Whether it's unfortunate timing, bad luck or simply a sound that can't be easily pigeonholed, your heart breaks a little when you watch performers such as James Morrison, who delighted an adoring crowd at the Granada Theater on Thursday night. The question just wouldn't disappear: Why isn't he more popular?
Could it be that his electric, eclectic style slip-slides across several genres? R&B, soul, pop, folk, blues and even a bit of funk dapple Morrison's plaintive, potent tunes.
Powered by his smoky, honeyed rasp, this Brit easily plays the dual roles of sensitive balladeer and raucous showman. Garrulous and cheerfully profane, his easy rapport with the audience could turn on a dime into haunting introspection.
While many of the best moments were slow, almost still, excavations of the soul, Morrison, clad in a boho vest and black trousers and backed by a sharp four-piece band and a pair of backup singers, mostly mined his latest album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, which skews a bit more pop.
If Morrison could simply bottle the adulation displayed at the Granada on Thursday, he'd be a global superstar instead of an immensely talented, frustratingly little-known artist toiling away in relative obscurity. But perhaps he had a gut feeling how his career might unfold before his first album ever hit the shelves.
The title of his 2006 debut? Undiscovered.
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