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SOULIVE
JAZZ JAM WITH A HIP-HOP FLAIR
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For the fans who’ve been along for the Soulive ride since the jazz-jam band’s formation in 1999, it’s been rewarding to watch their steady rise from a grass-roots phenomenon to a contemporary jewel in the Blue Note Records crown. From their raw 1999 EP Get Down! (recorded the first day the trio ever played together) to their most recent homonymous live release, they’ve continued to find new ways to bring jazz to a young audience, attracting an increasingly impressive line-up of guest artists both in the studio and on the stage. Turn It Out (Orchard, 2000) featured guitarist John Scofield, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and saxophonist Sam Kininger; the 2001 Blue Note release Doin’ Something saw horn arrangements by Fred Wesley (the legendary trombonist from James Brown’s band); and the 2002 Blue Note release Next featured vocals by Dave Matthews and MCs Talib Kweli and Black Thought. And they’ve accomplished all of this without a bass player. Instead, bass duties are carried out by organ/keyboard player Neal Evans, who holds down the low end with his left hand and Hammond B-3 bass pedals while layering harmonies and melodies in the right hand and on Hohner Clavinet. Across the stage, brother and drummer Alan Evans keeps the rhythm section airtight with his unwavering grooves. Between the two sits guitarist Eric Krasno, whose jazzy solos hover at the center of the group’s sonic spread. Over the years, the band’s selling point has always been their intense if rather gritty live shows. But last Friday night’s sold-out engagement at the Paradise (with an almost all-white twentysomething audience) revealed a newer, more polished side of Soulive. Ditching their usual formal attire, the trio appeared sporting casual T-shirts and jeans and joined by touring trumpet player Rashawn Ross and sax player Ryan Zoidis. Their two-and-a-half-hour set consisted of mostly recent material that included the unreleased "Vapor" and "Reverb." Each tune featured Tower of Power–like horn arrangements and had its own choreographed light show. Around midnight, the energy level surged with the appearance of lyricist Breez Evahflowin’, who had the crowd chanting "Party people come on!" in a funkified version of "Hot 2Nite." Then Kininger joined in for some sax battling on the ever funky "Tuesday Night’s Squad" and "Hurry Up . . . And Wait." For the final encore, Kininger’s band piled on stage with Ross, Zoidis, and percussionist Atticus Cole for a 15-minute version of "Do It Again" that offered solos all around and some impressive freestyling from Evahflowin’. Talent has never been an issue for this trio, but the energy and the accessible blend of funk, soul, and hip-hop they’ve cultivated over the past several years have made them an unusual jazz-pop crossover success.
BY ADAM GOLD
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