Since 2002, the Ottawa-based band has been keeping the classic sounds of raw, gritty groove alive and well in Canada. Their style combines jazz, funk, African and Latin music with messages touching on politics and spirituality.
The blaring horns, [+]Since 2002, the Ottawa-based band has been keeping the classic sounds of raw, gritty groove alive and well in Canada. Their style combines jazz, funk, African and Latin music with messages touching on politics and spirituality.
The blaring horns, retro keyboards and polyrhythmic beats show the influence of James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Fela Kuti and Tito Puente, but the sound remains nonetheless refreshingly original. Their stylistic variety is in part due to the diverse musical backgrounds of the band’s individual members : jazz, funk, blues, reggae, classical, and traditional Cuban, Brazilian and West African percussion.
The Souljazz Orchestra has had the chance to collaborate with notable artists such as Beautiful Nubia and Mighty Popo, and has opened up for Etta James, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, John Lee Hooker Jr., The Sadies, Fred Eaglesmith, and more. The band has appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Blues Festival, and the Ottawa Tulip Festival.
"Uprooted" is the Souljazz Orchestra's first album, released in early 2005. Mostly instrumental, it showcases the band's more jazz-oriented beginnings. The Ottawa Fulcrum stated that the album "captures the energy and bounce that is characteristic of their live show" and that it is "definitely an all-around feel-good album, in that James Brown kinda way". This indie release has received nation-wide airplay through public and campus radio (the album has topped the CHUO, CFRC, and CJAM International charts at number one).
"The blending of Pierre Chrétien's groovy keyboards, the Cuban-trained conga rhythms of Phil Lafrenière, and Jesse Cooke's intense yet relaxed drum beats epitomize dance-floor jazz. Of course, the band is not complete without its two saxophonists, Steve Patterson and Ray Murray, trading fours as if they were kin and doubling-up on melodies in an intentionally loose sync."
- The Ottawa Fulcrum
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