(November 20, 2025) Any music fan who has a warm place in their heart for that fusion of soul music and electric organ jazz known as Soul/Jazz will dig the music of Soullive. When I came across their music about 15 years ago, I felt like I had been transported back to 1960s listening to electric organ masters like Jack McDuff and Soul/Jazz innovators like Cannonball Adderly.
However, it would be a mistake to label Soullive as retro act, as they brought the neo-soul ethic of honoring the past while also pushing the music forward. The band, which includes guitarist Eric Krasno, organist Neal Evans and drummer Alan Evans was busy during the first decade of the 21st Century. However, the output slowed and Soullive’s only releases since the early 2010s were a couple of EPs.
Now the group returns with Flowers, their first full-length project in 15 years, which is due to drop in January. “Flowers at Your Feet,” the lead single, finds the band collaborating with noted singer Van Hunt on and psychedelic funk banger that sonically has a Sly & the Family Stone church of funk feel and the kind of vivid lyricism that suggests DeAngelo’s Black Messiahalbum.
Hunt notes that there is an intentionality to those references:
“When Alan sent me the track, it immediately felt like a Sly Stone homage—and with Sly’s passing, I wasn’t sure I could add anything to make it more special. Then Brian Wilson passed, and I knew I needed to say something—to honor both men who shaped my musical life.
Soulive already had the Sly & The Family Stone DNA; I wanted to bring in the Smile-era Brian Wilson color and that early-’70s Sly energy. So, I pulled out the Clavinet, the Mu-Tron bass, and some stream-of-consciousness lyrics, channeling all the joy and reverence they inspired in me.
As I recorded, I thought about Sly, Brian, George Clinton, Prince, Thelonious Monk, and D’Angelo. And now, after losing D’Angelo too, this song carries even more weight. ‘Flowers at Your Feet’ became my way of saying thank you to the innovators who built this music, and to Soulive, for keeping the garden alive,”
Check out Soullive (feat. Van Hunt) on “Flowers at Your Feet” here.
By Howard Dukes
