Review: Sierra Green & The Giants ‘Here We Are’
By Jim Hynes
Straight from the heart of New Orleans comes the next female soul sensation, Sierra Green. Dubbed the “Queen of Frenchmen Street,” Green hails from the city’s 7th Ward, the same fertile ground that bred such iconic artists as Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and Allen Toussaint. She’s also a product of the Black Church and has honed her chops from an eight-year-old choir singer to the stages of the city’s most revered clubs that grace Frenchmen Street.
Green curated her band, The Giants, which may be difficult to decipher given that the record was recorded in Nashville and includes musicians from that city too. That’s not happenstance however, as Green certainly intends this to be a breakout record, a thrust that extends beyond her regional popularity to national airplay. In a real sense, she’s tapping into all those elements that make soul music irresistible. As you listen to Here We Are, you’ll be drawn to the sounds of Motown, Stax, Muscle Shoals, and, of course, her native Crescent City.
The album was co-produced by guitarist JD Simo and NOLA piano legend Dave Torkanowsky, both of whom play on the record. Two other guitarists join Simo, Joe McMahon (who also co-engineered) and Paul Provosty, who along with bassist Miguel Perez and drummer William West, trumpeter Brandon Nater, trombonist Maurice Cade on trombone, and saxophonist David Ludman comprise The Giants. Others in the credits, presumably from Nashville are bassist Ted Pecchio, drummer Adam Abrashoff, saxophonist Robbie Crowell, and trumpeter Emmanuel Echem. The album Here We Are is an outgrowth of the EP, The Torch Sessions, produced by Torkanowsky that included five songs, three of which also appear here – “Break in the road,” “He Called Me Baby,” and ‘Promised Land.”
One can’t help but hear the echoes of the Allen Toussaint-penned, 1970 Lee Dorsey hit “Yes We Can” in Green’s opening salvo, “Can You Get to That.” She’s got those soul ingredients – grit, the South, and that uncanny sense of rhythmic phrasing that makes it sound as if she’s cut many a record even though this is her first full-length album. We hark back to Memphis and Ann Peebles for Green’s take on “Come to Mamma” and honors tradition again with her reading of Betty Wright’s early ‘70s hit “Girls Can’t Do What Guys Do.” She stays on the revitalization track by covering hometown favorites, The Meters’ “Break in the Road.” Torkanowski’s organ and the horns serve up a huge dose of funk as Green rides the wave. Later she covers a more obscure NOLA R&B artist, Curly Moore, infusing filthy funk into his 1966 hit, “Get Low Down.”
Yet the cover of Gregg Allman’s and ABB’s “Dreams” takes a different path than the original, by raising the tempo and dousing it in a deluge of horn slathered funk. In Torkanowsky’s arrangement, Green’s vocal range is breathtaking, which features blistering guitar, an unrelenting groove, and sheer power at every turn. Green returns to the more straightforward reading on James Brown’s “This Is a Man’s World.” While she doesn’t have to take a back seat to any other version, perhaps a more creative choice would serve her better. This song has been covered by (and this is just the tip of the iceberg) Etta James, Chris Stapleton, Van Morrison, Grand Funk Railroad, Tom Jones, Seal, and Cher, to name just a handful.
Green honors soul great Candi Staton with another vintage track, “He Called Me Baby,” a strong R&B burner for The Giants, and a standout track that as much as any here, represents Green’s soul to the core. In her one contemporary move, she is positively explosive on David Shaw of The Revivalists’ “Promised Land,” a tune with a heavy dose of political commentary. Keeping with that defiant mood, she gives us a taste of the blues too, closing with Freddy King’s “Same Old Blues,” a feature for guitarist Provosty.
Sierra Green emits power from the get-go. She’ll undoubtedly have you dusting off those favorite soul records you haven’t played in a while. Now that she’s clearly on our radar, perhaps she’ll return with some original material next time.
Pre-order the album Here
“Come To Mama”
Excellent soulful vocals! Looking forward to more!