Another works outing for Xorg Inter-Galactic on Friday evening, to Ronnie Scott's to see Soulive, the jazziest, funkyest, blueseyest, rockingest, groovyest trio in the world. Comprising Eric Krasno on guitar, Alan Evans on drums and Neal Evans on Hammond organ and keyboard bass. They've been around for ten years and the band has had a number of different line-ups, adding vocals and brass etc here and there. Friday's gig was 'just' the basic trio. These guys are fantastic!
A distinctive element of their sound is the bass. They don't have a bass player - the keyboard guy does it all with his left hand, playing a Nord keyboard via various electronic wizardry. As a former bass guitarist I would normally be opposed to this in principle but this guy really cuts the mustard. I reckon in his brain he's actually a bass player who plays the keyboard and throws in some Hammond organisms meanwhile. The guitarist moves between jazz, blues and rock and plays with tremendous feel and, as for the drummer, he must be the coolest tub-thumper ever: driving it along, holding it back, punctuating and so forth. Check out their music on Spotify or wherever; there's stuff on their website too. Among the songs they played were: So Live!, Lenny, Steppin', and an encore of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby/I Want You. As for the venue - well, it's Ronnie Scott's so it's a bit posh and expensive (there's an automatic 12.5% cover charge on everything) but dead cool.
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