Lettuce

Hanging out on the Mothership yesterday left me hungry for more funk, and this time I wanted more of a mixed salad to feast on (extreme apologies for the horrible pun), so I turned to hard mutherfunkers Lettuce, and their 2002 effort: Outta Here.

Preface: the album was a reunion of sorts, as the members originally met in 1992 at the Berkeley summer music program as spry lil' lads, and with an average age of 15, the only way to take over a stage or play a succession of shows was to borrow gear, instruments, more stage time, etc. Hence "Lettuce" (as in "let us borrow your kit, let us play tomorrow night..") was born. They all went their separate ways, each finding success in various forms: Eric Krasnow and Sam Kininger are members of Soulive; Adam Deitch, born with sticks in his hand, has held the beat for Average White Band, John Scofield, The Squad, and his own side gig The Adam Deitch project whose hip hop beats backed rapper The Game; Ryan Zoidis was a founding member of the Rustic Overtones; Erick Coomes found a successful producing career in LA; Jeff Bhasker the keyboardist for drum-n-bass/soul/electronica Brooklyn outfit Kudu.

Outta Here is straight up, dead on heavy funk featuring additional work from John Scofield, trombone legend Fred Wesley, and Neil Evens from Soulive humps his B-3 for added sonic texture. The total result is tip-top, and all the talent under this tent signaled that the Book of Funk had found new prophets to spread the Gospel. Deitch, born to drumming parents, is a tight, mean little bastard on the drums. His career in funk, R+B, jazz, and hip hop drumming makes his gravy extra thick here, saturating the whole album with deep, smokey grooves while at the same time making you get up for the downstroke. Even the one cover track on the album, Herbie's "Hang up your hang-ups" from his 1975 release Man-Child, is given a fresh infusion and ripping sound.

This 10 years after the fact reunion recording was followed by a successful US and Japan tour, a live album, and the 2008 release Rage! which I've (sadly) yet to get to, but will no doubt discuss once I've become completely exhausted with Outta Here. Hasn't happened yet.