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02 02 2016 - Juno

Woohoo! Just found out our latest album Resistance was nominated for the Juno Award for "World Music Album of the Year"... Now this is our third nomination, but we've never won one of these suckers, let's hope the third time's a charm! Hmm, just gotta find out how to get out to Calgary, the ceremony's the weekend of April 3rd...

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18 12 2015 - We Free Kings

So Christmas is comin' a little early this year... We've got a FREE NEW TRACK for you guys!

Get this - we do a dark & stormy Afro-Jazz version of the ole Christmas carol "We Three Kings". It was recorded during the Resistance sessions, for a compilation that never happened, so our loss is your gain! Turned out pretty badass too, believe it or not, check it out!

The Souljazz Orchestra - We Three Kings

11 11 2015 - Home Cookin'

So we're back home in Canada! Man, that 6-week European album release tour was a killer, but man, it was worth it... 28 concerts in 9 different countries, this was the biggest Euro tour we've ever done.

Some of the highlights: a packed-like-sardines sold-out show at the mythical New Morning in Paris, where legends like Prince, Bob Dylan and Richie Havens stood before us; a moving concert at the Jazz Cafe in London, where our bari saxophonist Ray Murray was reunited with long-lost family from Jamaica; a ruckusy show at the ultra-hip Yaam in Berlin, which also doubled as a refugee centre, where over a hundred Syrians were let in for free, and got down to the Souljazz with local fans...

We also played live on Radio France International for about 40 million listeners (no joke!), as well as En Lefko, the hippest radio station in Greece, where we were also interviewed by Mrs. Kafka, the host of the 2004 Athens Olympics... Pierre even deejayed on Radio Nova in Paris every day for a week, dropping the mad tropical badness for an unsuspecting French public.

If you wanna hear some more tour stories, check out our Facebook page and scroll down, we kinda kept a diary going on the road.

So now we take on Canada! Our Canadian "Resistance" Album Release Tour takes us to Ottawa/Gatineau, Hamilton, Toronto, Québec and Montréal in the next little while, don't sleep! For more info on shows and tickets, see our "Shows" page.

Oh, Resistance is still #1 on the earshot! International charts in Canada, it's been holding the top spot for over 12 weeks now, it's some kinda record! Thanks to everyone that's been supporting us back here in Canada!

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01 10 2015 - Top Of The World


Whoa! #1 in the US, #1 in Canada!

Our new album Resistance just slipped into the #1 spot on the CMJ New World charts in the USA, and it's been holding steady at #1 on the earshot International charts in Canada for the last 6 weeks now. They even put us on the cover of this week's CMJ New Music Report, man...

Y'know, we've been together 13 years as a band, put out 7 albums now, and that's never happened... Our deepest gratitude to everyone supporting the Souljazz Orchestra.

So what do we do now that things are goin' well in North America? We take off for Europe! (Canadian tour starts in November, we'll be back!)

If you haven't bought your tickets for the upcoming shows yet, now's the time! Ticket info's on our "Shows" page.

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26 09 2015 - 33 Revolutions Per Minute


The vinyls just came in! Ah man, they look and sound amazing... The sleeve's printed on this rough unfinished cardboard, really brings out the rootsy quality of the artwork, and there's even a CD included inside the sleeve along with the LP.

And the sound! Ah, the vinyl cut was specially prepared by a guy called Peter Beckmann at Technologyworks Mastering in the UK, from unlimited masters of the album - wow - hate to say it, but to our ears these really do sound better than the digital version, and lightyears ahead of the streaming stuff...

We're about to take off on our massive international tour, if you don't have your tickets, now's the time to get em! If you go to the "Shows" section of our website, you'll find ticket links and show details.

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04 09 2015 - It's Out!

The wait is over, our new album Resistance comes out today online and in better records stores! Now there's been a slight delay at the vinyl factory, so it's only available in CD and digital format for now, but don't worry, the vinyl LP is coming!

Our Resistance international album release tour has just been finalized too... Man, it's huge! 32 concerts across 10 different countries, all in the span of 2 months. If you go to the "Shows" section of our website, you'll find details on the concerts, along with ticket links. Better get them now if you can, a lot of these are gonna sell out fast.

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30 08 2015 - Courage



Wax Poetics just premiered the video for our new single, "Courage". This one fuses heavy raw French Caribbean Compas and Cadence rhythms with full-on big-band style arrangements, and we shot the whole video during our last show in Montréal, showcasing Carifête, the Jazzfest, the Tam-Tams, and all sorts of stuff happening round the Mtl downtown... Chauffez!

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11 08 2015 - Bull's Eye

So we've got something else for ya... PopMatters just premiered another new track from our upcoming album Resistance, a super-heavy Afro cut called "Bull's Eye", you might have heard it on Gilles Peterson's show recently.

Inspired by the Occupy movement, the bull in the tune refers to the Charging Bull on Wall Street, the iconic symbol of unbridled capitalism... The lyrics tell the rest of the story. It's up on YouTube right now, check it out.

Oh, you can even download the track for free.

Hey, and for what it's worth, we just found out Resistance is already #1 on the International charts for indie radio in Canada!

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15 07 2015 - Shock & Awe



Aw right, so we just released the first video from our upcoming album Resistance! The track is called "Shock And Awe", a righteous, manic Coupé-Décalé joint celebrating people power with ruckus. (If you don't know Coupé-Décalé music, it's a dope style of electronic dance music that came out of the Ivory Coast and the Ivoirian community of Paris recently enough, and it's now taking the rest of the world by storm. Mind you, we kinda flip the genre around, and do it in our own raw, rugged, organic way, on traditional instruments - but we keep the fiyah!) So the new video's up on YouTube right now, check it out!

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23 06 2015 - Resistance

Man, do we have news for you! The Souljazz Orchestra is droppin' a brand new album, called Resistance, this coming September, continuing our collab with UK-based Strut Records and Canada-based Do Right! Music. And ooh boy, this one's cookin' - maybe our baddest, heaviest, most dancefloor-driven album ever.

Now we were inspired by a lot of the fresh sounds comin' out of the discothèques of Francophone Africa (Coupé-Décalé, Zouglou, Ndombolo) and the French Caribbean (Zouk, Compas, Cadence), so you'll hear some of those vibes mixed in with the raw Afro, Soul and Jazz that we're known for... It makes for a really interesting sound overall - definitely phonky, but in a different, not-so-obvious way, y'know?

Lyrically, in the wake of the Occupy Movement, the Arab Spring, and the Ferguson Riots (to only name a few), we wanted to express the deep sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo that we're feeling within the people and within ourselves - it's obvious there's a real thirst for social justice and positive political change throughout the world today. The songs tackle some of the issues we're presently facing, but with a hopeful look to the future.

The album comes out September 4th 2015, followed by a major new international release tour, throughout Europe and Canada, from late-September all the way to early-December. Stay tuned for details!

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13 06 2015 - Everybody Loves The Sunshine

Ah! Gotta love the summertime... Some wicked Canadian festivals comin' up too: we'll be rockin' the vintage tall ships at the All Ships Festival near the harbour in Brockville on June 19th, stirrin' up spirits at the Skeleton Park Festival in Kingston on June 20th, playin' the wickedest doubleheader in Montreal since the Expos left town, on July 4th & 5th, for the world-famous Montreal Jazz Festival, followed by a home-game in O-Town for the Ottawa Bluesfest (just before Mr. Kanye West no less!), then we'll be whippin' the athletes into shape at the Pan-American Games in Toronto on July 18th, before takin' a bit of a break and representin' at the All-Canadian Jazz Festival in Port Hope on September 12th.

Now for those of you in the rest of the world, don't fret, we've got big things comin' up in the fall... Stay tuned!

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04 01 2015 - Props

Whoa... Turns out we ended up "#1 International Album of 2014" on the !earshot radio charts in Canada, and "#2 Jazz Album of 2014" as well! We finished pretty high up on the CMJ radio charts for the US too, both in the jazz and world categories, among some fine company (Chick Corea, Gregory Porter, Robert Glasper, Quantic, Seun Kuti, Tinariwen, Ziggy Marley, Tony Allen...)

AllMusic, one of the top music guides on the Interwebs, chose us as one of their "Favourite Jazz Albums of 2014", and we were also in the top picks of tastemakers like DJ Patrick Forge in London and DJ Jeremy Sole in Los Angeles...

Man, we made lists from Kansas to Moscow, weird to see how this little album spread... One funny thing, no one seems to really agree on what category we should be in - jazz, world, soul/r&b... And really, that's fine by us - who cares what folks call it, as long as they're listening, y'know? You can see the whole list of year-end kudos on our "Reviews" page.

We'll be celebrating with a few nice Canadian shows: we'll be at Le Petit Chicago in old Hull on Saturday, January 10th, then we'll be doing back-to-back shows at The Garrison in Toronto on Friday January 23rd, and at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton on Saturday January 24th. See ya there!

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14 10 2014 - Vinyl No Go Die

Hey, so good news... Do Right! Music will be reissuing our earlier albums Freedom No Go Die and Manifesto on wax, specifically remastered for 180g high quality vinyl. Man, these have been out of print for years. We supervised the remastering ourselves, ah, what a difference... Tons more clear, punchy, and crisp. These are coming out around November 17th, but Do Right's taking pre-orders right now, and the first 50 pre-orders also get a free copy of the "Parasite" 7" single!

To celebrate, we're havin' a mad Vinyl Reissue Bash at Babylon in Ottawa this Saturday, October 18th. We'll be joined by The Goods Soundsystem, featuring DJs Andy Williams and Scott C, two of the top selectors in the biz. Don't sleep!

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20 05 2014 - I Can't Live Without My Radio



Wow, for a few months now, our new album Inner Fire has been holding steady at #1 on the International chart and #1 on the Jazz chart for Canadian indie radio, and it's been nearing the top of the overall Top 50 chart as well, peaking at #2 a little while back. Considering we released the album all the way back in February, that's amazing! We've been charting well in the US too, and we've been getting some serious airplay in Europe, in particular from our peeps at Radio Nova, Radio FIP, BBC Radio, and Funkhaus Europa. Even Mr. Iggy Pop, the godfather of punk himself, gave us a spin on his radio show! All of our gratitude to all the DJs, radio folks, and fans that have been supporting us hardcore with this new album.

Speaking of Europe, we just got back from a grueling but amazing tour: the whole France leg was completely sold-out, and the rest was all pretty jam-packed - we're talking serious, serious parties here. Highlights: the sweaty sweaty packed-to-the-gills New Morning in downtown Paris, the crazy Tuesday night dance party at the legendary London Jazz Cafe, the warm welcome in Heraklion for our first show ever on the sunny island of Crete, the tropical storm spun by our man DJ Betino in Ivry, the 800 strong that showed up at our mayhem concert at the Rockstore in Montpellier, our debut performance in Brussels at the fiery Espace Senghor, and a grand finale in the magical city of Istanbul. Man, thanks to everyone that helped make it such a memorable tour.

All right, so coming up, we'll be playing a few festivals in Ontario in June (Toronto on June 12th, and Ottawa on June 20th), before heading back to Europe, where we'll be hitting up at the very least Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Ireland, and Slovenia... We then come back to Canada in time for even more festivals, including Jazz Etcetera in Québec, and the Roots & Blues Festival in Salmon Arm for our debut British Columbia performance, and that's not even talking about the fall... Can't wait! We can't announce all of the dates yet, but sit tight, we'll be putting those up on the website as soon as we can.
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19 03 2014 - One Life To Live



We just put out a new vid for "One Life To Live", the first "real" video from Inner Fire! Our boys from Dan Rascal shot the whole thing in our little studio on Bank Street in Ottawa, using old analog VHS camcorders... Turned out really dope, you forget how cool those things looked! It's up on YouTube right now, check it out!

Radio Nova in France just did the world premiere of it earlier today. Les Francos peuvent lire la petite chronique qu'ils ont aussi faite sur nous ("cet album est une perle"!)

Speaking of France, we're just finishing up our last minute packing, we leave for Europe in a few hours! See ya on the other side!

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04 03 2014 - Kingdom Come



Good news, another new video! Our latest single from Inner Fire, "Kingdom Come", is an original Souljazz tune that touches on Northeast African big-band jazz sounds, so we put together a video for it using vintage archeological videos of Egyptian art and architecture. It's up on YouTube right now, check it out!

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28 02 2014 - Fired Up



The wait is over! The Souljazz Orchestra's new album "Inner Fire" is now available online and in finer record stores! If you've had the winter blues, this is the album for you... "Inner Fire" melts the ice! We've also finalized the release tour, looks like we'll be doing at least two dozen shows in eight different countries. Man, we're psyched, you can be sure we'll be bringing it for each one. Show and ticket info is on our Shows page.

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15 01 2014 - History Lesson



So the new record Inner Fire is coming out real soon, as you might know... Just to get you properly psyched for what's to come, we got out the turntables, patched em to our old Roland Space Echo unit, and put together a crazy mind-blowing seven-minute Mini-Mix, jam-packed with as many Souljazz Orchestra tunes as we could cram in! A crash-course in Souljazz history if you will, including some sneak previews of the new Inner Fire LP, for the very first time. Enjoy!

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02 09 2013 - Celestial Blues

Big news! Wax Poetics magazine just premiered our first video from Inner Fire, a bumpin' cover of the Andy Bey soul-jazz classic "Celestial Blues", first recorded with the Gary Bartz NTU Troop back in '71. In the spirit of the cosmic nature of the track, the visuals for the music video are culled from vintage public-domain NASA documentary footage... So you get a new Souljazz track and an early-1980s astronomy lesson at the same time!

You can pre-order Inner Fire, out February 25, right now, either from iTunes, Amazon, or the Strut Store.

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02 09 2013 - Inner Fire



So we've got some big news for you... The Souljazz Orchestra is back with a brand new studio album, Inner Fire, coming out February 2014, once again on Strut Records! Recorded with analog techniques at our Ottawa studio HQ, the new set continues the Souljazz musical journey with an esoteric mix of intricate Eastern influences, Afro beats, Latin styles and Spiritual Jazz elements. We're really excited about this one, we feel it's the culmination of a lot of different things we've touched on throughout the years, with a lot of fresh new vibes added to to the mix.

Just to give you an idea, side A features 'Kingdom Come', an afro-jazz stomper influenced by North-East African big band sounds, 'One Life To Live', a haunting highlife arrangement on the importance of seizing the day, 'As The Crow Flies', a soaring bossa-tinged piece and 'Black Orchid', a bumping fusion of cinematic soul-jazz with Cuban bolero sounds. The flip starts off with the firing salsa dura party jam 'Agoya' before the ritual chant of 'East Flows The River', a spiritual jazz hymn using Eastern modes. The tempo ramps up again on 'Sommet En Sommet', a heavy 12/8 afro-jazz piece influenced by Guinean popular music. Our percussionist Marielle Rivard then takes the lead on vocals for a fierce personal rendition of Gary Bartz NTU Troop's 1971 classic, 'Celestial Blues'.

So the album comes out in February 2014, and we'll be touring Canada in support of the release during the following month. We'll then be heading off to Europe in March and April for a good long tour there as well, keep checking the website for official tour dates in the weeks to come!

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02 09 2013 - Good Karma



All right, we've got some phenomenal shows coming up this fall... First off, we'll be following the legendary Pharoah Sanders at the Guelph Jazz Festival in South Ontario, this coming Saturday September 7th! For anyone that knows anything about The Souljazz Orchestra, you know what a colossal honour this is for us. We'll also be kicking off the "Nuit Blanche" portion of the festival, an entire night of esoteric, modal and spiritual jazz excursions, that literally go on til the break of dawn. Yessa!

The next weekend, on Saturday September 14th, we'll be performing a specially commissioned "B-Boy Suite" for the B-Boy Battle Finals, happening at the 10th annual House of PainT Hip Hop Festival in Ottawa. It's gonna be intense, a wicked hype 12-minute opus crammed with as many horn-heavy, organ-grindin', funky-drummin' breaks as we could, both classic and new school. That'll also be followed by a whole full-on Souljazz show, don't sleep on this one!

On Saturday September 28th, we hit up the Black Sheep in beautiful Wakefield, Québec, definitely worth the hike out if you're in the Ottawa area (it'll be our drummer Phil's birthday too, so it should be a proper celebration!) The weekend after, on Friday October 4th, we hit up the Garrison, in Toronto, joined by our man DJ Jason Palma. Haven't played the T-Dot in ages, so don't miss this one!

Later in the month, on Saturday October 19th, we'll be doing a double-bill with our girl Alice Russell at the Ritual in O-Town: if you don't know Alice, do yourself a favour and check her out, she's collabed with the likes of Quantic, Nostalgia 77, and TM Juke, and well, she's got the most incredible voice.

After that, we get back to home turf, playing a full night at Babylon in Ottawa, on Friday November 15th: these shows are always nuts, as you Souljazz old-schoolers know. Then finally, on Friday November 22nd, we drive down to Montréal for the always eclectic Mundial festival, details to come!

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30 06 2013 - Hotter Than July



Well, the summer's looking real good so far. Just found out July 14th we'll also be sharing the bill at the Festival d'été de Québec with Raphael Saadiq and Stevie Wonder! Good God, that should be amazing. I mean, Stevie! It doesn't get much bigger than that, geez.

We then fly over to Europe, where we'll be in equally fine company, sharing the stage with Kool & the Gang, Manu Dibango, Seun Kuti, Julian Marley, Horace Andy, Ondatrópica, and Valerie June, just to name a few! Like we mentioned before, we'll be hitting up France, the UK, Belgium, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, can't wait. Info on tickets and all that are on our shows page.

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26 05 2013 - Summer Breeze

What's going on? Just wanted to let you know what Souljazz is up to this summer...

First off, those of you in Toronto, we're hitting the Garrison on Dundas this coming Saturday, June 1st, along with our man DJ General Eclectic of Uma Nota fame. After that, we'll be playing the Ottawa Jazz Festival early on Friday June 21st, at the Dominion-Chalmers Church. It's a bit of a different setting for us, but it'll allow to us to break out the acoustic grand piano, and explore some different material than usual: this one's gonna be special. We'll be in Kingston the next day, Saturday June 22nd, for the Skeleton Park Festival, then on Sunday July 14th, we'll be taking over the Festival d'été de Québec, with our calypsonian brothers from Kobo Town. Oui papa.

We're then heading over to Europe for almost a month, where we'll be hitting up France, England, Belgium, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic. Now the tour still isn't finalized, but the dates'll be up on the website as soon as they're confirmed, promise!

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24 03 2013 - Indie Win!



First off, we just found out that the Souljazz Orchestra won "World Group of the Year" at the 2013 Indie Awards this weekend... Yeeaahh... This is our first Indie Award ever, we're pretty stoked. Still not too sure what to make of the "World Music" category, but what can you do... Thanks to everyone that voted and supported us!

So we'll be celebrating this week with a show at Babylon, in Ottawa, this Thursday March 28th, joined by our boys from Ikebe Shakedown, driving up all the way from Brooklyn for the show. Both bands then head down to Montreal the next day, Friday March 29th, for a nutso show at Le Belmont. The week after, on Saturday April 6th, we'll also be dropping it at Le Petit Chicago, in the Vieux-Hull: if you were there last time, you know how crazy these nights can get! Get there early, it'll fill up quick. We also managed to figure out a way to get out to Regina for the JUNO Awards... While we're down there, we'll be playing JUNOfest: it's a big music fest happening throughout the region featuring a lot of this year's nominees. We're on Saturday April 20th, at midnight, at a place called McNally's Tavern in downtown Regina. This is our first time ever playing Saskatchewan, we wanna see our Praire peeps out!

Other stuff coming up... We can't announce the individual dates yet, but we'll be hitting up the Canadian festivals from June until mid-July... We'll then be flying over to Europe where we'll be touring for the rest of the summer, we'll keep you posted on all that.

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20 02 2013 - Junos!

Yessa! Just found out our latest album Solidarity was nominated for "World Music Album of the Year" at the 2013 Juno Awards! (The Junos are the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys, in case you're wondering.) This is our second nomination to the Junos, but last time around we missed the award ceremonies cause we were on tour in Europe: we actually watched em from the Jazz Café in London! This time though, we've really gotta try to be there: only thing, it's in Regina, Saskatchewan, ouch... If you're not up on your Canadian geography, that's about a 30-hour drive away from Ottawa! Ah, we'll figure it out...

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26 01 2013 - Props

So the end of year lists have been good to us... We made the "Top 10" on the 2012 indie radio world charts in both Canada and the US for the first time (#1 Canadian band on the world charts in Canada!), and we've been getting some serious props from the BBC's Gilles Peterson, CBC Music and !exclaim in Canada, Okayplayer, AllMusic and Record Racks in the US, just to name a few... The Paris DJs crew even chose our new album "Solidarity" as the #1 Album of the Year, nice. You can see some of the latest reviews here.

Aw right, we've got some dope shows happening in Canada during the next while: our boys from Ikebe Shakedown are driving up from Brooklyn and joining us at Babylon in Ottawa on Thursday, March 28th, then the two bands head down to the Belmont in Montreal on Friday, March 29th... We'll also be hitting up Le Petit Chicago over in Gatineau on Saturday, April 6th, as well as The Garrison in Toronto, with The Soul Motivators on Friday, May 17th... These are all gonna be some mad shows, don't miss out!

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19 12 2012 - Down-Home Soul



Wow... So we're done, after a crazy 25-hour drive from Minneapolis, can't believe it. All of our deepest gratitude goes out to everyone that came out and helped make this massive three-month international tour such a success. Thanks!

Also just found out the CBC picked our new album Solidarity as one of their Top 5 "World Music" albums of the year, and Exclaim magazine's also got us in their top "Groove" albums of 2012. Thanks guys, nice to get some props up here in Canada.

So we'll be celebrating our return home with a massive show at the good ole Babylon in O-Town, with our boy DJ Zattar on the decks, Saturday, January 19th. This one's gonna be off the chain, see you there!

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19 11 2012 - Coming to America



So we head over to the US in a few days for our American Solidarity Album Release Tour! We'll be coming down the East Coast, then looping back up through the Midwest, hitting up Burlington VT, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Detroit, Columbus, Chicago, and Minneapolis! Brooklyn's phenomenal Zongo Junction will be with us for most of the dates, it's gonna be pure afrofunké badness. Get your tickets now!

On another note, DJ Gilles Peterson of the BBC just chose our new track "Cartão Postal" as one of his 2012 All Winners, we're happy about that one... Our new album Solidarity is still holdin' steady at #1 on the "International" Chart for indie radio in Canada too... Just finished off a nearly sold-out Canadian tour on top of it, man there were some hype shows in there... We'd like to thank everyone that's been supporting the band so far on this massive release tour, you guys are keepin' us going!



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06 11 2012 - Keep On Pushin'



Man, so we just finished up the European leg of our Solidarity International Release Tour, what a trip... Near sold-out crowds and nasty hype shows everywhere, thanks to everyone that helped make it happen! The CBC just interviewed us about all the crazy stuff that happened on tour, you can read about it here. Meanwhile, back in Canada, looks like Solidarity has been steady at #1 on the !earshot International Chart for the last few weeks now too. Thanks for the support, nice to see the peeps back home didn't forget about us!

So no rest for the wicked, we're keepin' on with the Canadian tour, can't wait. We hit up Wrongbar in Toronto for the amazing NuJazz Festival this Friday, November 9th, joined by DJ John Kong and Groove Institute. We then play The Mansion in Kingston for the first time in a long time this Saturday, November 10th, with our man DJ Zattar. The week after, we tour La Belle Province, heading to Le Cercle in Québec with our boys from 100% Dynamite on Thursday November 15th. The day after, on Friday November 16th, we're at the Belmont in Montréal, and we finally end at Le Petit Chicago in Gatineau on Saturday November 17th for one last monster party. Tickets for the Toronto, Kingston and Montréal shows are all available from World Famous Music, get em while you still can!

The US tour is coming up quick too... Burlington VT, Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Detroit, Columbus, Chicago, Minneapolis! Brooklyn's fabulous Zongo Junction will be joining us for most of the dates, you can expect some fierce sweaty afrofunké madness. Good idea to get your tickets now too.

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20 09 2012 - Conquering Lion



Well, we're very excited to be releasing the first "real" video from our new album Solidarity, featuring The Souljazz Orchestra performing horn-drenched breakbeat barn-burner "Conquering Lion". Shot at the Mercury Lounge in Ottawa using dusty old analog video cameras, it gives you a good idea of what a live, sweaty, hype Souljazz Orchestra show is like. The video was directed by our man Craig Allen Conoley from Partus Films, be sure to check out his other stuff.

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18 09 2012 - D-Day

Our new album, Solidarity, is now out! If you're anywhere near Ottawa, come celebrate at our Album Release Party this Saturday, September 22nd at Babylon! The massive Solidarity International Release Tour is coming up fast too, tickets are now available.

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07 09 2012 - Talkin' Loud

So word is spreading about our new album, Solidarity: our man Gilles Peterson just featured the track "Cartão Postal" on his BBC Radio 6 show this week; National Geographic chose "Ya Basta" as the video of the week; our boys at Paris DJs also had it at the top of their August playlist. You can check out what others are saying in the Reviews section.

So just a reminder, our Ottawa Album Release Party is happening on Saturday, September 22nd at Babylon. We'll have the one and only DJ Zattar on the decks, as well as some surprise guests, don't miss it! Our colossal Solidarity International Release Tour is just around the corner too, make sure to get your tickets early. Details are on the Shows page.

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14 08 2012 - Global Grooves

OK, so we just about finalized the Solidarity international album release tour: we might add a show here and there, but this is the gist of it! It's pretty massive: at least 35 shows in 11 different countries and 9 different states across Europe and North America, from New York to London, Paris to Montréal, Chicago to Athens, Amsterdam to Detroit, and that's not even mentioning South Bohemia! Details, with links to the venues, can be found on our detailed show schedule here.

Strut Records felt pretty good about this, so for now they've decided to celebrate by giving away a free download of "Cartão Postal", one of the brand new tracks from Solidarity! The track is a gritty mix of semba and samba styles, sung in Portuguese by our man Rômmel Ribeiro: it doesn't really sound like anything we've ever done before, you should really check it out.

OK, let me download this free track! >>
I wanna know more about the tour dates >>
I like the tour poster, can I see it bigger? >>




11 08 2012 - Bibinay



We've got yet another new video for you... The song is called "Bibinay" (a deformation of "Big Business"), sung by the thunderous voice of Élage M'baye, deploring the plundering of natural resources for the benefit of a few, but to the detriment of the many. This one's pretty intense, you've been warned: feel free to comment, let us know what you think. It made its debut on Record-Racks this week, who gave it some serious props, while going on to say that Solidarity "is shaping up to be the Global Grooves Album Of The Year"! Respect.
show me this new video for "Bibinay" >>

28 06 2012 - New Album, New Video!



Well, we've got some exciting news for you... The Souljazz Orchestra is back with a brand-new album, Solidarity, a fierce collaborative record featuring a range of unique artists from Canada's vibrant underground scene, including Senegalese-Canadian griot descendant Élage M'baye, Brazilian-Canadian singer-songwriter Rômmel Ribeiro, Jamaican-Canadian rocksteady soulman Slim Moore, as well as the full Souljazz Orchestra core line-up, with vocal contributions by drummer/conguero Philippe Lafrenière and baritone saxophonist Ray Murray.

The songs we wrote are in a variety of Afro, Latin and Caribbean styles, all connected by a consistent thread of North American soul and jazz sensibilities. Featuring lyrics sung in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Wolof (with borrowings from French and Arabic), the pieces are unified by a common message of positive social change.

After the release of our last album, the all-acoustic Rising Sun, we also wanted to return to a plugged-in sound, which gave us an excuse to dig up some of our dusty, forgotten electric instruments out of the attic again: an ancient vibrato-heavy transistor organ, grungy pawnshop hollowbody guitars, an unsteady warbling tape-echo machine, a cavernous surf-guitar spring reverb unit, even an old Italian-made Elka electric piano rescued from a garbage can. We recorded the new songs onto a temperamental 8-track tape machine, and the whole thing resulted in one massive, heavy-hitting, ruff-and-tuff record.

It comes out September 17th 2012, once again on Strut Records. The release'll be followed by an extensive world tour, so keep checking the website for concert dates.

show me what Strut has to say about this >>


05 06 2012 - Summertime
Aw right, so we've got some great summer shows coming up around Canada. First up, we're playing the main stage of the Montreal Jazz Festival on Monday, July 2nd: this one's huge, you don't wanna miss it if you're anywhere near Mtl. We're then heading off to Toronto on Friday, July 6th, for a double-bill at the Great Hall with Japan's Osaka Monaurail, the baddest brothers ever to come out of the Land of the Rising Sun. The rest of the weekend, July 7th and 8th, we're rocking Sunfest in London, Ontario, before coming home for an epic show at the Ottawa Bluesfest on Saturday, July 14th. Check out our schedule for more details. Oh, and we finally updated the soulfood section, in case you're interested.
yeah, tell me more about these shows >>




10 03 2012 - Cold Sweat
So we're back in Canada, much love to everyone that helped make this US tour a success... Highlights: stirring up the jazzers in Boston, rocking the cosmic happening in Burlington VT, tearing the roof off Webster's in NYC along with the mighty Zongo Junction (shout out to the snake lady greeting folks at the door with her python!), laying it down in Washington with the 8 Ohms Band (followed by a private Soul Train jukebox party with the bouncers and their girls!), shaking up the Double Door in Chicago, and finishing things off with a bang at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis with the epic Brass Messengers (the helicon player was the best: not enough helicon players around these days.)

Check us out at the ole Babylon, in Ottawa, with Timekode's DJ Zattar, on Saturday, April 21st, and our home away from home, Les Bobards, in Montréal, with DJ Kyou, on Saturday, April 28th.

Oh, and Dan Poletta of National Public Radio in the States did an in-depth half-hour interview and documentary on the Souljazz Orchestra, covering the group's evolution during the last ten years: you can check it out here if you're interested.




08 11 2011 - Soulsville U.S.A.
All right, so we're happy to announce that the Souljazz Orchestra will be heading on its first major US tour this upcoming February. The band'll be hitting up Providence RI, Boston, Burlington VT, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Cleveland, Chicago, and Minneapolis: you can check out the tour schedule for details. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 11th, we'll keep you posted!
tell me more about this US tour >>




27 10 2011 - Stand Up & Be Counted
So the Souljazz Orchestra is up for the Ottawa Xpress "Best Rock/Pop/Dance/Other Act of 2011", as decided by the voting public (we know, it's a weird category, what can you do!) Go ahead, you can vote here, it only takes a minute. Help us spread the word, too!

Oh, and in case you're wondering what Souljazz has been up to these days, the band has just put out a new soul album as part of Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays, on Cosmic Groove in Europe & Japan, and on Marlow Records everywhere else. The album features the rugged vocals of Jamaican-Canadian soul singer Slim Moore, backed by members of the Souljazz Orchestra, the One Faith Gospel Singers, and some of the baddest Canadian and American orchestral musicians around.

We're having our Toronto Record Release Party this upcoming Friday, November 5th, at the El Mocambo, as part of the NuJazz Festival. Don't miss it!

And no joke, this album's off the chain, you gotta check this video out:



tell me about Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays >>
I wanna vote for Souljazz >>


26 08 2011 - Ba de ya, say do you remember, ba de ya, dancin' in September...
September's looking pretty good for Souljazz, lots of hype shows coming up: Harbourfront Centre in TO (Sept 3), an Ottawa U frosh show (Sept 9), a show with Bran Van 3000 (Sept 10), an insane old school Babylon party in Ottawa, just like we like em (Sept 23), and a mad bash at Les Bobards in downtown Montreal (Sept 24).
tell me more about these shows >>




09 08 2011 - The Souljazz Shop
Having trouble finding a certain Souljazz Orchestra album? Maybe you're a vinyl freak, and you're digging for a specific LP? Or you'd just like to get a real CD, artwork and everything? Look no further, everything's now available for order online, in one place, at the Souljazz Shop on CD Baby.
show me this Souljazz Shop >>




14 07 2011 - The Real Slim Moore
Back from Europe, the bomb as usual... and now we've got something completely different for you. Members of the Souljazz crew have been hard at work on a brand new orchestral soul project, Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays, backing dynamite Jamaican-Canadian singer Slim Moore, along with our boys Nick Dyson and Donovan Willis. The band's got a killer record coming out in the fall, don't sleep on this one (it's massive: full string section, gospel choir, whacka-whacka Shaft guitars, fuzz bass, trombone burps, out-of-tune piano, breathy flute, inappropriate bongo solos... what else can you want really?) More info on this to come, but for now, those of you in Ottawa can check out Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays, along with up-and-coming funk dynamos Phil Motion & the Easy Lo-Fi, at Mavericks, on Friday, August 5th. And you can bet all your last money, it's gonna be a stone gas honey.
tell me about Slim Moore & the Mar-Kays >>
show me all the upcoming Souljazz shows >>


24 04 2011 - No Sleep Til Istanbul
Just to let you know about our upcoming summer shows... First off, we'll be playing the Oysterfest in Ottawa this Sunday, June 26th. It goes on all day, drop in and check it out. We'll then be hopping over to Europe, where we'll be hitting the Liburnia Jazz Festival in Croatia, the Istanbul Jazz Festival in Turkey, mad clubs in Marseille, Paris and Nîmes, and a North Sea Jazz Festival party in Rotterdam Holland. Spread the word!
show me all the upcoming shows >>




24 04 2011 - One Nation Under A Groove
Back in Canada, after a phenomenal month-long tour of Europe: man, we shared marquees with the likes of Roy Ayers, Manu Dibango, Mulatu Astatke, Maceo Parker, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, l'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, Angélique Kidjo, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, the David Murray Cuban Ensemble, Kokolo Afrobeat Orchestra and Fanga... That's all right company! Thanks to everyone that helped make it such a success, we'll be back in July. Found out along the way that we didn't get that Juno after all: congratulations to Fond of Tigers for their win and, well, there's always next year for us!

Anyways, we have a special show lined up at Barrymore's in Ottawa on Friday, May 13th: the Souljazz Orchestra live, joined by the top DJs east of Montreal and west of Iceland, our brothers from 100% Dynamite down from Québec City. The show'll also be broadcast nation-wide by CBC Canada Live, so if you want to hear yourself screaming like a banshee on national radio, now's the time. ;-)
show me all the upcoming shows >>






01 02 2011 - Juno Awards
So the Souljazz Orchestra's latest record, Rising Sun, just got a Juno Award Nomination for the 2011 "Instrumental Album of the Year"! (Junos are Canada's equivalent of the Grammies, for you non-Canadians!) The actual awards ceremony is happening at the Air Canada Centre, in Toronto, on March 27th, emceed by Drake... Let's hope for the best.

We'll be celebrating next Saturday, February 19th, with our first Ottawa show of the year, at the Babylon Nightclub. We'll be joined by the up-and-coming dynamite MacKenzie Rhythm Section, as well as our man from way back in the Babylon residency days, the one and only DJ D-Mass. For those of you across the bridge, we'll also be hitting Le petit Chicago, in the Vieux-Hull, a few weeks later, on Friday, March 4th, as well as the Divan Orange, in Montréal, on Saturday, March 5th.

Our European tour is just about finalized, too. Some of the highlights include two French double-bills with our boys from Fanga in Aulnay and Le Havre, an insane family reunion with Café Crème and Hugo Mendez of Sofrito Soundsystem in Paris, our debut at the infamous Jazz Café in London, a special Cosmic Groove session in Montpellier, our biggest stint ever in Germany, a few quick stops in Austria and Switzerland, our first tour ever of sunny Greece, and a crazy festival in the medieval castle of Laarne in Belgium. (A big thanks goes out to the Ontario Arts Council for helping make this tour possible.) You can check out the actual tour dates here.
let's see these Juno nominees >>
show me this upcoming tour >>




12 01 2011 - Good Times
The CBC just named Rising Sun the #1 album of the year by a Canadian band, and one of the year's top 10 albums worldwide, along with Janelle Monae, the Gorillaz and Aloe Blacc's latest records. Souljazz also made quite a few "Best of 2010" lists (you can check em out in the reviews section), thanks for the props!

OK, so we'll be playing back-to-back shows, Le Cercle in Quebec City on Friday January 21st, and Les Bobards in Montreal on Saturday January 22nd, followed by Babylon in Ottawa on Saturday February 19th (with the dynamite MacKenzie Rhythm Section and DJ D-Mass, our homeboy from back in the Babylon residency days) and Le petit Chicago in Gatineau on Friday March 4th. Help us spread the word... We're then heading over to Europe, where we'll be hitting up France, England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and Belgium. Keep checking the concerts section, the actual dates'll be up soon.
let's see these reviews >>
show me your upcoming gigs >>

23 11 2010 - New Year's Eve Bash
All right, so while Dick Clark drops the ball on Times Square, we'll be droppin' the bomb on Mavericks in Ottawa. We'll be joined by our man DJ Zattar, of Timekode fame, as well as some other secret surprise guests (you'll just have to come to see who!...) Oh, and we'll be giving away free champagne at midnight on top of that, to toast the New Year in style, before we keep on keepin' on into the night... Tickets are available at Vertigo Records (193 Rideau St.) and on the Mavericks website (get em early, they're going fast!)

By the way, Souljazz was named one of the top bands of 2010, and Rising Sun one of the top albums of 2010, by the readers of the Ottawa XPress: thanks to everyone that voted!

Oh, and we've also got some more soulfood up if you're looking for stocking stuffers...
I want tickets to the New Year's Eve show >>
gimme some soulfood >>




07 05 2010 - Long Hot Summer Nights
The Rising Sun release tour is finally over! Just got back to Canada after a monster European tour... Despite the French train strikes and the volcano ashes, we got through it just fine, and had a blast with our bros from Fanga, Hypnotic Brass & The Heavy.

So our summer plans are falling into place... We just did a live session at the BBC Studios in Manchester, and that'll be featured on the Craig Charles Soul & Funk show on BBC 6, June 5th, at 8PM UK time. Make sure to check that out, you'll hear some new stuff that's never been recorded before.

We've also got a short but intense European tour coming up in late June, including a stop at Glastonbury (yessa!) for two shows, on the Arcadia and Shangri-La stages... (We're psyched for those, it's just going to be a mad party.) We'll also be doing Les Invités de Villeurbanne near Lyon with Anthony Joseph & the Spasm Band, the Paradise Gardens Festival in London with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz Jamaica, La Défense Jazz in Paris with our boys Fanga, the massive Solidays festival in Paris, and more... We're then coming back to Canada for more fine festivals: Toronto Jazz with Angélique Kidjo, Ottawa Jazz with Joshua Redman's James Farm project, Stewart Park in Perth, Westport Music Fest, Yonge-Dundas in T.O., Guelph Jazz... You can check out the schedule for details.
show me the tour schedule >>

31 03 2010 - Ascension
The new album, Rising Sun, is getting some decent airplay these days: other than being in the Top 10 of the Canadian indy radio jazz charts, it's been both in the Top 10 of the US CMJ Jazz Charts and in the Top 10 of the US CMJ World Charts for the last few weeks... We just finished a completely sold-out (and insanely sweaty!) Canadian album release tour, thanks to everyone who came out. Now we can't wait to drop it in Europe.
show me the tour schedule >>
tell me about the new album >>

15 02 2010 - SoulTube
Strut just cooked up a video clip for "Agbara", off of Rising Sun, you can check it out here. Most of the European dates for our upcoming tour are now up too (we're happy to say we'll be collabing with Fanga for a few shows in France, and with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble for a few in the UK...) We'll be adding new tour dates in the weeks to come, keep checking the site.
show me the new video >>
show me the tour schedule >>
tell me about the new album >>

25 01 2009 - L'union fait la force
The Haiti earthquake has affected many people close to the group living in Port-au-Prince and its outskirts... The Souljazz Orchestra will be donating a portion of the proceeds generated by the "Rising Sun" album release tour directly to families affected by the earthquake, as well as to NGOs working on the Haiti relief effort.
show me the tour schedule >>
tell me about the new album >>

14 12 2009 - New Morning
The Souljazz Orchestra will be releasing its first all-acoustic afrojazz album, entitled Rising Sun, on Strut Records, a label experiencing a good amount of buzz with recent releases from Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Grandmaster Flash, Tony Allen & Jimi Tenor, Breakestra, Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle, as well as with a slew of top-notch reissues of historical dance music from around the globe (Nigeria 70, Black Rio, Calypsoul 70, Disco Italia, Funky Nassau...)

On this new release, Souljazz stays true to its roots in soul and afro rhythms, but takes a more jazz-oriented approach overall, creating deep, improvisational big-band music, with a heavy-driving, dancefloor-conscious edge. (For what it's worth, Gilles Peterson has already called Rising Sun the group's best yet, as well as one of the year?s top albums.)

A first single is scheduled to be released in January 2010, followed by the full-album LP release in February 2010.

A massive album release tour will be taking us to both sides of the ocean... On the Canadian side, we'll be hitting at least Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Hull and Quebec... The European dates will be announced soon as well. Stay tuned!
I wanna know more about this new album >>
show me this tour schedule >>
I wanna know what this Strut's all about >>
I wanna know what they have to say about this album >>

02 11 2009 - Globetrottin'
Just got back from a great European tour... Highlights: our monster collab with Fanga in Paris, our improvised choreography(!) with Jazzcotech in Marseille, an impromptu jam with Greg Hutchinson of the Joshua Redman Trio in Nancy, the concert in Bratislava with Christian McBride and Marie Joao... We'll be taking a bit of a break from the road until the release of our upcoming album, Rising Sun, in early 2010. We'll be touring Canada in March, followed by Europe in April and early May. We'll give you more info as we get the dates down.
show me this schedule >>

19 08 2009 - First Rays
Some of you might recently have heard mysterious new Souljazz tracks on UK DJ Gilles Peterson's BBC show, so we'll tell you a little more about that...

The Souljazz Orchestra will be releasing its first all-acoustic afrojazz album, entitled Rising Sun, on Strut Records. A first single is scheduled to be released in January 2010, followed by the full-album LP release in February 2010. More details to come...

Souljazz will be playing the first annual Jazz Sudbury Festival on September 12th, as well as a monster show at Babylon in Ottawa on September 19th. The band is then heading back to Europe in October, playing two shows in Paris with the Afrorockers and Fanga, as well as shows in Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Strasbourg and Nancy. Souljazz then leaves France for Eastern Europe, where the group is playing the Agharta Jazz Festival in Prague, as well as Slovakian jazz festivals in Komárno, Bratislava and Žilina. You can check out the schedule for details.

show me this schedule >>

26 05 2009 - Home Cookin'
Back home after a long stretch on tour overseas in Europe... Thanks to everyone that helped make it a huge success. We'll be rockin' a few Canadian dates in the next while: Petit Chicago in Hull on June 6th, Ottawa Jazz Fest on June 24th, Montreal Jazz Fest on July 8th, Babylon in Ottawa on July 24th. Check out the schedule for details.

By the way, our Inspiration Information collab with Horace Andy and Ashley Beedle is finally available. As Strut puts it, "with the Orchestra's trademark analogue production style and Andy's lyrics about the value of education in achievement, this one comes across like Horace popping into The Shrine in Lagos around 1972. Killer." Check it out here.

Our latest album, Manifesto, has also just been released by Do Right! on vinyl as a limited-edition pressing, for all of you wax lovers. Get em while they last!

I want the Manifesto vinyl LP >>
show me this Horace Andy & SJO track >>
show me the schedule >>

24 01 2009 - Rockin Steady
So we've made a few end of year lists for 2008... Funny seeing Souljazz on the Canadian charts these days too, toe-to-toe with the rock and pop bands (Nov 18th 2008, Nov 25th 2008, Dec 9th 2008, Jan 6th 2009, Jan 13th 2009). Much love to everyone supporting the Souljazz, you're keeping us alive and kicking.

Lots coming up in 2009. We've got a few Canadian shows in the next while: Hamilton, Toronto (w/ our man Bootsy Collins), Ottawa... Then, we're off to Europe in April for a month-long tour, where we'll be hitting England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Finland. After that, we'll be touring Canada in June/July. We'll keep you posted.

Oh, and we just finished a collab with reggae legend Horace Andy & producer Ashley Beedle for Strut Records: a re-arrangement of the new track "Watch We" into a bumpin' afro-reggae thing... Look out for that in the months to come.



show me the tour schedule >>
show me the new reviews >>

11 12 2008 - CD Release Party
All right, so mark this off on your calendars, next Friday, December 19th, is the "Manifesto" CD Release Party in Ottawa, at our old Babylon homebase on Bank St. We'll have DJ Zattar spinning, as well as some surprise guests playing with us... Should be a party of epic proportions, come on out.
show me the show details >>

30 10 2008 - New Album Available On-Line
"Manifesto" is now available on-line from CD Baby.
You can also download it through iTunes.
I wanna buy the CD >>
I wanna download the album from iTunes >>
I wanna know more about this album first >>

18 10 2008 - Manifesto Is Out
So our new album, "Manifesto", is finally out, in Canada at least. Do Right Records and Exclaim Magazine put together a giveaway contest to celebrate the release, you can check it out here. We'll be doing a Canadian album release mini-tour in November and December, hitting Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Kingston, and Ottawa. Check out our schedule for more details.
how do I buy this album? >>
show me the touring schedule >>
I wanna know more about this contest >>

14 06 2008 - Manifest Destiny
Yes, the rumours are true: the Souljazz Orchestra is releasing a new album, entitled Manifesto, on September 23rd 2008, once again through Do Right! Music. A 7" vinyl single, featuring two of the tracks on the album, will be coming out ahead of time, in July: look out for that.

Our summer tour is just about finalized: we'll be hitting England, Scotland, Austria, Hungary and Denmark for the first time, returning to France once again, and of course doing a few shows in Canada as well. Highlights: playing Bayonne with Erik Truffaz, performing Joe Zawinul's Birdland in Vienna, hitting the Cargo in London, playing the Big Chill in Hereford with fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen, sharing the Fiest'A Sète stage with the likes of Charles Walker, Gwen McCrae, Kid Creole, and Éthiopique legend Mahmoud Ahmed. Check out our schedule for more details.
I wanna know more about this tour >>

24 04 2008 - Long Playing Microgrooves
The vinyl LP of Freedom No Go Die is finally out, as a limited edition pressing...
I wanna check this out >>

10 04 2008 - Brooklyn's The Borough
Just played Toronto and Brooklyn this weekend... Hung out in Harlem, Central Park, Greenwich Village, Queens: New York City's the bomb. Some good shows coming up: Black Sheep in Wakefield, The Goods in Montréal, Make It Funky in Toronto, Le Cercle in Québec, and Barrymore's in Ottawa...
gimme the details on these shows >>

02 01 2008 - In The Mix
Happy New Year! Just updated the Music section to include the vinyl and the compilations that we've been featured on lately... We also put up some more international reviews, 'tis the season for the end-of-year lists. We'd like to thank Gatineau/Ottawa's Voir, in particular, for choosing us as 2007 Band of the Year. Merci! Our 2008 Spring schedule is up too, we'll be hitting Kingston, Montréal, Québec, Moncton, Halifax, Toronto, and yes, Brooklyn, baby.
all right, let's see the music >>
I wanna see these reviews >>
show me the touring schedule >>

13 12 2007 - Doing It To Death
Well, the French tour was completely sold-out, a total success. All our love and gratitude goes out to everyone who helped make it possible. Highlights: teaming up with Fanga in Montpellier, with DJ Hugo Mendez in Marseille, rocking the Batofar, a crazy boat/bar on the Seine, playing la Bellevilloise, probably our sweatiest gig ever, seeing Kutiman, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Mos Def live. We just put up some pictures of the tour, you can check 'em out for fun.

By the way, we'll be playing a crazy bash at the Babylon in Ottawa on New Year's Eve. We'll be going all out for this one: champagne will be provided, DJ Zattar will be dishing out the muy afro funke goodness, and the Souljazz Orchestra will be rocking the place in full party mode.

Oh, and just for fun, we've been doing some crate-digging in Paris, check out the new Soulfood album picks...
gimme more on this NYE thing >>
show me the tour pics >>
gimme some soulfood >>

22 10 2007 - The French Connection
So we'll be touring France in late November: Montpellier, Marseille, Paris, Toulouse, Nantes... Check out the schedule for details.

Nous allons faire une tournée française vers la fin-novembre: Montpellier, Marseille, Paris, Toulouse, Nantes... Consultez l'horaire pour plus de détails.
let's see the schedule >>

28 08 2007 - No Condition Is Permanent
So we just gave the website a long-overdue overhaul, hope you like it... The summer tour's over, man, what a trip... We got to meet Femi Kuti in Ottawa, some of us got to hang out with Seun Kuti in Paris, we backed up Dele Sosimi of the Egypt 80 in Calgary: feels like the world is getting smaller all the time.

We'll be doing a second Eastern Canada tour in September. Highlights: the Virgin Music Festival in Toronto (with Bjork, Amy Winehouse...), the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton (with Arturo Sandoval, Dr. John...), the creepy old Seahorse in Halifax, and a fundraiser for Sudan at the Sala Rossa in Montreal (with Kobo Town and DJ Andy Williams). Check out our schedule for details.
all right, show me the schedule >>

28 04 2007 - Summer Madness
Our summer touring schedule's up, check it out... Highlights: opening up for Femi Kuti at the Ottawa Bluesfest, playing the main stage at the Ottawa Jazzfest on Canada Day, flying out West for Afrikadey in Calgary, travelling out East to Québec and Halifax...
let's see this schedule >>

26 02 2007 - Triple Header
Busy weekend coming up... We'll be opening for Gilles Peterson at The Next Level in Toronto, on Thursday March 29th. The following night, Friday March 30th, we'll be playing with Nomadic Massive at the Capital Music Hall in Ottawa. Finally, we'll be playing Montreal for the first time in a good while on Sunday, April 1st, at the Casa del Popolo... If we look a little rough on Monday, you'll know why :-)...
more concert listings >>

26 02 2007 - Sauljazz
Check us out with Saul Williams at The Pepper Jack Cafe in Hamilton, this Friday, March 2nd. If you don't know Williams, do yourself a favour, check him out, this man is the future of hip-hop. For real.
more concert listings >>

10 02 2007 - Do Right! CD Release
"Freedom No Go Die" is finally released on our new label, Do Right! Music. We'll be having two CD release parties to celebrate, one at Mavericks, in Ottawa, on Friday, February 23rd (with the Uptown Strugglers), and a big one at the Rivoli, in Toronto, on Saturday, February 24th.
more concert listings >>
let's hear this album >>
what's up with this Do Right thing >>

31 12 2006 - Number 9, Number 9, Number...
Hey, "Mista President" made it to the #9 spot on Gilles Peterson's Best of 2006 list! Thanks to all those that voted...
more concert listings >>

01 11 2006 - iSoul
Both Freedom No Go Die and Uprooted are now available on iTunes...
download Freedom No Go Die >>
download Uprooted >>

11 10 2006 - Just Do Right
We just worked out a record deal with Do Right! Music out of Toronto, which will be the exclusive worldwide provider of Freedom No Go Die. We'll be celebrating with a Do Right! Music bash, featuring label boss DJ John Kong, at the Babylon Nightclub, Thursday, November 9th. More info to come, stay tuned...
buy the new CD >>
listen to the new CD >>
show concert listings >>

10 11 2005 - Dip-Dappin'
We'll be opening up for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings this Tuesday, November 15th, at the Babylon. If you don't know Sharon, do yourself a favour and check her out: she's kind of like a mix of James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, all in one. Divas Maya & Alanna will be joining us as well, so you can expect a whole night of heavy soul madness...
more concert listings >>


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