do backing vocals. The harmonies and sounds that hit you from the stage overwhelm and take control of you. Please imagine the absolute perfect marriage between two island cultures: Jamaican and Hawaiian music. At the very same instance that these boys play a reggae, ska or rocksteady song there is this unmistakable Hawaiian vibe you just can't shake."

Good times and bad times...

Julia | Santa Barbara, CA | 08/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the the best songs on this album, I think is the one that goes "Good times and bad times and all those in-between times"... not exactly original stuff, but damn, do they make it sound good! I first saw them by accident while vacationing in Hawaii and loved their sound immediately. They're not blatantly ska, they mix in some James Brown-style soul, some funk, some blues, some reggae. They are just so much fun to listen to and watch!! Get the CD, then watch for them to come back to the mainland!!"

An amazing album from Hawaii's own Go Jimmy Go

Julia | 06/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Soul Arrival by Go Jimmy Go is easily one of the most essential releases by an American ska band ever. Combining elements of traditional ska, rocksteady, reggae, soul and funk with a distinctly Hawaiian flavor, GJG infuses your soul with rich vocal harmonies, deft guitar work and a rhtythm section to rival the great studio musicians of the early Jamaican ska era. One of the few traditional ska bands who aren't afraid to mix it up, GJG tosses in a few rockin' straight-up soul tunes that show their diverse musical influences on cuts like "Good To You" and "Inbetween Times", funky-FUNKY reggae with "Takin' It Off" and "Undercover Brother", sweet vocal driven ska with "Mama Bird" and "Bang The Skillet" and sexy rocksteady with "Pretending". Their knowledge of the genres that influence GJG's work extends even deeper to an obscure Afro-Carribean style called Nyabhinghi which is featured in "Bit O' Soul", but my favorite song is easily "Slow Time". That track makes you wanna kick off your shoes, sip on a Mai Tai and hit the repeat button, while the song carries you off to a balmy beach, palm trees swaying in the air and the sound of the waves gently licking the shore. If you love soulful, horn-driven, vocal powered ska and reggae, you've gotta grab this disc. I've already played it a dozen times since I picked it up yesterday and plan on keeping at the top of my rotation for a long time to come. Hawaii's best kept secret is out! The title track "Soul Arrival" says it all..."