A nod to a tune they did not play in their repertoire Friday night at First Avenue, but, nonetheless, the famed Minneapolis venue was the place to be for some real funk, as Ghost Note and Lettuce played a double bill show. Ghost Note, was up first, a group yours truly has heard of for the first time. They are a funky sextet, made up of the rhythm section from Snarky Puppy, percussionists Robert "Sput" Searight and Nate Werth. So many of the musicians in this group, have played with some real heavy hitters in the world of music, from the genres of pop, hip hop, jazz, and more. Members of Ghost Note have played with the likes of Prince, Snoop Dogg, Erykah Badu, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar, Toto, Justin Timberlake, and Marcus Miller.
Their instrumental jams, including a tight rhythm section, layered with a horn section, got the crowd into dance mode and made for an energetic opening set for at least 45 minutes if not more. Yours truly, plans to check out, Ghost Note, so, you will be hearing lots more about them on the blog in due time. "Swagism", the title track of their new record, had to be the major tune of the evening. Here is the band's website. Take a look at the rotating cast of members of the group, and you will see that they've played with a massive variety of different artists.
https://www.ghost-note-official.com/#band-section
After Ghost Note's explosive opening set, the funk was brought even more, with Lettuce. They too, have had a revolving cast of musicians through the group. The band name comes from three definitions of Lettuce (i.e., the vegetable, and prime ingredient in a salad, slang for both cash, and a green herb that can be smoked (i.e. marijuana), and a genre bending, funky, jam heavy band that brings it's fans to the party, and last night at First Avenue, delivered the funk, in spades. There have been rotating casts of members of the group. Last night's concert at First Avenue, included the current core lineup. Adam Deitch on drums, Adam "Shmeens" Smirnoff, on guitar, Eric "Jesus" Coomes on bass, the horn section duo of Ryan Zoidis on saxophones (alto, tenor, and baritone) and synthesizer (Zoidis plays a Korg X-911 synth, and occasionally, an ARP Odyssey), and trumpeter Eric "Benny" Bloom, and on vocals and keyboards (Hammond B3, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, synths), the one and the only, Nigel Hall.
Bringing the funk is one part of Lettuce, but, like many bands that have come before them, jamming is the other part, and that's what they did. A fair number of the tunes, were instrumental jams. Yours truly went with the flow in digging the show last night and just listened to the funk the guys were putting down for the whole evening, which got the crowd on it's feet and dancing. One of Lettuce's songs (which they did not play at First Ave.), is called "Sounds Like A Party". Well, it was a party indeed, and fans seemed to really, really dig it. If you want to boogie, get down and dance the night away, with a mega dose of funk, Lettuce, is definitely your band and your jam.
https://www.lettucefunk.com/
It was a fun evening of music at First Avenue, to be sure. Stay tuned. There's lots more to come from Ghost Note, and from Lettuce, in the coming weeks. Yours truly, has been inspired.
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