Kevin KinsellaGreat Design (ROIR)

10 Ft. Ganja Plant Shake Up The Place (ROIR)

The so-well-organized-it’s-painful album collectors out there may have a struggle with Kevin Kinsella’s new solo release Great Design. The safe bet, of course, is to tuck tunes from a founding member of John Brown’s Body and a current co-conspirator in the 10 Ft. Ganja Plant collective into the “REGGAE” section of the shelf. And that wouldn’t be a bad place to put Great Design – not at all. There are threads of reggae woven all through the album’s eleven cuts.

But at the same time, it’s more than that. “SINGER/SONGWRITER REGGAE WITH A SIDE ORDER OF SOUL; MUCH OF IT ACOUSTIC-BASED” would be a bit much to write on a tabbed divider but Kinsella is all of that. Imagine a deeper, more mystical Jack Johnson, combined with Michael Franti’s talent for writing catchy, hook-your-ear-the-first-spin tunes and you’d have a glimmer of what Great Design is all about.

The album takes off with the happyfunkskank of “All That I Have” with a smiley-faced synth grinding hips and butts with thumpawomp bass and drums. The Lucente Sisters’ background vocals lightly dance around Kinsella’s tribute to happiness in simplicity.

But just as “All That I Have” fades to a grin like a Rasta Cheshire cat, in strides “No Battlefield” with its underpinnings of military drums and punchy-but-not-threatening horns. Typical of the many messages and reflections found on the album, “No Battlefield” is powerful without getting in your face. So is “Faith”, whose groove is too infectious to ignore.

There are numerous great players who come and go among the tracks on Great Design. Take Pete DeBoer, whose lovely acoustic 12-string work is the heart and soul of “Lovers In A Time” and “Light Of Love”. Or multi-instrumentalist Geoff Nelson, who contributes slathers of sweet horns (“Sunshine”, “Let Me Be”), layers of synth (“Faith”, “Light Of Love”, Turn It Around”), cool guitar (check out his six-string sous-chef work with Jason Shago on “Stars”) and even occasional percussion. The title track is blessed with the jazz soul of upright bassist Harry Aceto and his brother Eric on guitar, along with the cello of Hank Roberts – a touch you might not have expected, but will find it hard to imagine the song without once you experience it.

Tucked in amongst Kinsella’s originals is a cut that should be heard rather than read about: on paper, the idea of a slowed-down, laid-back, smoky version of the old Johnny Cash chestnut “Ring Of Fire” just doesn’t sound right. But honest and true: Kinsella takes the proclamation of ache, need, and desire to places that The Man In Black never shared with us. (Yes, boys and girls: the speed-fueled mariachi horns are long gone.) Plus, there’s a bonus at 2:36 when John Harrison steps out of the song’s shadows (the original version never had shadows) with a David Gilmore-flavored guitar lead that’s just absolutely perfect. Yeah, it hurts, but … it’s so damn cool.

Easy to listen to but as deep as you want to go in its presence and philosophy, Great Design is Kevin Kinsella’s best solo effort to date. Don’t sweat where you’re going to put it on the shelf: “GOOD STUFF” will work just fine.

As far as Kinsella’s home team these days – the mysterious reggae geniuses known as 10 Ft. Ganja Plant – you can slap them right onto the shelf labeled “ROOTS REGGAE” without a second thought. In fact, their new Shake Up The Place is so damn rootsy, you could easily believe it was a superbly-remixed/remastered vintage release from the 70’s. I kid you not, boys and girls – the vibe is that strong. Strong and mellow. Strong and mellow and sweet and good. Ah, yessss …

Though the individual members of 10 Ft. Ganja Plant don’t worry a whole lot about credit for themselves, they make sure to tout the presence of reggae legends Sylford Walker and Prince Jazzbo on Shake Up The Place. Walker helps usher the album in with the pride-and-percussion-powered “My Roots” and later reappears to stand tall amongst the dubby mists of “Hard Times” (dig the blissful bass chugging along beneath the solemness of the main horn riff). Prince Jazzbo, in the meantime, is right here – right here – in the mix of “Africa” as the sound shape shifts all around and behind him over a mighty rhythm foundation. And the Prince leads the way out with “Recession”, a finger-pointer that speaks the absolute truth.

10 Ft. Ganja Plant is capable of pulling off vintage-sounding dub (“Strongback”), killer skanking grooves (“Ringer’s Rock”), Wailer-style soul sweetness (“Rush Me”), and songs that offer courage and hope (“Pharoah’s Army”). The title track is as good a sampler as any: a buoyant bass/drums/rhythm guitar offers a fat cushion of sound for Ras Jay’s lead vocal to play off his bandmates’ voices. The cry to “Shake up the place/Feel it, don’t fight it” is one of joy, and not a threat to anything but oppression. Positive vibrations, indeed.

It’s a gift to be able to feel this good this easily. Shake Up The Place delivers that and more.