All About Jazz

Soulive: Doin' Something

By GLENN ASTARITA
April 1, 2001
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The organ/guitar/drums trio known as “Soulive”, reaps the benefits of soul godfather, James Brown’s heralded trombonist Fred Wesley, who arranges and performs on selected pieces in concert with a four-man horn section. And while this band generates nothing conceptually new, they do manage to stir up quite a bit of excitement throughout these eleven vibrant pieces.

On their newly released “Blue Note Records” debut titled, Doin’ Something the musicians’ provide us with a funk-soul brew that often rekindles memories of similar excursions witnessed during the often exploratory 70's. However, this ensemble successfully integrates toe-tapping dance grooves, with ultra hip funkiness amid tightly integrated rhythms and punchy horn charts. All, with a finely constructed yet delightfully brazen mode of attack. With “Roll The Tape”, Hammond B-3 organist Neal Evans, cunningly weaves in and out of Jeremy Pelt’s reverb-laden trumpet solo and guitarist Eric Krasno’s groove orientated strumming. Overall, the musicians’ conjure up engagingly appealing and harmonically rich motifs atop crisp beats and an infused sense of forward motion. Hence, the band’s chemistry speaks volumes here!

Soulive

Blue Note