Lettuce: Live in Toronto @ Phoenix Concert Theatre 02/22/2014

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Funk icons LETTUCE bring the Lettsanity to Toronto Sat Feb 22 @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre “Makes you move and marvel.” ~ Relix Magazine Official Lettuce LIve In Toronto promo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UecXfi­hCPM The Nujazz Festival and Music & Politics Present LETTUCE (Royal Family Records, Brooklyn NYC) Live in Toronto Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre with KC Roberts & The Live Revolution After Funk & DJ Sean Sax Doors: 9 pm Advance tickets: $32.50 + HST & service charges $40.00 at the door Facebook event: http://on.fb.me/1hK2AFH ­­ From Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston to Hamilton, London and Windsor and all points in betwee, music lovers are gearing up to descend on Toronto for one of most exciting funk music concerts in years. On Saturday, February 22nd at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, the Nujazz Festival and Sebastian Cook’s Music & Politics are honoured to present the Canadian debut of legendary Brooklyn­based funk monarchs LETTUCE. This show is the culmination of a promotional dream that Sebastian Cook has been pursuing for eight years, and is shaping up to be nothing less than historic based on advance sales and community buzz. The Toronto concert is the finale of Lettuce’s 20­show 2013/14 Winter Tour. Jazz­funk music connoisseurs in Toronto are already very familiar with two of Lettuce’s core members Eric Krasno (guitar) and Neal Evans (keyboards & Hammond B3) from their recent Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival shows with Soulive, the world­renowned trio who’ve opened for the likes of The Dave Matthews Band and The Rolling Stones. Joining Lettuce on the Phoenix’s famous stage are two of Toronto’s top funk bands KC Roberts & The Live Revolution and After Funk. On the wheels of steel is future­funk tastemaker DJ Sean Sax. ­­ TICKET INFO: ONLINE: Eventbrite: on sale NOW => http://bit.ly/1aa4V7a Ticketweb: on sale NOW => http://tktwb.tw/1hJYOMA IN STORES: Soundscapes => 572 College St. Play de Record => 357A Yonge St. Rotate This => 801 Queen St. W. Where Heads Meet => 162 Ottawa St. N., Hamilton ­­ “Blast Off” with Lettuce Live at the Brooklyn Bowl! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf63pZHO03w “Star Children” (bonus track previously available only on Japanese release of Rage (2008) https://soundcloud.com/lettucefunk/15­star­children Listen to tracks from Lettuce’s most recent album Fly + other live & studio recordings: https://soundcloud.com/lettucefunk ­­ LETTUCE Celebrating their 20th anniversary as modern day rulers of old school funk, the seven­piece Brooklyn­based juggernaut Lettuce drops their third studio album Fly — a decidedly raging slab of relentless groove, hyper­charged syncopation and psychedelicized soul anthems. Having blown up stages from coast to coast last year, ranging from The Fillmore in SF to Terminal 5 in NYC, Bear Creek Music Festival to Camp Bisco and all points in­between, Lettuce entered Brooklyn recording studio The Bunker this winter with a fresh batch of road­tested material and a revitalized sound honed razor sharp by a year spent on the road. “We’re more together and set to crush than ever before,” says drummer and chief songwriter Adam Deitch of the all­star group that he and his accomplished band­mates cut their teeth with back in their Berklee School of Music days. That much history, along with the A­list crop of projects that each member has taken on away from Lettuce, gives the group a bottomless well of musical ideas and unrivaled chemistry—in fact, referring to themselves as a band of brothers. “I was in a practice room at 16 with Kraz, Zoidis, Shmeeans and Deitch and it all clicked,” says “lead” bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes. “We all felt rhythms in similar ways. We were all about the pocket from day one.” On Fly, the pocket is deeper than ever. “People tend to look at funk as a one­trick pony, “ says Deitch, but the record smashes those limits by drawing on a range of styles that can be traced from the early ’60s through the early ’80s, incorporating plenty of modern hip­hop sensibilities—heavy bass, kick and snare—along the way. The album’s one cover song, an all­instrumental version of War’s “Slippin’ into Darkness,” is a reminder of the genre’s vintage origins but from there on up, therack progression emphasizes the band’s ability to steer funk in a new direction. “I sketched out a bunch of ideas for songs that I felt would fit each musician perfectly,” says Deitch, leaving plenty of space for each to add their own style to the mix. As a rhythm section, Coomes and Deitch set the pace with a deep and wide pocket. Guitarists Eric Krasno and Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff weave electrified six­string rhythms that summon the magic of The JBs' Catfish Collins/Hearlon "Cheese" Martin dual guitar frontline, while Keyboardist Neal "The Hawk" Evans doubles up the low end as he simultaneously floats and stings with jabs of Hammond B3 organ. Riding along in lockstep is saxophonist Ryan "Zwad" Zoidis and trumpeter Rashawn Ross punctuating the Lettuce funk with blasts of big, bold and infectious horn lines, while guest appearances by Brian “BT” Thomas and Cochemea “Cheme” Gastelum further solidify what is already one of the fiercest horn sections of this era. “We try to keep the horn lines simple and melodic, leaving plenty of space for our insanely funky rhythm section to shine,” says Zoidis. “We are always thinking about making people dance.” Soul vocalist Nigel Hall comes in on the Krasno­penned track, “Do It Like You Do” and Charles “Dawg” Haynes provides added percussion on “Let It GOGO.” Look no further than Fly’s title track, though, for what sets these guys apart. The laid­back vamp, recorded all­analog to two­inch tape, gets full Jamaican studio treatment, dubbed out with vintage reverb and delay. That sort of thing is “only something that Funkadelic might have touched on back in the day,” says Smirnoff. Meanwhile, tracks like “Madison Square” and “Ziggowatt” (Deitch’s ode to legendary Meters’ drummer Zigaboo Modeliste) sound like futuristic cuts from the Stax back catalog. “It’s somewhere between old school and new school,” Zoidis says of the sounds the band was able to achieve with engineer John Davis. Evans’ “Bowler” may be the best evidence of where this supercharged group is headed, with a tasty, stick­in­your­ear melody that continues through the track and begs to be ripped open onstage. “All these experiences as individuals have helped us grow in our own direction, be influenced by more things and have more things to bring to the table as a group,” Smirnoff says. “When you have that many variables, it’s a brand new project every time.” Having evolved and refocused since 2008’s Rage! without ever dropping the beat, Lettuce is getting ready to take audiences to the cosmos with Fly in the trunk and a high­octane tour on the horizon. “Lettuce is like a Learjet that wasn’t getting clearance from the tower,” says Jesus. “But we’re done just rolling around on the runway.” They’re not asking for permission, so put your tray tables in their full, upright and locked position. This plane’s itching for lift off. ­­ KC ROBERTS New double album Parkdale Funk 2 out now! After their set at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival in 2012, Artistic Director Josh Grossman called KCLR "scary good...a blast to hear and just as fun to watch." In September 2013, NOW Magazine listed KCLR as one of Toronto's 10 Local Buzz Bands Set to Break Big. And on October 15th, 2013 KCLR will release their fourth record, one that lives up to the buzz generated by their live performances. Parkdale Funk 2: SIDES (PDF2) is a double LP featuring 27 tracks, 40 guest musicians and over 2 hours of music. Although it's a funk record on the surface, PDF2's track list highlights KCLR's strong jazz, rock and urban influences. The album is a culmination of nearly 2 years of work that was made possible by a crowdfunding initiative to which KCLR's fans contributed $26,000. PDF2 sessions began in 2012, and included contributions by Toronto hip hop legends D­Sisive, The Airplane Boys and DJ Grouch, as well as a live strings section and big band. Throughout 2014, KCLR will be touring across Canada in support of PDF2. The band also has plans to release videos for many of PDF2's tracks, thus building the record into an even larger body of art and further recognizing the incredible support of their fans. ­­ AFTER FUNK Musical boundaries are something that After Funk is simply not afraid to break. Since its beginnings as a four piece funk experiment, After Funk has steadily grown into an eight member collective that is now known for bringing groovy dance music wherever it goes. Even with its constant evolution, the group has stayed true to its mission of bringing back the good vibes of yesteryear. With roots in London, Hamilton, and Toronto, the group is no stranger to travelling and can be found performing wherever people want to have a good time. Entering its third year as a group, After Funk has played shows across Ontario and Quebec including opening spots for Walk off the Earth, Snarky Puppy, Dumpstaphunk, Five Alarm Funk, and Boogie Wonder Band. The group's first EP, "Soul'd," offers 5 tracks that range from the relaxing stylings of "Lay it Back" to the high energy funk of the group's self­titled track "After Funk. ­30­ Media & Publicity Inquiries: Sebastian Cook Sebastian Cook’s Music & Politics 416.573.8055 * seb@musicandpolitics.ca