Moses Patrou is a singer and songwriter with a distinct and warm baritone voice that he compliments with his Hammond organ playing that seamlessly blends Blues, Soul, Country and Jazz, much like one might be accustomed to hearing in places like Memphis or New Orleans, creating a cozy atmosphere, sometimes subtle, sometimes exciting, always entertaining. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, his musical journey began in Madison, Wisconsin, hearing rolling boogie woogie, blues and country music firsthand from his very talented musician father, Johnny “Chimes” Patrou. Some of his earliest memories were watching his father perform with Original Funky Drummer Clyde Stubblefield. Musical pilgrimages later on led him to study and perform at the source in places such as New Orleans, Brazil, and Cuba before laying his hat in New York. His first album, aptly titled “Introducing Moses Patrou”, was released on Grammy award winning producer Ben & Leo Sidran’s label “Nardis Records” in Japan in 2007, and later in the US. His sophomore effort, “Cant Stop, Vol. 1′′, was co-produced with friend of the proGram, Scott Sharrard (Lead guitarist for the Gregg Allman Band) and Charles Martinez (Sound Engineer for Michael McDonald, Boz Skaggs and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan) and released in the fall of 2013. The work of all kinds and the prolific songwriting has continued onward, each new step providing more learning and definitely a merging of old sounding with the new feelings leads us to this year’s release ‘Confession Of A Soul’.
I had the chance to catch up with Moses ahead of him heading back to the Madison area. He’ll be at the ‘Strollin’ Middleton Jazz Fest’ (presented by our friends at Arts & Literature Laboratory on September 6th at 7pm. We talk about the who and what that event should provide those who make it out. We dive deep into the way this latest album ‘Confession of A Soul’ came toGether, the players and the soul of it all. It is one of those from top down to bottom that has such a feelin’ that would conjure new emotions and stories to energize any listener. We talk a few Madison things and if he had to have one cat always in his pocket from the city, who would that be. We also spoke about how he finds the song in his writings and a bit of what’s to come. Here at greenarrowradio, we are always down with giving props to other Madison folk – if you wanna hear some inside scoop on the connection with Ben & Leo Sidran, head her to listen to the 300’th episode of Leo’s ‘The Third Story‘.
