The beauty of JD Simo’s Mind Control, his third studio album, comes in two parts. Part one is how much air he allows within the tracks, with big grooves that provide plenty of room for his guitar. And part two is the guitar work itself, which features cool licks with a trippy edge. Put together, it results in a collection of songs that won’t appear in a beer commercial, but which represents a fun, accessible journey through bluesy, Jimi Hendrix-inspired jazz and rock. Simo, who’s played with everyone from Jack White, to the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, to the ubiquitous Luther Dickinson, has picked up a wide range of musical influences and seamlessly integrates them into an album that, like so many, came out of lockdown. In Simo’s case, that meant weekly studio meetings with drummer Adam Abrashoff and bassist/producer/engineer Adam Bednarik. The time was well-spent because while there’s not much formal song structure here, the interplay between the three musicians is riveting.
