ALBUM REVIEW: Morris & Rivers - Spirits
“To be able to provide so many different flavors of jazz within the same album, with lyrical content to match, while still having it sound like one complete work is a tremendous feat, one that was pulled off flawlessly by all involved.”
The songwriting duo of Morris & Rivers (Composer Lecco Morris & Lyricist Justin K. Rivers) put out an album in September of 2025 that is still worth talking about.
With arrangements by local music force, Dylan Perillo, musical accompaniments by his quartet, and an all star cast of local vocalists — Belle-Skinner, Nicholas Manzella, Buggy Jive, and Girl Blue, listeners are taken on an exploration of jazz through an almost musical theatre lens. Every song feels like a scene from different works, all within the same universe, with each performer acting as the main character and the ensemble as the supporting cast — truly embodying the various Spirits.
The opening track, “Just Wanna Wrap You in My Arms,” gives us the first Belle-Skinner feature on the album that gives some serious Steely Dan vibes right off the rip. The track embodies the lyrics as it “wraps you” in its own arms — a safe and cozy place, with a memorable melody masterfully delivered by a powerhouse vocalist and a really grooving band behind it. This is followed up with “Murder Mystery,” which features Nicholas Manzella’s debut on the album.
This song presents itself as a romantic period art song with cool jazz influences, as if Bill Evans was arranging a Robert Schumann composition. It is compounded by Manzella’s booming tenor that bounces along, adding intrigue and drawing you in — along with the lyrical content that describes the murder mystery right to the, perhaps bitter, end? No spoilers here! The band itself, anchored by the arrangement, delivers sounds that I'm not sure how Morris ever dreamt up.
“Hard to Please (Just Right),” featuring Buggy Jive, gets back to the feel of the first track, along with a really deep pocket anchored by some awesome play between the drums and rhythm section. That, along with Jive adding his own flavor of soulfulness and tenderness to the track, is reminiscent of something you might find on a George Benson record. It’s a cool glimpse into how much these talented vocalists can truly transform a track with their own flair.
“When The Spirit Shakes Me” follows, this one featuring Girl Blue on her only track of the album. The song has a smokey, backroom lounge vibe that elicits images you’d find in a classic spy film. Girl Blue has you hanging onto every note, with slow rises and falls — it’s hypnotic. The lyrics speak to the “spirits” themselves; it’s a nice nod to the title of the album and is maybe the notion that each song possesses its own spirit unto itself.
From there, the next highlight is “Little Miss Muffette,” which also features Manzella. It’s a nice sonic homage to “The Big Easy” — New Orleans in sound and delivery. A song that could be performed by this jazz ensemble as easily as it could be arranged for and performed by a Zydeco group. Lyrically, a play on the classic nursery rhyme, it fits the aesthetic perfectly and is a really fun track smack dab in the middle of the album.
Belle-Skinner’s third of four features, “A Far Off Place,” is another standout track, beginning with a Thelonious Monk-style piano riff, clunky and slightly off kilter played with the left hand, which is then joined in by the rest of the band. Here, Belle-Skinner is able to pace herself within the track, building to some really big notes that are powerful, yet somehow reserved — complementary, while shining in their own right.
With this record, Morris & Rivers not only created some spectacular music, but chose right with Perillo to lead the arrangements and performances, and again with “casting” the vocalists. I have not been exposed to too many of these types of musical ventures — particularly locally — and with it, I was afforded a very unique listening experience. To be able to provide so many different flavors of jazz within the same album, with lyrical content to match, while still having it sound like one complete work is a tremendous feat, one that was pulled off flawlessly by all involved.
Spirits is available now on Bandcamp: https://morrisandrivers.bandcamp.com/album/spirits