“Jamire Williams is yet another smart drummer conversant in jazz and much else besides, though his approach skews more insistently contemporary than most.
His band, ERIMAJ, is set to release its full‐length debut later this year; meanwhile the album’s title track, “Conflict of a Man,” has been released on iTunes. It’s postmillennial R&B, hypnotic and hazy, informed by electronic music but evidently made with real instruments. The young soul singer Chris Turner sings the tune’s gently teasing melody, articulating its halting lover’s plea. (It was written by Mr. Williams with Alan Hampton, a resourceful singer‐songwriter, and Corey King, who also created the string arrangements.) The production and mood of the track feel entirely of the moment. It’s a good teaser for what’s to come.” ‐ Nate Chinen, The New York Times
"The lush, gauzy slices of pop craftsmanship on Josh Mease’s debut, Wilderness, owe debts to mid-career Beatles, chamber-popsters like The Left Banke and especially Brian Wilson..." - Paste Magazine. The album is the result of Mease's wanderings in search of peaceful solace in the cemeteries, empty swimming pools and abandoned waterfronts of a newly discovered Brooklyn (Mease is originally from Houston, Texas). He takes us from the front-porch summer swing sing-along “Days Like This” to the day-glo world of “White Diamonds” and ends with the ambient and beautifully strange “Tall Trees.” Mease also shows a talent for love songs. “I See You,” a duet featuring Jess Martins (Via Audio), is a lovely campfire stargazer about finding your other half, and “Eleanor” evokes silent movie imagery from the past. The topics of each song are diverse, but the theme remains that world of Mease’s mind where the music and listener are safe from the daily hustle.
8 pm doors, 9 pm show. $10 adv / $12 day of show.