Praise for “impala”

“D.C.’s Jonny Grave has long championed gritty, blues and folk music with his gruff vocals and blistering guitar solos. But on his latest EP, 2019’s exploratory Impala, Grave and his band spend five songs and 28 minutes jamming on whatever genre feels right—and Grave lets his guitar do the talking.”

—Rudi Greenberg, DCist

“Jonny Grave, the man and his music, defy categorization. Yes, he learned his chops studying blues greats like Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, and R.L. Burnside, but as I sat down to write this piece, I opened up the advance file of his new EP, IMPALA, and something unexpected and wondrous began pouring from the speakers. This was much more than just Mississippi Delta Blues; it was music that felt universal: Latin Salsa, French Manouche, American Funk, and yes, Mississippi Blues, too.”

—Mark Caicedo, ParklifeDC

His older music recordings champion the original Hill Country blues aesthetic, though over time Jonny has adopted all forms of blues stylings into his slide guitar driven albums and EPs. With IMPALA Jonny drops the period piece and takes a slightly psychedelic turn with his soulful guitar and organ driven band…He makes his guitar sing in a way I have never heard on a Jonny Grave recording. On "Una Medalla, Por Favor,” Jonny channels a little early Clapton, Jeff Beck and even Carlos Santana through his powerful slide driven jams. "Impala" itself has a very Southern Funk, Meters-esque feel to it. This EP moves you, its a 28-minute-long jam that will entice any music fan.”

—Chris Naoum, DC Music Review

IMPALA 
by Jonny Grave Quartet 
“These five instrumentals are from everywhere. I keep my ears open, and try to remember what I hear whenever and wherever I travel. Through Beirut, Paris, San Juan, Curitiba, and Clarksdale, I heard the most fabulous music, and smuggled back whatever I could. While these tunes are a testament to perpetual travel, they were honed into shape at countless bar gigs by the skills of working professional musicians. It’s thanks to the hands and minds of Scott, Ben, and Marty that these hazy travelogues turned into music.”

—Jonny Grave 

“IMPALA” is an EP of five original instrumental songs recorded live in front of an audience on January 19th, 2019 at Hill Country Barbecue, in Penn Quarter, Washington DC. The show’s audio, engineered and mixed live, was re-mixed for release, and lovingly remastered for high fidelity stereophonic sound entirely by Anthony Fowler.