Soulive: Next : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Soulive, a darling of the modern jam band scene, is known for pushing the boundaries of soul jazz by making music that shows respect to its forefathers yet expounds on their territory. With the ensemble's third album, Next, guitarist Eric Krasno, brothers Neal and Alan Evans on organ and drums, respectively, and new one-man brass section Sam Kininger, root themselves in the same ground they covered on previous albums, but then branch out and embrace their contemporary influences more than ever. Next is full of swaggering hip-hop beats, guitar funk, jazzy horns and guest artists. On the infectious slow jam "Clap!," Black Thought of hip-hop outfit the Roots lends his clever lyrical flow. Former Groove Theory singer Amel Larrieux croons about the simplicity of love in a complicated world on the dreamy head-bobber "I Don't Know." Hip-hop team Talib Kweli and Hi Tek spit rhymes over a leisurely reinterpretation of "Bridge to 'Bama" from Soulive's second album Doin' Something. For those who are more appreciative of the Soulive's instrumentals, the simple and soothing melodies of "Nay Nay" and the contagious rhythms of "Kalen" prove that this ensemble need not a word to speak volumes.

K.G. ROTH
(March 11, 2002)