“Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”

-Aldous Huxley

In my never-ending search for good funky jamming music, I have come across once again, two guys who know the true meaning of funk. I mean really cool fluid funk that you have to dance to. The band is called Soule Monde.

Composed of only drummer Russ Lawton and Hammond B3 Organist Ray Packzkowski (both members of TAB), they often seek the company of like-minded musicians with the only thought being of producing a collaborative effort that will melt the mind. Standby for an altering of consciousness!

You would think that the missing guitar and organ produced bass line most of the time would take away from the quality and depth of the music, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. With guests dropping in like Trey Anastasio (1/10/19). an element of musical exploration is added that you wouldn’t necessarily see with TAB or Phish for that matter.

These two guys trade grooves almost to the point where you would think Mr. Spock had a mind meld on them. But it isn’t just one groove that sustains an entire show. It’s a carefully coordinated mixture of movement from both of them that actually compliment each other throughout a show. Now granted, I am basing this on videos that I have seen on YouTube as well as recorded shows on archive.org and not only can you feel the intensity from the musicians, but the audience as well.

As luck would have it, they are playing tonight 3/21 in Port Chester, NY and I will not be able to attend the show. I would think, however, that with The Capitol Theatre’s close proximity to NYC, they may not be playing alone. And that would be a good thing.