Back to the ’80s with Souljazz Orchestra
When Souljazz Orchestra bandleader Pierre Chretien brought his latest compositions to the rest of the band members, they suspected a prank.
Brimming with synthesizers and electro-boogie sounds, the new material sure didn’t sound like it came from the brain of a jazz-funk purist like Chretien, whose vision for the band has always been heavily influenced by vintage funk of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
But there it was, an ‘80s-inspired framework for what would become Under Burning Skies, the hot new album by Ottawa’s celebrated Afro-funk fusionists, a follow-up to their Juno-nominated Resistance.
What would be next? Spandex and leg-warmers?
“At first they thought I lost my mind,” recalls Chretien with a laugh. “They were like, ‘What’s wrong with you? Who are you and what have you done with Pierre?’”
In fact, Chretien says he’d been experimenting with different sounds for years, working them into compositions that immediately got shuffled to the back burner.
“I always thought it was too weird, it doesn’t fit in with what we’re doing so I put it in the archives,” said the keyboardist. “I had a big stockpile of these songs all ready to go, and then we thought, ‘What the heck? Let’s do it. Let’s take the plunge.’ Life’s too short. You gotta try stuff.”
Chretien, who’s 38, grew up in Sudbury in the ‘80s, although he wasn’t a big fan of the music of that decade until later in life. “My first musical memories are disco and boogie and Michael Jackson and rollerskating rinks,” he says, “but with the passing of people like Prince and Michael Jackson and Rick James, everyone’s getting more into that type of vibe so it felt like a fun thing to try out.”
The new album was recorded with Ottawa’s Jason Jaknunas, who’s produced all eight Souljazz releases. Thematically, the tunes are divided into two categories, political and not so much. Dog Eat Dog, for example, rails against corruption over a sizzling Afro-disco groove, while the first single, Lufunki, celebrates the funk with spacey blasts of synthesizer zinging through the hefty saxophones.
The Souljazz lineup is anchored on Chretien’s keyboards and a full complement of saxes, with Ray Murray on baritone, Steve Patterson on tenor and Zakari Frantz on alto. Drummer Philippe Lafreniere and singer-percussionist Marielle Rivard round out the band; guest performers include singer Elage Mbaye and vocalist Mabinuori Idowu of the seminal Africa 70 band.
In keeping with the ‘80s well of inspiration, Under Burning Skies will come out on cassette, in addition to CD, vinyl and digital. On Souljazz’s travels, Chretien has observed a resurgence of the lowly tape.
“There’s a bit of a movement worldwide with DJs and cassettes,” he says. “For years, people have been plundering vinyl to the point now that there’s not much left to be discovered, and now people are starting to dig into the whole cassette thing a little more.
“Now DJs are doing whole sets with two tape decks, doing rewind and fast-forward to find the next song. It’s an art in itself.”
Fifteen years in, releasing a cassette feels like they’ve come full circle. “In the early days, when we would learn songs, I made mix tapes for the guys, and our first few demos were all on cassette so we’ve come around the loop,” says the musician.
After the album-release bash in Ottawa, the band heads out on an epic European tour, with a show almost every night for the next month. “There’s a new country, a new city and a big concert every night,” Chretien says. “I think it’s the busiest tour we’ve ever done.” lsaxberg@postmedia.com