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Lettuce
LETTUCE is (a) the prime ingredient in a salad, (b) a slang for cash, (c) a green herb that can be smoked, (d) a genre-busting six-member musical collective formed in 1992 by four alumni of the prestigious Berklee College Of Music, or (e) all of the above. If you answered “e,” then you’re in on the sheer magic of a band that both feeds the rich history of funk and combines it with strains of hip-hop, rock, psychedelia, jazz, soul, jam, go-go, and the avant-garde.
The GRAMMY® Award-nominated six-piece is comprised of Adam Deitch [drums, percussion, arrangement], Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff [guitar], Erick “Jesus” Coomes [bass], Ryan Zoidis [alto, baritone, tenor sax, Korg X-911], Eric “Benny” Bloom [trumpet, horns], and Nigel Hall [vocals, Hammond B-3, Rhodes, clavinet, keyboards]. To date, their discography includes Outta Here [2002], Rage! [2008], Fly [2012], Crush [2015], the EP Mt. Crushmore [2016], the live album Witches Stew [2017], Elevate [2019], Resonate [2020], Unify [2022], and now VIBE – a single 48 minute continuous session of pure, free-flowing improvisation, available digitally for the first time.
With VIBE, Lettuce cement their status as boundary-pushing innovators three decades into their lauded career, blurring lines and smashing up jazz chords, psychedelic passages, big horns, strains of soul and go-go, hip-hop elements for an uplifting, improvisational sound all their own. Ryan Zoidis explains, “we got into a vibe and hit record. 48 minutes went by like a blink of an eye. This is our first purely improvised recording. Nothing planned, nothing edited or overdubbed. This is a true spontaneous musical expression captured in its entirety.”
Adam Deitch - Drums, Percussion
Adam “Shmeaans” Smirnoff - Guitar
Erick “Jesus” Coomes - Bass Guitar
Ryan Zoidis - Alto, Baritone, & Tenor Saxophone, Korg X-911
Eric “Benny” Bloom - Trumpet
Nigel Hall - Vocals, Hammond B-3, Rhodes, Clavinet, Keyboard
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Lettuce: Elevate
by Doug Collette
In what is perhaps an act of self-fulfilling purpose, Lettuce lives up to the title of this album, despite the fact it is not the same band that recorded Rage (Velour Recordings, 2008) or Fly (Velour Recordings, 2012). The current lineup is missing the two main instrumentalists from that pinnacle of progression: guitarist Eric Krasno and keyboardist Neal Evans are now devoting themselves to various and sundry projects including the revival of Soulive, so guitarist Adam Shmeeans" Smirnoff remains the ...
read moreLettuce: Witches Stew: A Tribute to Miles Davis
by Doug Collette
It's a daunting task but a laudable ambition to afford direct tribute to a musician as iconic as Miles Davis and a work of his equal in stature, Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970). But like the ensembles before them that revisited this bonafide classic, including the World Saxophone Quartet, Lettuce prove up to the task. In fact, the octet tender their homage, Witches Stew, in such a way it suggests 'The Man with the Horn,' were he still living, might well ...
read moreLettuce: Mt. Crushmore
by Karl Ackermann
The long-time jazz/funk band Lettuce has been referred to in terms that liken their sound to an evangelizing of funk and that is certainly a fitting descriptions for a good portion of their music. What the funk-laden descriptions obscure is that the blending of a strong jazz element makes this group unique. That aspect is largely driven by an enhanced reed and brass section some of whom perform elsewhere as The Shady Horns. The EP Mt. Crushmore is the sixth ...
read moreLettuce & The Alan Evans Trio at Higher Ground, South Burlington, Vermont, 2013
by Doug Collette
Lettuce & The Alan Evans TrioHigher GroundSouth Burlington, VermontSeptember 5, 2013Two of the most prominent members of an organization dubbed, with little false modesty, The Royal Family, Lettuce and The Alan Evans Trio are ideal tour mates, especially for the intimate environs of a venue like South Burlington's Higher Ground. While the music began past its billed start hour, the threesome headed by the once and future drummer of Soulive made up for lost time, ...
read moreJazz this week: Dweezil Zappa, Lettuce, Marilyn Maye, Project/Object, and more
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes one grande dame of cabaret; a couple of danceable funk/jazz acts; two pianists sharing one stage at the city's most prestigious jazz club; and not one, but two tributes to the music of the eclectic guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, plus more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, October 12 Promoting their latest recording, Within You, The People's Key begin a two-night stand that marks their debut at ...
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Jazz this week: Adam Larson, Lettuce, Youngblood Brass Band, March Fourth!, The New Mastersounds, and more
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis features a couple of different acts purveying instrumental funk, a saxophone phenom working in the modern jazz mainstream, a mutant marching band, and, as the saying goes, much, much more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, October 14 Up-and-coming saxophonist Adam Larson will play the first of two nights with his quartet at Jazz at the Bistro. Originally from Normal, IL, Larson (pictured, top left) graduated ...
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Soulive and Lettuce: Royal Family Ball Fall Tour
Source:
JamBase
BRINGING THE ROYAL FAMILY ACROSS THE U.S. THIS FALL; NEW MIXTAPE FROM DRUMMER AL EVANS OUT NOW Preeminent soul-funk trio Soulive, fresh off hosting their first ever festival The Royal Family Affair earlier this summer, have announced a full-on Royal Family Ball tour for Fall 2011. The run will see the return of Soulive to eight cities, including New York City, Chicago, Boston, Portland, Pittsburgh, Falls Church, Philadelphia and a two-night Halloween blowout in Burlington. Joining Soulive on all of ...
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Royal Family Affair: Soulive, Chromeo, Lettuce, Big G, Denson
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JamBase
DUMPSTAPHUNK, MEDESKI, DEITCH & SKERIK, JENNIFER HARTSWICK, BREAK SCIENCE, PIMPS OF JOYTIME, ZACH DEPUTY, ALSO CONFIRMED In celebration of its 13th year as a band, the preeminent soul funk trio Soulive has announced the inaugural Royal Family Affaira three-day music festival from August 12-14 set in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont at Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Bondville. Take a look at the full lineup below. Along with performances taking place on two stages and a late-night venue, the ...
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NYC Royal Family Ball: Soulive, Lettuce, Scofield
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JamBase
TALIB KWELI, QUESTLOVE, CHRISTIAN SCOTT, SHADY HORNS, NIGEL HALL ALSO ON THE BILL Soulive will host the 3rd annual New York City Royal Family Ball at Terminal 5 on Saturday, October 2. Joining Soulive's Eric Krasno, Neal and Alan Evans and their Royal Family crew on this evening will be a who's who of modern hip- hop, jazz and New Orleans' music luminaries, including John Scofield, Talib Kweli, Questlove, Christian Scott and Big Sam. The bill will be topped off ...
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Soulive/Lettuce New York
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JamBase
Soulive & Lettuce :: 09.05.08 :: Highline Ballroom :: New York, NY
Soulive/Lettuce :: 09.05 :: NYC Live music, in all its glorious forms, can prompt a slew of reactions, at times consuming the listener and forcing them to succumb to the artist's intentions, willingly or not. When it comes to Soulive and their sibling-band Lettuce, who shared the bill at the Royal Family Ball, the inclination brought about by their amped-up ...
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