| Funky Jazz |
Johnny Still Got Game: John Korbel proves reinvention never really stops
There’s a particular kind of confidence that only comes from decades of doing something long enough to stop worrying about doing it “right”. Johnny Still Got Game, the new album from Florida-based singer-songwriter John Korbel, wears that confidence well. It’s a record built by an artist who’s spent a lifetime reshaping his own sound through Philadelphia club stages, a working band, a stage-name reinvention, and a string of increasingly assured solo releases, and who now sounds genuinely at ease letting jazz phrasing, funk grooves and pop craft sit comfortably in the same song.
Korbel’s path here has been anything but linear, and that history matters to how the record lands. Performing originally under his birth name, John Knoblauch, he built a strong regional following in the Philadelphia scene, headlining the storied Main Point and sharing stages with some of the era’s most notable acts before fronting the popular area band Jellyroll. A move to Florida and a fresh stage name eventually followed, along with years balancing music with a career outside the industry, the kind of long detour that, for the right artist, ends up sharpening rather than dulling the eventual return. Since coming back to recording with real purpose, Korbel has built a catalogue (the Latin-inflected debut EP Earthlight, the jazz-rooted Bourbon Street Taps, and 2024’s full-length Falling Feels Like Flying) that established him as a songwriter equally comfortable across jazz, pop, Brazilian influences and sophisticated adult-contemporary songcraft. Johnny Still Got Game is the record where all of that accumulated range finally gets to share the same stage at once, and it’s easily his most ambitious and hands-on project yet.
The title isn’t a throwaway boast, it’s a genuine statement of purpose, and the album backs it up. Korbel sounds like an artist still actively curious about where a song can go, not one coasting on a well-worn formula. That curiosity is audible across the whole eleven-track sequence, but it comes through most vividly on a handful of standout pieces built from strikingly different sparks of inspiration.
Opener “Paint a Starry Night” sets the tone with an expansive, horn-driven arrangement, built from a guitar riff sent to Korbel by longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Rankin. Drawing on Vincent van Gogh’s imagery and, by Korbel’s own account, a memorable bit of stage banter from Joni Mitchell, the song turns a simple phrase into a genuinely affecting meditation on love, memory and renewal later in life. A big, confident way to open a record, and a strong statement about the emotional range Korbel is reaching for here.
“Great Flowing River”, another clear centrepiece, took shape during an actual drive across the Mississippi near Vicksburg, and it’s a lovely example of a songwriter setting himself a real challenge and meeting it. Korbel has said he deliberately wanted to avoid writing a straightforward protest song about American history and race – “I wanted to make a statement without being preachy”, as he’s put it – and instead built something about crossing bridges, both literal and metaphorical, and confronting history honestly rather than didactically. It’s a genuinely mature piece of songwriting, handling weighty material with a light enough touch that the song’s craft never gets buried under its message.
Elsewhere, Korbel’s more playful instincts take centre stage on “Speed Shop at the Top of the World”, a funky, freewheeling track born from a phrase that simply arrived in his head one morning and grew into a stream-of-consciousness romp filled with grease-monkey imagery and automotive Bodhisattvas. It’s the kind of song that only works if the artist is having genuine fun making it, and that spirit comes through clearly. Korbel has said he was laughing the whole time he wrote it, and that unforced playfulness is exactly what keeps the track from tipping into novelty. It’s a nice reminder that an album this stylistically ambitious doesn’t need to take itself entirely seriously in order to succeed.
Part of what makes Johnny Still Got Game feel like such a considered step forward is the strength of the musicians Korbel and producer Mark Falchook have assembled around him. Falchook’s own keyboard work anchors the record throughout, alongside Marco Bojorquez on bass, Jef Thal on drums and percussion, and a rotating cast of guest players: saxophonist and woodwind player Chris West, guitarist John Coleman Gilson, backing vocalist Sam Reckart, and a horn section rounded out by alto saxophonist Roberto Carlos, harmonica player Jeff “Doc” Jones, trumpeter Gilberto Santos and trombonist Derrick Harris, who give individual tracks real colour and depth. Korbel has spoken about genuinely valuing that kind of collaboration, saying he loves working with players who hear things in his songs that he doesn’t, and that spirit of trust is audible throughout: this never sounds like a songwriter dictating parts, but like a genuine band bringing a strong set of songs to life together.
Listeners will likely catch echoes of Steely Dan’s harmonic sophistication, Al Jarreau’s vocal ease, Michael Franks’ laid-back storytelling and Ben Sidran’s jazz-pop sensibility scattered throughout the record, good company for any songwriter to keep, and Korbel clearly knows it. But Johnny Still Got Game never feels like tribute or pastiche. Those influences are fully absorbed into a voice that’s distinctly his own, marked by witty observation, unexpected melodic turns, and a genuine gift for turning small personal moments (a guitar riff from a friend, a drive across a river, a stray phrase at breakfast…) into songs with real emotional reach.
Johnny Still Got Game is a warm, thoughtfully crafted record from an artist who clearly has no intention of slowing down or repeating himself. It’s reflective without leaning on nostalgia, musically sophisticated without ever losing its sense of fun, and personal in a way that still feels genuinely relatable rather than insular. Korbel has built a career on following unexpected creative paths, and this album is the clearest evidence yet that the strategy is still paying off. Proof, as the title insists, that creative growth really doesn’t have an expiration date.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, September 18th, 2026
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Tracklisting:
1.Paint A Starry Night ****
2.A Life Of Its Own
3.Great Flowing River ****
4.Johnny Still Got Game **
5.Speedshop At The Top Of The World *
6.Courageous Love
7.You Ruined Everything **
8.Walls Can Talk ***
9.Any Less Of A Love
10.The Only Thing
11.Never Bet Against The Sun **
All compositions by John Korbel, except “Paint A Starry Night” written by John Korbel & Jeff Rankin
Musicians:
John Korbel – Vocals and Guitar
Mark Falchook – Keyboards (Producer)
Marco Bojorquez – Acoustic and Electric Bass
Jef Thal – Drums and Percussion
Chris West – Saxophones and Woodwinds *
John Coleman Gilson – Lead Guitar *
Sam Reckart – Background Vocals **
Tom Cabrera – Drums ***
Roberto Carlos – Alto Saxophone ****
Jeff “Doc” Jones – Harmonica ****
Gilberto Santos – Trumpet ****
Derrick Harris – Trombone ****