LEO & THE GOAT, Shine

Shine, the conceptually innovative, socially conscious, sonically adventurous and continuously dazzling debut album by Leo & The Goat, is a fascinating, ever-grooving reminder that universal love and good musical vibin’ are often best expressed through the power of funk. Beyond the project’s dynamic jazz/old school soul foundations, at its emotional core, it’s about the inspiring magic that can result when a father and son committed to their vision and endless melodic, harmonic, arrangement and production possibilities join forces to create a sound that’s altogether fresh, resonant and almost defiant in its hipness and genre-transcendence.

A product capturing two patient years of intricate production and some tracks with origins over a decade old, Shine marks the flourishing of the musical relationship between veteran multi-instrumentalist and renowned artist Raphael Groten and his 26-year-old son Oliver, an accomplished composer, keyboardist and programmer who began learning music from his dad at age 10. As Raphael says, “We shared the compositions, arrangements and the engineer’s seat. Working and playing with him is a true joy!” Rather than call themselves The Grotens, Raphael riffed on each of their astrological signs for their clever moniker Leo & The Goat (i.e. Capricorn). Part of the essence of the name was derived from the classic picture of Oliver and his brother Miles, which they had previously chosen for the album cover. They tested “Leo & The Goat” against the photo and it seemed to fit the aesthetic.

“The story of Shine is one of awakening to deeper truth, peace and joy, not just within ourselves, but as a society and a culture,” Raphael says. “The words I chose to write and the messages conveyed are heartfelt calls for humanity to awaken to greater health and well-being. Of course, as the majority of the songs are instrumental, mostly, this message is sent to your hips for shakin! Enjoy life, enjoy the music and be present.”

With Leo & The Goat, Raphael takes listeners back to his deep-seated childhood love of classic R&B (James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, P-Funk, The Meters, etc.) while incorporating the 90’s acid jazz of The Brand New Heavies and contemporary influences like soul-hip hop great Michael Franti and Spearhead and Detroit funk/soul band Vulfpeck. Ironically, up till now in his ever-evolving career, he’s played every kind of music except soul music. Immersed in folk music in high school, the artist had composed over 100 songs by the end of his freshman year in college at the University of Vermont.

After graduating, he launched a ten-piece Latin/jazz/funk ensemble called Saudade which performed extensively in Burlington during the late 90s and released two albums. Years later as part of a deepening shamanic practice that accelerated when as an infant, his other son was almost killed in an accident, he began composing new age-flavored pieces and caught the attention of legendary artist and producer (and fellow Vermonter) Will Ackerman. (Raphael felt guided during a nightly meditation to email his song “Black River” to him). They recorded Raphael’s debut album Journey Home at Ackerman’s Imaginary Road Studios and the guitarist was featured on Raphael’s sophomore album Star Lullaby and Unity, his release with Rebecca Kodis. Raphael’s 2022 solo flute album Great Blue reached #1 on the ZMR world radio play charts and was featured on NPR’s “Hearts of Space.” Raphael’s latest work in this realm is the recently released Inner Sanctum.  

Before we venture into a discussion of the ten literally soul-stirring tracks – five instrumental, five provocative vocals – on Shine, it’s important to share a few words about Oliver as well.  Born and steeped in his dad’s love of music from all over the world, he grew up attending family gatherings and singing classic folk songs. As soon as he showed interest, Raphael began teaching him guitar and music production. In middle school he joined the chorus and began taking piano lessons. Growing up on pop, rock and funk, his love of groove-oriented music deepened as he began to produce electronic jazz/funk in high school. As he found his voice and honed his engineering skills, he attended his dad’s alma mater, where he received a degree in computer science. Raphael says, “Oliver now sits in the engineer's chair during our sessions and is certainly the next generation of me! He has an ear for production, arrangement and composition that could only be born of a deep devotion to and gift for music.”

One of the great parts of independent music making a la Leo & The Goat is the freedom it affords freewheeling, multi-faceted artists like Raphael and Oliver to engage in all manner of rhythms, harmonics and sonic energies. As we listen straight through from the moody, vibey and easy grooving flow of the seductive, saxophone, brass and distorted electric guitar driven opener “The Regulator” (capped by Rebecca Kodis’ gorgeous violin solo) to the cleverly titled closing track “Eastslide,” a hypnotic, fuzzy electric guitar rock/R&B meditation and intricate string exploration with buoyant tenor sax soloing, it comes clear that Raphael is having a blast mining fresh emotional meaning from his array of instruments.

Leaving aside some of the many he plays on his solo albums, Shine features his mastery of guitar, bass, sax, percussion, Cavaquinho, flute, medicine drum, “mouth horn,” horn sections and programmed bass and congas. Complementing Raphael, Oliver handles keyboard, programmed bass, horns and drums and guiro on “Shine,” a percussively throbbing, funked out, foot-stomping flute-spiced anthem showcasing Raphael’s colorful, intoxicating rapping skills in which he extends “an invitation to unwind/where we remember how to shine” despite life’s ever-shifting winds of change. In between the rap segments, Raphael includes a George Bensonesque segment where he scats along with his high-toned guitar solo.

The journey the Grotens/Leo & The Goat take us on is fascinating and full of unique musical twists and turns and, on the vocals, some impactful socially conscious expressions. The eclectic, seriously mesmerizing ambient experimental jazzy-soul fusion “Ride” – one of my personal favorites - finds Raphael tapping into his love of jazz via a swirl of snappy guitars, trippy and exotic synth, edgy textured horn blasts and the otherworldly sound of a “mouth horn.” It’s “kitchen sink” jazz/soul at its best, daring us to pick up on all the wild sonic action coming forth. Another fantastic, craftily wrought instrumental is “Riff Raph,” a mid-tempo mind bending groover which centers on his sonically altered lead guitarisma blended with a cool rhythm guitar flow and a bit of wah-wah coolness. It’s a contemporary version of the music of the golden age of fusion, where there’s some melody to follow but the jam is the thing. On this one, both Grotens keep things poppin’ via their programmed drums.    

The tracks featuring vocals and rapping feel to me like Raphael unveiling a special gift for lyric writing, singing and rapping – and meaningful, pointed universal messaging – that he unfortunately has had to keep under wraps creating music in the other genre’s he’s worked in – particularly new age. One of the best is the deliciously thumpy (contemporary disco-adjacent), old school soul-jazz keyboard powered “Diggin’ in the Garden,” where he raps solo while “digging for the truth” before swelling into a textured vocal choir reminding us that “everybody’s digging in the garden” and a horn-drenched freewheeling jam. When he gets to “we’re letting our soul shine,” we know it’s all a magnificent metaphor for finding and sharing our deepest heart and letting our light shine vis a vis the concept of the album!

The intoxicating, slightly exotic soundscape Leo & The Goat create at the start of “Cornerstone” opens the door towards the album’s deepest expression of personal spirituality. The atmospheric music on the track, which grows more emphatic and exuberant and inventive,  serves as a lush caress behind Raphael’s textured vocals and rap expressing his personal truth: “every day I feel the magic/I’m walking through worlds I never knew/on my way I have seen times of change/and witnessed stars born anew.” Along the way he talks of the “song of my creation” coming back to him, bowing unto the sacred path, and taking his power back.” All this revelation leads to the ultimate reality that “to realize the cornerstone of unity is you and me…”   

Shine’s other great vocal gem, the ambient, gently rhythmic “Puddin’” is a grand showcase for the art Raphael creates with another special personal and creative partner in his life, Rebecca Kodis, whose dynamic violin blends artfully with his guitar behind their combined divinely inspired vocals which, very much in the spirit of Marvin Gaye socio-political classics like “Trouble Man,” create a spacious aesthetic to express the joys of leaving “my burdens on the other side” while “preaching that love will heal the great divide” and that “looking for the real stuff” at the core of our existence is more important than material things and the trivial activities that consume us day to day. As they conclude “Everybody’s lookin’ for the truth/But the puddin’ is the proof.” Words to live, love and thrive by!

In his own inimitable way, Raphael shares the joy of what it meant to him and Oliver to create Leo & The Goat and Shine, with the hope of course that we will be hearing more from the father-son duo even as his spirit guides lead him to create more impactful new age recordings. “Oliver and I kept our sights on always having fun,” Raphael says. “This is why we do it! And as I get older, I recognize how easy it is to lose sight of the simplicity of life and the joy of having fun. As I listen to Shine now, I love the grooves, I love the melodies, I love the message and I love the heart. Love it all, but most special is that I created it with my son!" 

“We’re a bit hobbit-like here in Vermont,” he adds. “There are many beautiful places and brilliant energies to be found in nature all over the world. Leo & the Goat is Shire funk (hahaha). Funk from da shire, keepin’ it humble, keepin’ it grounded, sendin’ out positive lovin’ energy for all to feel, to rest in, to saturate themselves, to marinate in… I pray and trust that our music and message will reach the ears and hearts of those who will find joy, dance and truth in it!”