(March 3, 2021) It’s been a 17 year wait for Alan Evans and his album Let It Ride to finally be heard by funk fans on this side of the Pacific Ocean, but that wait is over. Evans, the co-founder and drummer of the band Soulive, originally dropped the album in 2004, but it was only released on CD and then only for audiences in Japan. Now, Let It Ride can be heard digitally and will feature the 10 tracks that were recorded in a studio along with three live bonus live tracks.
What SoulTrackers will hear from Evans and his collaborators throughout Let It Ride and on the title track featured in this First Listen is some of the soul infused jazz that fans of Soulive have come to enjoy, with elements that show Evans’ influences, ranging from The Meters to P-Funk. That can definitely be heard ln “Let It Ride.” The work on the keys moves from being cosmically funky a la Bernie Worrell to jazz fusion. Those flights of fancy receive a solid foundation from a driving and funky mid-tempo bass line and some hard-core time keeping by Evans on the drums.
While Evans wrote all the tracks and played the drums and synthesizers, he enlists an all-star cast of his musical friends to give the record and this single that classic jazz/funk/rock fusion sound. Check out “Let It Ride” here.
By Howard Dukes
Alan Evans – “Let It Ride”