BIO: Indie pop-rock duo that fuses folk and contemporary songwriting with soulful harmonies. They touch on all styles, fusing genres with each song. Their third studio album, ‘Circus’ was also recorded at the Village Recorder, with the exception of Voodoo Woman, which was tracked at Little Dog Records with Pete Anderson. A number of mentionable musicians performed on the album with Charley & Jesi. Pete Anderson performed lead guitar, banjo and bass guitar; Michael Murphy on keyboards & Jasper Kristensen on drums for Voodoo Woman. Andre Padre Holmes of Fishbone performed trumpet on Baby I Love You, Feelin’ and The Circus Song. Johnny Echols of LOVE performed lead guitar on Feelin’, Metaphors, Baby I Love You, It Doesn’t Matter. Josiah Mory on acoustic upright bass and KT Tyler on electric bass guitar. Michael Duffy performed percussion. Tony Moore performed drums. Jack Maeby performed keyboards. Kimberly Lola and Dana Heitt performed background vocals. Their album ‘Circus’ is dedicated to the awareness for the ethical treatment of circus animals.
Carley and Jesti are: Charley Hinchcliffe, and Jesi Di Palo who just so happened to meet at an open mic night — the rest is history. Their latest offering “Circus” is a Bluesy, Rocked 9 Track album that gleefully dances up and down the spectrum of modern-day Pop-Rock with hints of Americana-Blues served on the side. The CD Opens with the finger snapping “Feelin’ and pulls out all the stops until the final track “Wasted Time” The album as a whole pretty much hits on all cylinders. “Circus” is an eclectic mixture of many different styles of music and covers a lot of ground. The music and vocal presence of both Charley and Jessi present the perfect musical backdrop for just sitting back and jamming out or playing in the car for a long drive. While each track is similar within their own right, all songs on “Circus” delivers unique, emotionally charged experiences that will satisfy any aficionado. Of particular note are the smooth, soothing vocals provided by both Charley and Jesi. Both are good, together they are even better. Both voices deliver sold performances within their own right, all the while retaining a masculine/feminine fullness that compliments the skillful array of sounds brought forward by the rest of the band. Though I could be wrong I suspect musical influences here are as follows: Maroon 5, Lenny Kravitz, Curtis Mayfield, Jam, Pete, just to name a few, Tracks that stand out for me are: tell Me, I Love You Sweet Darlin’
To sum it up: I give the Charley and Jesi’s “Circus” and enthusiastic nine out of four out of five stars and highly recommend this album to any fan of pop, rock, Americana and blues. Grab yourself a copy and kick up your heels to some solid songwriting! It definitely sets the standard for the genre, and should be a big hit this Summer.
Locale: Los Angeles
Sounds Like: Curtis Mayfield, Blues Traveler, Sister Hazel. Gin Blossoms
Official URL: http://www.charleyandjesi.com/
BELOW AVERAGE/AVERAGE/ABOVE AVERAGE/STELLAR
Final Rating: 4/5 Stars
Review by Trevor Gray (UK) edited by Heather Savage
Review comments: heathersavage5@gmail.com
