Soul Project: Music for Movers and Shakers (Frenchmen Street Records)

Soul Project, Music for Movers and Shakers, album coverBuy on Amazon
It’s good to hear a band whose sound hearkens to back in the day but also has a modern touch. Soul Project’s new record sounds like a cross between vintage New Orleans funk and James Brown rhythm and blues. Given leader Christian Duhe’s long-term musical relationship with Walter “Wolfman” Washington including many all-night soul-soaked-’til-late Saturday gigs at the Maple Leaf, it is not surprising that Soul Project lives up to its name. This record is filled with punchy horns, in-the-pocket drums, and tight guitar. When the band locks in such as the opening track “Stung,” it will make you believe in the power of soul. One thing that makes this band a level higher than most of the other funk bands in New Orleans and across the U.S. is that each songs has a catchy riff on which the background instruments can build on and fit their parts to, whether it is the jazzy bass and jabbing horns of “Miss You Baby” or the percolating organ and tasteful guitar of “Mr. Saturday Night.” There is little aimlessness soloing here, something which most noodling jam/funk bands would do well to pay attention to. The only downfall with the record is that once they get their groove going, they tend to stick with it instead mixing it up. A little variation in tempo or sound would make the individual songs stick out a little better. There is a jazz outro theme at the end of the album, but it comes a little too late. However, the grooves they do get are ones that they can almost sustain for 55 minutes, and certainly it can get a sweaty crowd of dancers and romancers to party all night long.