For more than a decade, has been one of the premiere acts on the jam circuit — blending the complexities of jazz, funk and hip hop into a danceable, high-energy live show. The powerhouse trio of Eric Krasno on guitar (also a founding member of Lettuce) and brothers Neal and Alan Evans on keys and drums, respectively, is slated to headline a weekend at this Friday and Saturday. We caught up with Alan to discuss the tour, sound quality and the Godfather of Soul.
Q: You’ve played Denver plenty of times, are you excited to be returning?
A: This is the thing –there are some cities where you have great and subpar shows and other cities where the shows are always great. Denver shows are always great. Always happening.
is going to sit in with you at your upcoming San Francisco gigs. How excited are you?
I used to play in the Greyboy Allstars, so I’ve played with Karl a lot. He’s played with us on a few occasions, but this is the first time we’re flying out there a couple days early to rehearse and put some stuff together. Karl is a ridiculous player.
You guys have been together and playing on the road for over 10 years now. How has the chemistry of the band evolved over time?
You know itap kinda funny, man. It doesn’t feel that much different from when we first started. We obviously have gotten better as a band because we’ve improved as musicians, but other than that it feels the same. Thatap probably why we’re still together.
Your latest studio album, “Rubber Soulive,” is all Beatles instrumentals. How did you approach reinventing such legendary tracks?
Honestly, we didn’t really think about it. There has been a lot of talk of, you know, “they’re the Beatles,” but at the end of the day they are just tunes. We approach every song the same way. If we dig it we think everyone else is going to dig it. On every tune, like the drum fill in “Come Together,” there were signature things that we tried to keep, but other than that we tried to make them Soulive tunes.
“Rubber Soulive” debuted at #1 on iTunes jazz. Do you have any comments on the digitalization of the music industry as you’ve watched it change?
From the beginning I’ve been cool with it. Itap a double-edge sword, though. I’m a recording engineer, so I’m not really fond of mp3s. The quality just isn’t there. Now-a-days you’re able to download larger files that sound better, so I don’t think itap as bad. The most important thing is the accessibility to the music; thatap your main objective.
Nigel Hall will be opening and sitting in on vocals when you’re in town. What can you say to those unfamiliar with his work?
Nigel’s been in the whole Royal Family crew for a couple years now. He’s one of the most talented cats I’ve ever worked with. He can sit down on any instrument and something good will come up. He’s a great entertainer. People should get to know him.
Be sure to catch Soulive with special guest Nigel Hall on Friday and Saturday at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom.
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Nate Etter is a Boulder-based musician and a new contributor to Reverb.
