Soulive

Born from the jam band scene in 1999 and tied to the soul jazz of the 1960s, Soulive keeps its music open to more modern influences while never losing sight of the groove. Soulive consists of organist Neal Evans, his brother drummer Alan Evans and guitarist Eric Krasno. Krasno was previously the founder of Lettuce while the Evans brothers had been members of Moon Boot Lover; Alan Evans also played with the Greyboy All-Stars. On March 2, 1999, the three musicians jammed in the Evans’ home studio in Woodstock, resulting in an EP and the desire to play together on a regular basis. They recorded an independent album, Turn It Out, that year which included guitarist John Scofield among the guest musicians.

After that release sold 65,000 copies, Soulive became a fixture in jazz and funk settings, often performing at festivals (including Monterey) and opening for major rock acts. Soulive recorded three CDs for Blue Note that gave them more attention. In 2005 Soulive signed with Concord, then recorded No Place Like Soul for that company’s revived Stax label in 2007. In addition to the core trio, Soulive has often used guest artists, including horn sections, singer Toussaint Yeshua, Chaka Khan, Ivan Neville and Robert Randolph. Whether considered jazz, soul, funk, rock or all of the above, Soulive gets audiences dancing and creates new music within the groove. The most recent chapter of Soulive’s career finds the band returning to its original identity as a trio.