If you go
Citizen Cope
Where: Recher Theatre, 512 York Road, Towson
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday
Info: $25; ticketmaster.com. At press time this show was sold out, but tickets may be available from online resellers.
It all seems very straightforward to Clarence Greenwood, better known in the music world as Citizen Cope. Despite the kudos, the praise from such renowned musicians as Carlos Santana, Cope will stop making music if he believes he doesn’t have anything else to say. Fortunately for us, he has plenty to say, as evidenced on his soon-to-be-released disc “The Rainwater LP.”
“I make my own sound from what I feel,” Cope, who was born in Memphis, Tenn., raised in Washington, D.C., and now resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., said. “I have fans who respond to that sound for whatever reason. If I lose that feeling, I’ll stop.”
If the songs on Cope’s latest release are any indication, the finish line is a long way ahead. It’s easy to fall in love with “The Rainwater LP.” Right from the first seconds of the CD, when the listener hears the slightly scratchy sound of a needle hitting vinyl, the tunes offer a natural sound blissfully free of techno effects and over production.
Indeed “The Rainwater LP” is Cope at his finest as he mixes disparate experimental sounds with jazz, rock, go-go, and the laid-back funk sound of Chuck Brown he adopted in his childhood hometown of D.C.
That’s not to say Cope’s songs are simplistic; rather they’re carefully crafted to bring out the sensation of each sound. Standout track “Healing Hands” is a perfect example of how Cope moves the song along from his trademark, dusty voice into a percussion-tinged groove punctuated by strings and horns.
It’s said Cope takes musical snapshots of the world around him and turns them into universal truths. He sets them to the simplest of melodies, and weds those in turn to the most soul-stirring grooves. It’s an especially apt description when you consider how much actual soul radiates from the music.
“I always thought soul was one of the most authentic things I listened to. It sounds basic when you hear it; that’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “Like good food and a nice glass of wine, I’m pretty much making music that is supposed to be fun. I take that idea into the recording process, as a homage to the way people used to make music.”
