Jon Call

Call, a relatively fresh face on the Portland music scene, is creating quite the following. Aside from his amazing knack for melody, his voice is quite notable, sleek and strong. Call's jazzy tunes were accented by his folk song craft. Call definitely has what it takes to make the big time.

Lou Grassi-
mainetoday.com
20 Below - Mainetoday.com, 20 Below

"I look at Jon and know that the future of music is in good hands"-
Livingston Taylor, The Maple Room 2008 - Livingston Taylor

Satisfying a growing crowd with a Playtime Music Session
By: SAM PFEIFLE, The Portland Phoenix
2/22/2008

We’ve had the pleasure here in Portland of watching a number of great singer/songwriters develop their careers into something substantial recently. The path runs something like this: open mics with a guitar, album with a guitar, real shows with a guitar, real shows with a band, real album with a band, regional and national touring with and without a band. Jason Spooner and Emilia Dahlin come to mind immediately as the prototypes here, and now Jon Call seems poised to follow them. Right now, though, Call is floating somewhere in the middle of that trajectory, having reached the stage where he’s added to his live performance a bass and drums, known as the Foundation (which is fitting for a rhythm section), but also about to release a disc, The Playtime Music Session, that features just Call’s breathy alto (maybe he’s a high tenor) and a strummed guitar.

This isn’t entirely by design. “It was kind of supposed to be more of a demo,” Call says of the recording done with Tom Dube down in his Playtime Music Studio in Massachusetts, “but then Dube went on tour with Marc Cohn and we didn’t get together again.” Still, Call’s been getting some good gigs, including opening for Livingston Taylor on January 25 at Lewiston’s Maple Room. He needed something to sell at shows, and 2006’s Change just wasn’t of the quality he wanted to represent him.

Thus, while he may eventually re-record some of these songs with a band in a studio setting, he’s relatively happy with what he calls this recording’s “live feeling.” And it’s true that when you see Call live, this is pretty much what you get. But listening at home, Call’s considerable charisma doesn’t quite come through, and what are well-written songs at times fall a little flat, or simply seem to last too long. Live, that extra minute in a song is enjoyable, because you’ve got that visual input as an augmentation of the experience. On disc, some of the tunes that move past four minutes could probably be a little more radio-friendly (i.e., closer to 3:30).

This also has something to do with Call’s particular style and delivery. He has a tendency to use “I said” as pick-up notes into a line of a verse, or in building a refrain, for example, emulating soul singers like Sam Cooke or James Brown. He bangs on his guitar, building a rhythm and a considerable backing. He likes to tip in a bit of scat for a bridge. All of these, I think, are more endearing live.

And some performers, like John Mayer or Ani DiFranco, are just better live.

There remains, however, a lot to like on Call’s sophomore disc. Especially when Call lets his hair down and opens his voice up. Early in the disc, he can be breathy, but he’s got great timbre when he gets animated, especially on later tracks like “Addiction Song” and “All I Ever Wanted.” The former opens with a bluesy strut then picks up with a low-end bass-string run that introduces each line of the verse: “You gotta be a fool to want to stay the same.” Then comes a big bridge, a declaration of intent: “I need to be free of this misery that’s loving me/’Cuz if I choose to learn I can grow — eventually.”

He carries that intensity into “Wanted.” It’s like he has entered a trance and is speaking in tongues at some points, but the chorus is huge: “Somewhere over your heart there’s love/Somewhere inside your hear there’s gotta be a little bit of trust/And if you let down your walls/I’ll let down my walls for you.” He varies his delivery and cadence here especially well, leaving all kinds of room for a listener get inside his lines and embrace them.

Perhaps most redeemingly, Call does have an ability to deliver a line that really and truly memorable. “My Ship” requires some suspension of cynicism (am I the only one who thinks “Would it break my mast?/How long will this little ship last” is a dirty little couplet?), but see if your heart doesn’t break a little when Call sings, “I said last year’s gone babe/It’s time to go.”

Call has all the tools to be a great bandleader — charisma, songwriting, a knack with a love song, and a way with a guitar — and many of them are on display here. His fans won’t be disappointed when they take this album home and give it a spin after they’ve bought it at a show, but Call is going to need to fill his sound out for the radio and repeated online listens. - Sam Pfeifle

Go section Portland Press Herald

Jan 17th 2008

JON CALL

Twenty-four-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist Jon Call arrived in Portland from western Massachusetts to attend the University of Southern Maine as a jazz major. He's spent the last four years gigging around the city and recording his songs.
Even though Call has a background in jazz, he doesn't classify his current style as jazz. It's more folk-pop, he says.
When you listen to Call's songs, the thing that really stands out is how upbeat they are. That happy sound is a conscious decision on his part, Call said.
"I'm an upbeat guy. I guess I haven't gotten into that dark spell yet. I hope I don't."
- The Portland Press Herald

Portlander Jon Call's third CD is called "The Playtime Music Session" and he'll be celebrating its release on Saturday night. You can also catch him tonight on "207" on WCSH-TV. Call describes his musical style as acoustic/folk/reggae. I gave the CD a spin and here's my 2 cents worth on a couple of tracks that stood out for me. "This Is a Song for You," is a poignant essay that speaks of those who live way below the poverty line and in it Call shows honor and respect, not pity or judgment. "This is a song for you, I wish it weren't so true. It's not what we choose but what we do and how we do it too. It seems society is blinded and it's cold. Rich men say it's a burden you put on. That's why, for you I wrote this song." There's gorgeous acoustic guitar throughout and his Dylan-tinged voice hits home. "Energy" is a nifty little love song that's catchier than flypaper. "Let me circle round you, intensify your energy. Just let me shine through and give you a piece of me. We could go for coffee love, you could have a tea." - Aimsel Ponti

“Yet another 21 year old wonder hails from Portland, Maine. Jonathan Call plays his own brand of acoustic music. A mixture of roots rock, jazz, hip-hop, funk and folk. Call’s music is consistently interesting."

Mark Rankin-
The Rankin Files, IT Magazine
Portland, Maine. - It Magazine

"Jonathan Call warmed up a bilizzard-sprinkled Saturday with Damien Rice elegance, and a harmonica that was as insturmental as the Gritty's Black Fly Stout for a beautiful afternoon."

Face Magazine
Portland, ME
01/22/05
- Face Magazine