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Stuff we're listening to these days...
NEWS 08 11 2011 - Soulsville U.S.A.
All right, so we're happy to announce that the Souljazz Orchestra will be heading on its first major US tour this upcoming February. The band'll be
hitting up Providence RI, Boston, Burlington VT, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Cleveland, Chicago, and Minneapolis: you can check out the
tour schedule for details. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 11th, we'll keep you posted! tell me more about this US tour >>
27 10 2011 - Stand Up & Be Counted
So the Souljazz Orchestra is up for the Ottawa Xpress "Best Rock/Pop/Dance/Other Act of 2011", as decided by the voting public (we know,
it's a weird category, what can you do!)
Go ahead, you can vote here, it only takes a minute.
Help us spread the word, too!
Oh, and in case you're wondering what Souljazz has been up to these days, the band has just put out a new soul album as
part of Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays, on
Cosmic Groove in Europe & Japan, and on
Marlow Records everywhere else. The album features the rugged vocals of
Jamaican-Canadian soul singer Slim Moore, backed by members of the Souljazz Orchestra, the One Faith Gospel Singers, and some of the
baddest Canadian and American orchestral musicians around.
We're having our Toronto Record Release Party this upcoming Friday, November 5th, at the El Mocambo,
as part of the NuJazz Festival. Don't miss it!
And no joke, this album's off the chain, you gotta check this video out:
26 08 2011 - Ba de ya, say do you remember, ba de ya, dancin' in September...
September's looking pretty good for Souljazz, lots of hype shows coming up: Harbourfront Centre in TO (Sept 3),
an Ottawa U frosh show (Sept 9), a show with Bran Van 3000 (Sept 10), an insane old school Babylon party in Ottawa, just like
we like em (Sept 23), and a mad bash at Les Bobards in downtown Montreal (Sept 24). tell me more about these shows >>
09 08 2011 - The Souljazz Shop
Having trouble finding a certain Souljazz Orchestra album? Maybe you're a vinyl freak, and you're digging for a specific LP?
Or you'd just like to get a real CD, artwork and everything? Look no further, everything's now available for order online,
in one place, at the Souljazz Shop on CD Baby. show me this Souljazz Shop >>
14 07 2011 - The Real Slim Moore
Back from Europe, the bomb as usual... and now we've got something completely different for you.
Members of the Souljazz crew have been hard at work on a brand new orchestral soul project,
Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays,
backing dynamite Jamaican-Canadian singer Slim Moore, along with our boys Nick Dyson and Donovan Willis. The band's
got a killer record coming out in the fall, don't sleep on this one (it's massive: full string section, gospel choir,
whacka-whacka Shaft guitars, fuzz bass, trombone burps, out-of-tune piano, breathy flute, inappropriate bongo solos... what
else can you want really?) More info on this to come, but for now, those of you in Ottawa can check out
Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays, along with up-and-coming funk dynamos Phil Motion & the Easy Lo-Fi, at
Mavericks, on Friday, August 5th.
And you can bet all your last money, it's gonna be a stone gas honey. tell me more about Slim Moore & the
Mar-Kays >> show me all the upcoming Souljazz shows >>
24 04 2011 - No Sleep Til Istanbul
Just to let you know about our upcoming summer shows... First off, we'll be playing the Oysterfest in Ottawa
this Sunday, June 26th. It goes on all day, drop in and check it out. We'll then be hopping over to Europe, where
we'll be hitting the Liburnia Jazz Festival in Croatia, the Istanbul Jazz Festival in Turkey, mad clubs in Marseille,
Paris and Nîmes, and a North Sea Jazz Festival party in Rotterdam Holland. Spread the word! show me all the upcoming shows >>
24 04 2011 - One Nation Under A Groove
Back in Canada, after a phenomenal month-long tour of Europe: man, we shared marquees with the likes of Roy Ayers, Manu Dibango, Mulatu
Astatke, Maceo Parker, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, l'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Angélique Kidjo, Lee Fields and the Expressions,
Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, the David Murray Cuban Ensemble, Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra and Fanga... That's all right company!
Thanks to everyone that helped make it such a success, we'll be back in July. Found out along the way that we didn't get that Juno after all:
congratulations to Fond of Tigers for their win and, well, there's always next year for us!
Anyways, we have a special show lined up at Barrymore's in Ottawa on Friday, May 13th: the Souljazz Orchestra live, joined by the top DJs east
of Montreal and west of Iceland, our brothers from 100% Dynamite
down from Québec City. The show'll also be broadcast nation-wide by CBC Canada Live, so if you want to hear yourself screaming like a
banshee on national radio, now's the time. ;-) show me all the upcoming shows >>
01 02 2011 - Juno Awards
So the Souljazz Orchestra's latest record, Rising Sun, just got a Juno Award Nomination for the 2011 "Instrumental Album of the Year"! (Junos are Canada's equivalent of the Grammies, for you non-Canadians!) The actual awards ceremony is happening at the Air Canada Centre, in Toronto, on March 27th, emceed by Drake... Let's hope for the best.
We'll be celebrating next Saturday, February 19th, with our first Ottawa show of the year, at the Babylon Nightclub. We'll be joined by the up-and-coming dynamite MacKenzie Rhythm Section, as well as our man from way back in the Babylon residency days, the one and only DJ D-Mass. For those of you across the bridge, we'll also be hitting Le petit Chicago, in the Vieux-Hull, a few weeks later, on Friday, March 4th, as well as the Divan Orange, in Montréal, on Saturday, March 5th.
Our European tour is just about finalized, too. Some of the highlights include two French double-bills with our boys from Fanga in Aulnay and Le Havre, an insane family reunion with Café Crème and Hugo Mendez of Sofrito Soundsystem in Paris, our debut at the infamous Jazz Café in London, a special Cosmic Groove session in Montpellier, our biggest stint ever in Germany, a few quick stops in Austria and Switzerland, our first tour ever of sunny Greece, and a crazy festival in the medieval castle of Laarne in Belgium. (A big thanks goes out to the Ontario Arts Council for helping make this tour possible.) You can check out the actual tour dates here.
let's see these Juno nominees >> show me this upcoming tour >>
12 01 2011 - Good Times
The CBC just named Rising Sun the #1 album of the year by a Canadian band, and one of the year's top 10 albums worldwide,
along with Janelle Monae, the Gorillaz and Aloe Blacc's latest records. Souljazz also made quite a few "Best of 2010" lists
(you can check em out in the reviews section), thanks for the props!
OK, so we'll be playing back-to-back shows, Le Cercle in Quebec City on Friday January 21st, and Les Bobards in Montreal
on Saturday January 22nd, followed by Babylon in Ottawa on Saturday February 19th (with
the dynamite MacKenzie Rhythm Section and DJ D-Mass, our homeboy from back in the Babylon residency days) and Le petit
Chicago in Gatineau on Friday March 4th. Help us spread the word... We're then heading over to Europe, where we'll be
hitting up France, England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and Belgium. Keep checking the concerts section, the
actual dates'll be up soon.
let's see these reviews >> show me your upcoming gigs >> 23 11 2010 - New Year's Eve Bash
All right, so while Dick Clark drops the ball on Times Square, we'll be droppin' the bomb on Mavericks in
Ottawa. We'll be joined by our man DJ Zattar, of Timekode
fame, as well as some other secret surprise guests
(you'll just have to come to see who!...) Oh, and we'll be giving away free champagne at midnight on top
of that, to toast the New Year in style, before we keep on keepin' on into the night... Tickets are
available at Vertigo Records (193 Rideau St.) and on the
Mavericks website (get em early, they're going fast!)
By the way, Souljazz was named one of the top bands of 2010, and Rising Sun one of the
top albums of 2010, by the readers of the
Ottawa XPress: thanks to everyone that voted!
07 05 2010 - Long Hot Summer Nights
The Rising Sun release tour is finally over! Just got back to Canada after a monster European tour... Despite the French train strikes and the volcano ashes, we got through it just fine, and had a blast with our bros from Fanga, Hypnotic Brass & The Heavy.
So our summer plans are falling into place... We just did a live session at the BBC Studios in Manchester, and that'll be featured on the Craig Charles Soul & Funk show on BBC 6, June 5th, at 8PM UK time. Make sure to check that out, you'll hear some new stuff that's never been recorded before.
We've also got a short but intense European tour coming up in late June, including a stop at Glastonbury (yessa!) for two shows, on the Arcadia and Shangri-La stages... (We're psyched for those, it's just going to be a mad party.) We'll also be doing Les Invités de Villeurbanne near Lyon with Anthony Joseph & the Spasm Band, the Paradise Gardens Festival in London with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz Jamaica, La Défense Jazz in Paris with our boys Fanga, the massive Solidays festival in Paris, and more... We're then coming back to Canada for more fine festivals: Toronto Jazz with Angélique Kidjo, Ottawa Jazz with Joshua Redman's James Farm project, Stewart Park in Perth, Westport Music Fest, Yonge-Dundas in T.O., Guelph Jazz... You can check out the schedule for details. show me the tour schedule >> 31 03 2010 - Ascension
The new album, Rising Sun, is getting some decent airplay these days: other than being in the Top 10
of the Canadian indy radio jazz charts, it's been both in the Top 10 of the US CMJ Jazz Charts and in the Top 10
of the US CMJ World Charts for the last few weeks... We just finished a completely sold-out (and insanely sweaty!)
Canadian album release tour, thanks to everyone who came out. Now we can't wait to drop it in Europe. show me the tour schedule >> tell me about the new album >> 15 02 2010 - SoulTube
Strut just cooked up a video clip for "Agbara", off of Rising Sun, you can check it out
here. Most of the European dates for our
upcoming tour are now up too (we're happy to say we'll be collabing with Fanga for
a few shows in France, and with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for a few in the UK...) We'll be adding new tour dates in
the weeks to come, keep checking the site. show me the new video >> show me the tour schedule >> tell me about the new album >> 25 01 2009 - L'union fait la force
The Haiti earthquake has affected many people close to the group living in Port-au-Prince and its outskirts...
The Souljazz Orchestra will be donating a portion of the proceeds generated by the "Rising Sun" album release tour
directly to families affected by the earthquake, as well as to NGOs working on the Haiti relief effort. show me the tour schedule >> tell me about the new album >> 14 12 2009 - New Morning
The Souljazz Orchestra will be releasing its first all-acoustic afrojazz album, entitled Rising Sun, on
Strut Records, a label experiencing a good
amount of buzz with recent releases from Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Grandmaster Flash,
Tony Allen & Jimi Tenor, Breakestra, Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle, as well as with a slew of top-notch
reissues of historical dance music from around the globe (Nigeria 70, Black Rio, Calypsoul 70, Disco Italia,
Funky Nassau...)
On this new release, Souljazz stays true to its roots in soul and afro rhythms, but takes a more jazz-oriented
approach overall, creating deep, improvisational big-band music, with a heavy-driving, dancefloor-conscious edge.
(For what it's worth, Gilles Peterson has already called Rising Sun the group's best yet, as well
as one of the year’s top albums.)
A first single is scheduled to be released in January 2010, followed by the full-album LP release
in February 2010.
A massive album release tour will be taking us to both sides of the ocean... On the Canadian side,
we'll be hitting at least Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Hull and Quebec... The European dates will be announced
soon as well. Stay tuned! I wanna know more about this new album >> show me this tour schedule >> I wanna know what this Strut's all about >> I wanna know what they have to say about this album >> 02 11 2009 - Globetrottin'
Just got back from a great European tour... Highlights: our monster collab with Fanga in Paris,
our improvised choreography(!) with Jazzcotech in Marseille, an impromptu jam with Greg Hutchinson of the Joshua
Redman Trio in Nancy, the concert in Bratislava with Christian McBride and Marie Joao... We'll be taking a bit
of a break from the road until the release of our upcoming album, Rising Sun, in early 2010. We'll be touring
Canada in March, followed by Europe in April and early May. We'll give you more info as we get the dates down. show me this schedule >> 19 08 2009 - First Rays
Some of you might recently have heard mysterious new Souljazz tracks on UK DJ Gilles Peterson's BBC show,
so we'll tell you a little more about that...
The Souljazz Orchestra will be releasing its first all-acoustic afrojazz album, entitled Rising Sun, on
Strut Records. A first single is scheduled to be
released in January 2010, followed by the full-album LP release in February 2010. More details to come...
Souljazz will be playing the first annual Jazz Sudbury Festival on September 12th, as well as a monster show at
Babylon in Ottawa on September 19th. The band is then heading back to Europe
in October, playing two shows in Paris with the Afrorockers and Fanga, as well as shows in Lyon, Nice,
Marseille, Strasbourg and Nancy. Souljazz then leaves France for Eastern Europe, where the group is playing the Agharta
Jazz Festival in Prague, as well as Slovakian jazz festivals in Komárno, Bratislava and Žilina. You can check
out the schedule for details.
show me this schedule >> 26 05 2009 - Home Cookin'
Back home after a long stretch on tour overseas in Europe... Thanks to everyone that helped make it a huge success.
We'll be rockin' a few Canadian dates in the next while: Petit Chicago in Hull on June 6th, Ottawa Jazz Fest on June 24th, Montreal Jazz Fest on July 8th, Babylon in
Ottawa on July 24th. Check out the schedule for details.
By the way, our Inspiration Information collab with Horace Andy and Ashley Beedle is finally available. As Strut puts it,
"with the Orchestra's trademark analogue production style and Andy's lyrics about the value of education in
achievement, this one comes across like Horace popping into The Shrine in Lagos around 1972. Killer."
Check it out here.
Our latest album, Manifesto, has also just been released by Do Right! on vinyl as a limited-edition pressing,
for all of you wax lovers.
Get em while they last!
Lots coming up in 2009. We've got a few Canadian shows in the next while: Hamilton, Toronto (w/ our man
Bootsy Collins), Ottawa... Then, we're off to Europe in April for a month-long tour, where we'll be hitting
England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Finland. After that, we'll be touring Canada in
June/July. We'll keep you posted.
Oh, and we just finished a collab with reggae legend Horace Andy & producer Ashley Beedle for
Strut Records: a re-arrangement of
the new track "Watch We" into a bumpin' afro-reggae thing... Look out for that in the months to come.
show me the tour schedule >> show me the new reviews >> 11 12 2008 - CD Release Party
All right, so mark this off on your calendars, next Friday, December 19th, is the "Manifesto" CD Release Party in
Ottawa, at our old Babylon homebase on Bank St. We'll have DJ Zattar spinning, as well as some surprise
guests playing with us... Should be a party of epic proportions, come on out. show me the show details >> 30 10 2008 - New Album Available On-Line
"Manifesto" is now available on-line from CD Baby.
You can also download it through iTunes. I wanna buy the CD >> I wanna download the album from iTunes >> I wanna know more about this album first >> 18 10 2008 - Manifesto Is Out
So our new album, "Manifesto", is finally out, in Canada at least. Do Right Records and Exclaim Magazine
put together a giveaway contest to celebrate the release, you can check it out
here.
We'll be doing a Canadian album release mini-tour in November and December, hitting Toronto, Montreal, Quebec,
Kingston, and Ottawa. Check out our schedule for more details. how do I buy this album? >> show me the touring schedule >> I wanna know more about this contest business >> 14 06 2008 - Manifest Destiny
Yes, the rumours are true: the Souljazz Orchestra is releasing a new album, entitled Manifesto, on
September 23rd 2008, once again through Do Right! Music.
A 7" vinyl single, featuring two of the tracks on the album, will be coming out ahead of time,
in July: look out for that.
Our summer tour is just about finalized: we'll be hitting England, Scotland, Austria, Hungary and Denmark for the
first time, returning to France once again, and of course doing a few shows in Canada as well. Highlights:
playing Bayonne with Erik Truffaz, performing Joe Zawinul's Birdland in Vienna, hitting the Cargo in London,
playing the Big Chill in Hereford with fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen, sharing the Fiest'A Sète stage with
the likes of Charles Walker, Gwen McCrae, Kid Creole, and Éthiopique legend Mahmoud Ahmed. Check out our
schedule for more details. I wanna know more about this tour >> 24 04 2008 - Long Playing Microgrooves
The vinyl LP of Freedom No Go Die is finally out, as a limited edition pressing... I wanna check this out >> 10 04 2008 - Brooklyn's The Borough
Just played Toronto and Brooklyn this weekend... Hung out in Harlem, Central Park, Greenwich Village, Queens:
New York City's the bomb. Some good shows coming up: Black Sheep in Wakefield, The Goods in Montréal,
Make It Funky in Toronto, Le Cercle in Québec, and Barrymore's in Ottawa... gimme the details on these shows >> 02 01 2008 - In The Mix
Happy New Year! Just updated the Music section to include the vinyl and the compilations that we've been
featured on lately... We also put up some more international reviews, 'tis the season for the end-of-year lists.
We'd like to thank Gatineau/Ottawa's Voir, in particular, for choosing us as 2007 Band of the Year. Merci!
Our 2008 Spring schedule is up too, we'll be hitting Kingston, Montréal, Québec, Moncton, Halifax,
Toronto, and yes, Brooklyn, baby. all right, let's see the music >> I wanna see these reviews >> show me the touring schedule >> 13 12 2007 - Doing It To Death
Well, the French tour was completely sold-out, a total success. All our love and gratitude goes out to everyone
who helped make it possible.
Highlights: teaming up with Fanga in Montpellier, with DJ Hugo Mendez in Marseille, rocking the Batofar, a
crazy boat/bar on the Seine, playing la Bellevilloise, probably our sweatiest gig ever, seeing Kutiman, Hypnotic
Brass Ensemble and Mos Def live. We just put up some pictures of the tour, you can check 'em out for fun.
By the way, we'll be playing a crazy bash at the Babylon in Ottawa on New Year's Eve. We'll be
going all out for this one: champagne will be provided, DJ Zattar will be dishing out the muy afro funke goodness,
and the Souljazz Orchestra will be rocking the place in full party mode.
Oh, and just for fun, we've been doing some crate-digging in Paris, check out the new Soulfood album picks... gimme more on this NYE thing >> show me the tour pics >> gimme some soulfood >> 22 10 2007 - The French Connection
So we'll be touring France in late November: Montpellier, Marseille, Paris, Toulouse, Nantes...
Check out the schedule for details.
Nous allons faire une tournée française vers la fin-novembre: Montpellier, Marseille, Paris, Toulouse,
Nantes... Consultez l'horaire pour plus de détails. let's see the schedule >> 28 08 2007 - No Condition Is Permanent
So we just gave the website a long-overdue overhaul, hope you like it... The summer tour's over, man, what
a trip... We got to meet Femi Kuti in Ottawa, some of us got to hang out with Seun Kuti in Paris,
we backed up Dele Sosimi of the Egypt 80 in Calgary: feels like the world is getting smaller all the time.
We'll be doing a second
Eastern Canada tour in September. Highlights: the Virgin Music Festival in Toronto (with Bjork, Amy Winehouse...),
the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton (with Arturo Sandoval, Dr. John...), the creepy old Seahorse
in Halifax, and a fundraiser for Sudan at the Sala Rossa
in Montreal (with Kobo Town and DJ Andy Williams). Check out our schedule for details. all right, show me the schedule >> 28 04 2007 - Summer Madness
Our summer touring schedule's up, check it out... Highlights: opening up for Femi Kuti
at the Ottawa Bluesfest, playing the main stage at the Ottawa Jazzfest on Canada Day,
flying out West for Afrikadey in Calgary, travelling out East to Québec and Halifax... let's see this schedule >> 26 02 2007 - Triple Header
Busy weekend coming up... We'll be opening for Gilles Peterson
at The Next Level in Toronto, on Thursday March 29th. The following night, Friday March 30th, we'll
be playing with Nomadic Massive at the
Capital Music Hall in Ottawa. Finally, we'll be playing Montreal for the first time in a good while
on Sunday, April 1st, at the Casa del Popolo... If we look a little rough on Monday, you'll know why :-)... more concert listings >> 26 02 2007 - Sauljazz
Check us out with Saul Williams
at The Pepper Jack Cafe
in Hamilton, this Friday, March 2nd. If you don't know Williams, do yourself a favour,
check him out, this man is the future of hip-hop. For real. more concert listings >> 10 02 2007 - Do Right! CD Release
"Freedom No Go Die" is finally released on our new label,
Do Right! Music.
We'll be having two CD release parties
to celebrate, one at Mavericks, in Ottawa,
on Friday, February 23rd (with the Uptown Strugglers), and a big one at the
Rivoli, in Toronto, on Saturday, February 24th. more concert listings >> let's hear this album >> what's up with this Do Right thing >> 31 12 2006 - Number 9, Number 9, Number...
Hey, "Mista President" made it to the #9 spot on
Gilles Peterson's Best of 2006
list! Thanks to all those that voted... more concert listings >> 01 11 2006 - iSoul
Both
Freedom No Go Die and
Uprooted are now
available on iTunes... download Freedom No Go Die >> download Uprooted >> 11 10 2006 - Just Do Right
We just worked out a record deal with Do Right! Music
out of Toronto, which will be the exclusive worldwide provider of Freedom No Go Die.
We'll be celebrating with a Do Right! Music bash, featuring label boss DJ John Kong,
at the Babylon Nightclub, Thursday, November 9th. More info to come, stay tuned... buy the new CD >> listen to the new CD >> show concert listings >> 10 11 2005 - Dip-Dappin'
We'll be opening up for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings this Tuesday,
November 15th, at the Babylon.
If you don't know Sharon, do yourself a favour and check her out:
she's kind of like a mix of James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, all in one.
Divas Maya & Alanna will be joining us as well, so you can expect a whole night of
heavy soul madness... more concert listings >>
