Lettuce
I've heard it said more than once that US audiences prefer their funk slow and thumping, to nod their heads to, while UK audiences demand thunderous dance breaks to keep them jiggling their limbs. Perhaps that's why Minneapolis did so well with its squelching basslines, spacey synths and low-key drumming - while Brits were waiting for Keb Darge to bring them the gritty, raw and much more danceable deep funk.
Lettuce - headlining the Field of Heaven on Saturday - are a 7-piece from NYC who have a bit more P-funk in their blood than some of their fellow funkateers on the bill (Bootsy excepted, and even he's promising a straight JB sound). They've even had Fred Wesley playing his trombone on a couple of their album tracks. But check out their covers of Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up" and The Soul Vibrations' "The Dump" it's pretty clear this is a band that spans the funk spectrum.
It takes some balls to cover Move on Up - but Lettuce have done a superb job. As one blogger put it "it sounds a lot like the original, but different enough". I'd bet my three-day pass that they'll play that on Saturday night and the field will rock. Eager beavers can pick up the 7" in Shibuya's DMR right now.
Also check their live album - recorded in Tokyo back in 2003. It was recorded at the Blue Note, which isn't the sexiest venue in the city, but not bad for a septet that no-one had heard of back then.
Nick
