Project Logic & Soulive

December 2, 2000

The Majestic Theater

Detroit, MI

The other night at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit there was a good double bill of Project Logic and Soulive. Both of these bands are loosely thrown into the Jambands category, but both are more than that. I headed down to the show by myself since my buddy Adam who was supposed to attend with me, decided to take a last minute trip to Paris to see his girlfriend. I couldn’t argue with that so I decided to go alone.

The Majestic is a nice space to see a concert. It is open and the sound is pretty good. If you ever see a show there be warned though, in the winter it is often cold and the bathrooms are real scary. I got inside and had a few beers at the bar waiting for the show to begin and talking with my new friend Steve from Boston.

I was expecting Soulive to open the show, but instead DJ Logic and Project Logic came out first. Project Logic’s founder and namesake, DJ Logic is a well known scratcher from New York who has played with Sex Mob, Fuzz and most notably, Medeski, Martin and Wood. His music relies heavily on hip-hop, but what sets him apart from most DJs is the blend of jazz, funk and avant-garde that also finds it way into the mix.

Project Logic came on stage with DJ Logic right in the middle in front of his turntables. He also had a drummer and two keyboard players, one of which doubled on sax and flute also. I was not familiar with any of the tunes they played, but they were all interesting and well performed. I never really appreciated the role a turntable could play in music until recently and DJ Logic was one of the people whose music enlightened me. In fact on this night Logic himself was my favorite soloist although the rest of the band played well too. The music was sometimes funky and sometimes more ambient. Logic chose interesting samples from his large bin of records. Some DJs can sound cheesy or overwhelming, but Logic never fell into that trap.

After a short break Soulive took the stage. Soulive is a trio consisting of brothers Alan and Neal Evans on drums and organ as well as Eric Krasno on guitar. The band hit the stage and got the crowd dancing immediately. The music is a blend of acid jazz and funk. Eric Krasno was amazing on guitar, playing funk rhythms as well nice leads. Neal was outstanding on organ and often provided the foundation for Krasnos’ solos. His brother Alan is a schooled drummer who held down the beat perfectly and also acted as the band’s spokesperson.

Soulive also get lumped into the Jamband category, but they really are more of a jazz band. In fact they recently signed with Blue Note Records. Jimmy Smith and Herbie Hancock are obvious influences as well as John Scofield who the band jammed with on their excellent debut album, Turn it Out. The band played great all night and they were fun to watch and dance too. Project Logic’s keyboardist and saxophonist, Casey Benjamin joined Soulive on sax for an Isley Brothers tune that was inspired. Near the end of the show, rapper and label mate Shuman came out to join the band for a version of James Brown’s "Sex Machine" and some improvised rapping. That was another example of what both these young bands do so well and that is blend jazz, hip-hop, funk and whatever else into a new hybrid. Both these bands are worth checking out and keeping your eye on.