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REVIEWS
"Top 10 Track of 2006": Mista President
- Gilles Peterson Worldwide, BBC Radio 1, UK
"Top 10 Album of 2007": Freedom No Go Die
- DJ Scott C, Montreal Mirror
"Best Albums of 2007": Freedom No Go Die
- Highlife World Music, Vancouver
"2007 Band of the Year"
- Voir Magazine, Gatineau/Ottawa
Dusty Groove America
2007, Chicago IL
More Afro Funk than the soul jazz you might guess from the group's name -- but that's OK with us, because the record's plenty darn great! Souljazz Orchestra are one of the best of the current wave of Afro combos to hail from Canada -- and they manage to get an incredible full sound from a surprisingly small range of instruments -- usually just 3 saxes, a trumpet, keyboards, and percussion -- but played with a sense of power to earn them the "orchestra" in their name! There's a definite Fela influence going on here -- grooves that move fast with very skittish rhythms -- snaking out with great horn bits and keyboard lines. But the overall approach is a bit tighter too -- much more focused at times, on slightly shorter tunes, about half of which are vocal numbers. Two tracks have the group breaking format a bit -- a great cover of "The Creator Has A Master Plan" and the Latin-inflected "Little Habana" -- and other tunes include "Mista President", "The Blind Leading The Blind", "Insurrection", and "Mojuba".
Straight No Chaser magazine
Issue 43, November 2006, London UK
The Souljazz Orchestra's 'Freedom No Go Die' pays homage to the Afro Beat sound of Fela Kuti, while including soukous, salsa, free jazz and the sound of seventies funk in the mix to make an impressive second album. Since 2002, the Ottawa based band have combined this amalgamation of firing horns, funky keyboards and polyrhythmic beats to rock dance floors across Canada. The album features fiery performances by the Rwandan/Burundian artist Mighty Popo, as well as by two of Ottawa's top soul singers, Alanna Stuart and Marielle Rivard. If Fela, James Brown, Tito Puente and Herbie Hancock are your thing track this down now. Worth the admission price alone for their brilliant version of 'The Creator has a Master Plan'.
Bokson
par Kalcha, 12 septembre 2006
Paris, France
Il paraît qu'on connaît l'hiver le plus doux depuis des décennies (moi perso, j'avais pas remarqué, mais bon, je suis pas météorologue non plus…). J'ai tout de même ma petite théorie sur les causes de ce réchauffement climatique inopiné. Ces dernières semaines, je n'ai pas arrêté d'écouter le second album de The Souljazz Orchestra (rien à voir avec le célèbre label londonien), et à coup sûr, ça a fini par avoir quelques répercussions sur la température ambiante!
Il faut dire que ce «Freedom No Go Die» ressemble à une cocotte-minute sur le point d'exploser: ça fume de partout, ça gronde en dessous, et ça fait trembler les alentours. A moins que ça ne soit moi en train de danser dans mon appartement?!
Quoiqu'il en soit, le quintette d'Ottawa a véritablement le groove dans le sang. La basse vous caresse les hanches, la batterie vous attrape les chevilles, et les cuivres vous montrent la chorégraphie. Un peu à l'instar des New Yorkais d'Antibalas, The Souljazz Orchestra emprunte au latin jazz, au funk, à la salsa et à la musique africaine (leur «Secousse Soukous» est même d'ailleurs un peu loin de nos bases musicales…) pour pimenter son afro beat chaud bouillant. Le résultat séduira donc autant les fans de Manu Dibango, de Ray Barretto, de Mulatu Astatke, des JB's, de Don Cherry ou de Phaorah Sanders, dont ils reprennent ici «The Creator Has A Masterplan».
Malgré cet éventail d'influences, le groupe a l'intelligence de ne pas s'éparpiller et vise l'efficacité avant tout (les morceaux durent 5 minutes en moyenne, quand les standards du genre dépassent souvent le quart d'heure). Une concision fort bien venue qui devrait aider le groupe à dépasser le simple cercle d'initiés. Ecoutez par exemple Gilles Peterson qui n'arrête pas de louer sur toutes les ondes les qualités de ces Canadiens. Le célèbre Dj anglais a d'ailleurs retenu sur son site le «Mista President» de The Souljazz Orchestra comme l'un des meilleurs morceaux de 2006. Difficile de le contredire en entendant ce jeu de question/réponse entre le chant lead de Mighty Popo et les chœurs qui feraient remarcher un hémiplégique! Et on pourrait quasiment retourner le compliment à la totalité du tracklisting (même si, bon, «Secousse Soukous»… Bref).
Vous vous souvenez du titre qu'a choisi Meï Teï Shô pour son récent dvd posthume: «Dance & Reflexion»? La formule pourrait servir de slogan à tout le mouvement afro beat, et assurément de fil conducteur à cet album puisque les titres des morceaux ne laissent pas beaucoup de doutes sur les revendications sociales et politiques du groupe («Mista President», «The Blind Leading The Blind», «Insurrection», «Freedom No Go Die», «Little Habana»…), ce qui les inscrit d'office dans la grande lignée des fils spirituels du juste Fela.
Exclaim! magazine
By Matt Bauer, November 10, 2006
Toronto, Canada
Fela Kuti is dead but his spirit is alive and well on the Souljazz Orchestra's Freedom No Go Die. On their sophomore disc the Ottawa quintet (joined by Rwandan/Burundian artist Mighty Popo on three tracks) craft a sound as tight as the power fists that adorn the cover. Songs of resistance, revolution and positivity in the best of the Afrobeat tradition are the matters of the day here with titles like: "Mista President" and "Blind Leading the Blind" bringing politics to the forefront. But it is searing instrumentals like the mid-tempo "Insurrection," with Pierre Chretien's percolating clavinet and bottom heavy bass as well as Philippe Lafreniere's congas and urgent percussion that drive the groove home. Other outstanding tracks include the slow burning "Mojuba" and a cover of Pharoah Sanders' "The Creator Has A Master Plan" (featuring fellow Ottawan Marielle Rivard on vocals) that steadily maintains a funky yet meditative pulse thanks to some tasteful flute and an intense sax solo. Freedom No Go Die? Not as long as outfits like the Souljazz Orchestra continue to make music like this.
Let's Motiv
"Le funk est d'or", par Baptiste, octobre 2007
Toulouse, France
Si Shaft devait renaître, il choisirait le Souljazz Orchestra pour illustrer ses aventures. Une bande
son télescopant toutes les musiques afro-américaines du 20e siècle, orchestrant
l’ambiance faite de débrouille et de misère banale des ghettos urbains, mais aussi exigence
de l’existence dans ce qu’elle peut avoir de plus léger, urgence d’être tout
simplement. Le discret martèlement des percussions sonne le rappel de racines ancestrales et nous
délivre des forêts d’immeubles. Un son furieusement funky à la pulsion de vie salutaire,
à l’image des poings levés ornant la pochette de l’album Freedom No Go Die
(Do Right! Music). Une énergie en diable qui anime les corps dans une transe assoiffée de
liberté et de délice.
Highlife World Music
Best of 2007, December 2007
Vancouver, Canada
The Ottawa group Soul Jazz Orchestra has come up with one of the most impressive Afrobeat CDs we've ever heard. Great horns, bass lines, singers and the ability to incorporate a variety of styles ensure a rewarding listen from beginning to end.
Tropicalidad
Geschreven door Pieter op 20 maart 2007
België (Belgium)
Hoewel er hier nog een klein stapeltje CD's voor de tropicalidad.be testbank klaarligt, wil ik er toch graag eentje tussen wringen. Gisteren stootte ik toevallig op een afrobeat-plaatje dat mij na enkele seconden volledig inpalmde. Nu gaat bij de naam Souljazz Orchestra niet direct een afrobeat-belletje rinkelen, al blijken de vijf kerels uit Ottawa als kind in de grote afrobeat-ketel gevallen te zijn. Aan hun eerste release Uprooted (2005) is daar weinig tot niets van te merken, in tegenstelling tot het verrassend hoog Kuti-gehalte op hun jongste plaat Freedom No Go Die (2006). Zelf omschrijven ze het als "James Brown meets up with Tito Puente and they all hook up to jam at Fela Kuti's house" — en ze zitten er niet ver naast!
De plaat opent met de gevleugde woorden "Mista President? Are you listening Mista President? Open... your ears!" waarna alles wat funk-t en groove-d de kamer invliegt: Mista President is een rasechte afrobeat track — weliswaar gecomprimeerd tot een bijna radio-waardige lengte van "slechts" zes minuten. Zelfs voor de minder-afrobeat-gelovigen onder u is dit nummer een waar godenmaal.
Het afrobeat accent blijft over de hele plaat primeren, al gooien ze met succes ook andere kruiden in hun smakelijke pan: de vrouwelijke soul-vocals op The Blind Leading The Blind, de lichte ska/reggae ondertoon op Insurrection, de soukous-gitaarjes (jawel!) op Secousse Soukous en de funky Ray Baretto-style latin touch op Little Habana doen het vorstelijk. Daartussen terug tot de essentie herleide, hedoch stomende afrobeat met Freedom no go die en het meesterlijke Mugambi dat met zijn aanstekelijk ritme en hoppende bas en soort energetisch kabbelend afrobeat beekje lijkt — mijn absolute favoriet van de plaat. Staat er nu geen enkel slecht nummer op de plaat? Toch wel. Het allerlaatste hadden ze er voor mijn part mogen af laten: The Creator Has A Masterplan.
Meer dan een dikke aanrader dus, deze canadese afrobeat. En mochten festival-organisatoren dit lezen: gelijk naar België halen deze zomer! Twijfel is uitgesloten.
All About Jazz
by John Kelman, July 3rd, 2007
Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa's Souljazz Orchestra gave an exhilarating performance at 12:30 PM on the main stage, succeeding where some bands at the festival have tried and failed—to get its audience up on its feet and dancing. After an outdoor show at the Montreal Jazz Festival the night before, an early afternoon performance on Canada Day may have seemed less than ideal, but the group's energy captured the crowd, and no doubt will help to grow its audience locally.
The group's [second] record, Freedom No Go Die, featured a number of guest vocalists, in addition to its regular members - keyboardist/guitarist/bassist/vocalist/principle writer Pierre Chrétian, saxophonists Zakari Frantz, Steve Patterson and Ray Murray, and drummer/vocalist Philippe Lafrenière. The music comes from a variety of influences, including Afrobeat, James Brown-style funk and hints of jazz throughout (especially with Patterson, who pushed out righteous Albert Ayler-like wails throughout the show). Lyrically it's a politically driven band, with titles including "Mista President," "The Blind Leading the Blind" and of course the CD's title track, making loud and clear where its members' sentiments lie.
The group, which has received praise from across Canada as well as the UK, also performed a new track ["People, People"], from its forthcoming [album]. Adding to the already wide cross-genre mix, Souljazz opened with the New Orleans-inflected "Shoofly," with its relentless but engaging call-and-response.
With music that's as meaty as it is infectiously grooving, Souljazz is the kind of act that can appeal to a younger demographic while still having something to offer to the more established jazz crowd. It was a good idea to book the group for this year's general Canada Day festivities, but as festivals are faced with the challenge of bringing in a younger demographic, Souljazz is a group that could help bridge the gap, and would not be an inappropriate act for the regular ticketed/pass days.
With finished tracks slotted for forthcoming anthologies and tours being lined up, it looks as though The Souljazz Orchestra's star is on the rise [...].
The Live Music Report
by Laila Boulos, March 8th, 2007
Toronto, Canada
What a fabulous way to spend a cold and damp evening - in the cozy and vibrant atmosphere of the Trane. The room filled up slowly with an energetic and enthusiastic crowd that kept heating up with each successive act. [...]
When The Souljazz Orchestra blasted onto the stage turbo-charging the room with their signature "Mista President", the electricity in the air was palpable. As it was late in the evening, the crowd had dwindled, but the enthusiasm of those gyrating around the room and the inherent fire of the band's energy kept the atmosphere pumped.
Thinking it impossible that the energy could rise any higher, it practically catapulted during the performance of "Freedom No Go Die". [...]
Later during their set, keyboardist and spokesperson, Pierre Chrétien invited Alanna Stuart onto the stage where she proceeded to belt out lyrics to [Gil Scott-Heron's "Lady Day and John Coltrane"] accompanied by the band. It was a truly beautiful song showcasing the band's versatility and transporting the mood to a sultry dimension.
The end of the evening arrived much too quickly but The Souljazz Orchestra skillfully kept the crowd in the stratosphere, so much so that the poor staff at the Trane had to announce a number of times that it was beyond closing time before people even began to look at the exit, let alone actually move towards it.
It was a long night for all the bands involved but it was a testament to each act's professionalism and dedication to their craft that they kept their energy and enthusiasm up and the crowd reciprocated by showing tremendous support. Although each band played 45- to 60-minute sets, it still seemed too short. The only casualty of the heavy line up and breaks, was Melissa Laveaux who would have been the final act, and missed her chance in the limelight.
In closing, the evening provided much variety musically and energetically, and carried the crowd to a myriad of levels. Everyone came in, feasted and left satisfied - and definitely much warmer than when they first arrived.
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