

The album also sees the group making its most explicit connection yet to the jazz tradition. Rising Sun is without lyrics in the conventional sense, opting in places for non-lexical vocables, but mainly eschewing singing in favor of other instruments. Rising Sun is the SoulJazz Orchestra’s first all-acoustic afro-jazz album. I mean that we’re all exploring different things at the same time. Canada is multicultural and everybody in the band is going in different directions. “The toughest thing for us, is to categorize our music. The Souljazz Orchestra also cast their net wider with this album, delving into the traditions of ancient folk tales and spirituality, while keeping their message politically conscious. “Manifesto” reflects the various influences picked up from the band´s travels across the globe, making for a uniquely rich array of sounds. Building on the success of their previous effort, the Souljazz Orchestra has upped the ante with this album. That’s Manifesto, the third release of The Souljazz Orchestra, a year later. To me, it’s all groove-based music: it’s all related.”Ī mix of dirty funk and tropical jazz to the band’s signature militant afrobeat. When you put all that together, you get the SoulJazz sound. It has been featured on numerous compilations and has managed to climb charts not only at home but abroad as well.Īs Piere mentioned once upon in an interview, “the musicians in SoulJazz come from different backgrounds: some of them from jazz, others from soul or rhythm & blues, and others again from African, Latino, or Caribbean ensembles. “Freedom No Go Die” also became one of the biggest selling afrobeat albums of the year in France.

But their kind of musical fusion remains very much the exception in the Canadian musical landscape. Since then, the combo, led by keyboard-player Pierre Chrétien, has brought out albums as regularly as clockwork, every one a gem, both danceable and committed. The band’s “overtly political 2006 single “Mista President,” off second album Freedom No Go Die, really increased their audience, voted to the number nine spot in the 2006 Top 30 of BBC DJ Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide programme. The album features fiery performances by Rwandan/Burundian artist Mighty Popo, as well as soul singers Alanna Stuart and Marielle Rivard.
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Most of the songs are rooted in afrobeat, but there are elements of soukous, salsa, funk and free jazz thrown in as well. The second step of the band came on 2007 with their second album, Freedom Go No Die, which was released via Do Right!Music records. There is a progression for everybody in this band.” Zakari Frantz “I think we are all more mature after six albums. It’s worth remembering this hard-to-come-by debut both because of its general excellence and because it shows the fact that the Souljazz Orchestra had defined their signature sound early on with their mix of Afrobeat, Afrocuban music, funk, and jazz. Well-known for the tracks Molotov Cocktail, Chango and Sankofa. Mostly instrumental, it showcases the band’s beginnings. In 2005 they released their first record, via Funk Manchu Records, Uprooted. A lot of travelling around Europe and I think we have a long way yet!” Zakari Frantz 18 th at their hometown, in Ottawa. On March, the SoulJazz Orchestra visited Greece (Athens, Volos and Crete) and the alto saxophonist Zakari Frantz opened up about the tour and the inside stuff of SoulJazz Orchestra. The second part of their Inner Fire tour is going to find an end on Oct. The SoulJazz Orchestra – featuring keyboardist Pierre Chrétien, alto saxophonist Zakari Frantz, baritone saxophonist Ray Murray, tenor saxophonist Steve Patterson, and percussionists Marielle Rivard and Philippe Lafrenière, all of whom are also vocalists - took root in 2002 and debuted with a fully developed sound that fused Latin and African jazz, funk, and Afro-beat. The Canadian musical group, based in Ottawa, has toured Canada, the United States and Europe. The SoulJazz Orchestra, have been perfecting their signature sound for over a dozen years now: a percussive explosion of Soul, Jazz, Afro, Latin and Caribbean rhythms, driven by majestic horn-drenched melodies, all backed by an arsenal of overheated primitive keyboards.
