“Ray played in different Caribbean groups and Phil had gotten back from Cuba where he studied Afro-Cuban percussion in Havana. “I had just played in a Nigerian pop group and had played in a Malagasy jazz band,” says Pierre. They started out as friends hanging out at the same places in Ottawa and just through talking found they had a lot in common musically. Pierre says the time has gone by quickly.
Inner Fire, the bands sixth album, has been burning up charts and will be lighting up festivals this summer. Twelve years, six albums, two Juno nominations and relentless touring throughout the world have melded the group into a tight, high-voltage, party machine that is known for their live shows. This Ottawa based collective of six features Pierre Chretien – vintage keyboards, percussion, vocals, Marielle Rivard – percussion, vocals, Ray Murray – baritone sax, percussion, vocals, Philippe Lafreniere – drums, percussion, vocals, Steve Patterson – tenor sax, percussion, vocals, and Zakari Frants – alto sax, flute percussion, vocals. The Souljazz Orchestra are connoisseurs and purveyors of some of the funkiest, soul-jazz, Afro-Latin driven, and Caribbean rhythms you’ll hear anywhere. What do a harp and a goat hoof rattle have in common? They are all part of the accelerant The Souljazz Orchestra use to stoke their Inner Fire The music is always exciting, soulful, and expertly played, and never falls prey to clichés.Stoking the Fire with The Souljazz Orchestra No matter how high they set the bar here, the Souljazz Orchestra executes. While horns assert themselves at the start, it's the keys, layers of manic percussion, and M'Baye and a chorus that send this one over as the set's strongest cut. "Serve & Protect" is a furious rhythm collision of Afro-beat and Latin rhythms. The other reggae-inflected jam here, "Conquering Lion," is hard on the jazz-funk tip with killer front-line horns on all burners. "Jericho" is on the roots reggae tip with baritone saxophonist Ray Murray on vocals, while the more streetwise "Kingpin" goes at reggae with guest Gary "Slim" Moore leading the swaggering bubbler.
Immediately following, M'Baye leads the band in the funk number "Kelen Ati Leen." "Ya Basta" showcases the band's horn section as it employs incendiary salsa in an excellentstepper, with a vocal from the Souljazz Orchestra's resident conguero and drummer, Philippe Lafrenière leading the furious dance chant. The layers of guitars and distorted keyboards ( Pierre Chrétien) are folded in to layers of percussion, horns, and a call-and-response chorus. Here, Afro-beat and Eithio-jazz meet slippery funk grooves from the modern West. Set opener "Bibinay" features El Hadji "Élage" M'Baye, a Senegalese native who now resides in Quebec. The band employs its usual meld of Afro-beat, Caribbean, tropical, Latin, and Brazilian styles with jazz, funk, and soul, but the interaction with singers brings the mix to a whole different level. Solidarity furthers the band's reach as it employs vocal talents from a wide range of singers from Canada's vast underground music scene. Meeting with nearly universal acclaim, it spread the sextet's well-deserved reputation for creating a musically adventurous meld of global styles, accurately reflecting roots cultures in dialogue with one another in the 21st century - without watering them down. Canada's Souljazz Orchestra were well-known to European audiences before their 2010 Strut debut, Rising Sun it was the sextet's first all-acoustic effort.
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