Live In Love

With Live in Love, trumpeter-composer-arranger Philip Lassiter mixes socio-political messaging ("Make America Love Again") with humorous, earthy storytelling ("Poof," "Suga Coat Me," "Root Chakra") and some forays into old school funk (the James Brown-inspired "Repent" and the P-Funk-ish "Love Story"). Along with detours into one-drop reggae ("Take a Little Time" and "Live in Love"), an eerie hoodoo number (the J Dilla-D'Angelo flavored "Babayaga") and a dreamy, romantic love song ("Light Me Up"), Lassiter's latest is a triumph of deep groove, swaggering horns and soul-stirring vocal performances by the likes of Jonathan Hoard, Mariah Meshae, Charles Jones, Durand Bernarr, Mackenzie, LaVance Colley, Munir Hossn, Elliott Yamin and Lassiter's wife Josje (aka Josephine Rojer).

With one foot firmly planted in old school funk, Lassiter confidently strides somewhere else on each of the ten tracks of Live in Love. "You hear a lot of hip hop blended with jazz nowadays and also neo-soul blended with jazz," he said. "But, I don't know that I've heard a whole lot of large ensemble neo-soul/hip-hop/jazz. That's what we do."