Nigel Hall here, Reporting live from Bangor. I have a few things I wanna say. There was a time in our history where some of us would have to run away to be free. That mentality has been passed down from generation to generation and has affected us in such an overwhelming manner, that we are programed to think that way. For example, the rate of black women as single mothers is STILL through the roof. Drugs and Alcohol has infested our communities, still. We are still killing ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically. We have a lot of work to do. Let’s not forget that! Let’s make big moves! OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 2’s First Rehearsal

Nigel on the Moog.

So I started raging in Boston @ Wally’s, a legendary jazz club, got to play with some good friends of mine and it was really cool. I love that place. That place is the VIBE capital of the Northeast. Good lil’ rage. The next day I travelled to NYC to meet up with Kraz for “Chapter II” gigs and rehursals. We had some moments man!!! Damn!!! This is a BAD ASS band. Louis Cato is the baddest musician ever. He is very uncool. You will soon be made aware of his genius if you haven’t already. My last blog I said That he was the vice president of the “not right” club. CORRECTION: He is the president, the vice president, CEO, Janitor… he IS the not right club.

So we did a ton of gigs. Here’s The Lowdown…

Sullivan Hall

This gig was kind of a revisit to New Orleans. Due to some of my new friends from Jazz Fest being there. Kofi Burbridge, who is a cat who I’m just finding out we both grew up in the same part of D.C. within a block of each other. Hence us bonding the way we have in the last couple of weeks. We did a Spectacular version on Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Can’t Hide Love” and he just “murdlized” so hard!!!! He is an incredible person with a vibe that is out of this world. He said to me, “… in the end, that’s all we have left, is the vibe.” And that’s the stone cold truth, ruth. We also had an awesome time @ the Blender Theater and in Florida (which we will talk about later). My long lost brother, Ian Neville and Uncle Ivan came through and Ivan sat in with us and played Organ and Clavinet while I watched him FULLY kill it! He’s another cat who is just so gangsta. It’s that New Orleans MOJO. They are both great! The baddest at what they do, as they should be. They come from one of the most prestigious musical families in the WORLD!!!! And Lastly, DEREK TRUCKS who, again, comes from one of those families where music is the core. He is an awesome cat! He totally rips guitar (clearly) and he’s got a vibe!!! He’s really cool and I hope to play with him MANY times in the future. I hope he’ll teach me some of those licks he plays so I can SING them.

Derek Trucks w/ Chapter 2

Kofi Burbridge

Louis Cato

Ivan Neville

Deitch.

Blender Theater

The BIGGEST place I’ve ever played! I was so Nervous!!! But once again, Kraz, Deitch, and Louis have a way of keeping me calm, cool and collective, so It wasn’t too, too bad. Derek and his crew were also very helpful. Kofi was kind enough to let me use his Hammond b-3 and Clavinet and let me tell you, I WAS IN HEAVEN!!!! That thing was SO COOL!!! Once again he came up and sat in as he did the previous night and it was beautiful. I can’t even begin to tell you how honored I felt to be able to play with him, not to mention, everyone else I play with. Remember, I am a fan of each one of these people individualy and in group. Kraz, Deitch, Louis, Neal, Sam, Derek, Kofi, Al, Neal, everybody!!! It’s to crazy to get into. Anyway, at the end of Derek’s set, we got to go up and sit in with them and it was SUPER CATFEST ‘08. We had the biggest Jam EVER… Those guys are great and if they are reading this, I wanna thank you guys for giving me (us) the chance to hang, meet and play with you guys and I hope we do it again REALLY SOON!!!

Louis “Not Fair” Cato

The Blender Theatre Stage

I know I mentioned Florida Earlier, But that’s a whole ‘nother blog. You guys will have to stay tuned to find out…

Here’s a clue though… Knots, Rings and Crown Royal…

That’s all for now.

See you guys down the road

PS: Special Thanks to the Bear Creek Staff for all their help and a VERY special thanks to the following people: Saira Anderson, Joy Clayton, Rev. Steve Baxter and Eric Krasno (VC)

Keep It Up Here!!!!!

Nigel

Hey everyone,

Just finished a session with Trikuti out of NYC.  These guys are really down to earth cats and man they came ready to rock.  This was an old school session, one tune, one day, one great hang.  They put together a video for the tune so check it out and check these cats when they are in your area, you’ll definitely have a great time! 

Al

Trikuti - Ocean Of Grace

VOOOODOOO!!  Nawlins’ is the cradle of Funk Civilization!  I took a break from workin on my record, as well as with Matisyahu, Kweli, Res, and Bajah, to come to Voodoo Fest. It was incredible…It kicked off with my band Dr. Claw.  We had a hit at Tips’ in the Quarter at midnite on Thurs., Ivan Neville was complainin bout how Tips’ uptown is the REAL Tips’ and that he was worried that people wouldn’t show up.  Thankfully he was wrong and people showed up(whew)… We hit hit on some random Herbie song from Manchild to start off.  Just showed it to the cats at soundcheck and it was ROLLIN!  Dope versions of “Manic Depression”, “God Made Me Funky”, and “Same Thing” (Sly) also went down.  Nick Daniels is THE KILLA! He reps this city to the fullest.

I actually hit the Voodoo Fest this year as opposed to sleepin all day to prepare for my laaaate nite shows.  First, me and Kraz hit up Big SAM’s set and rocked out party style.  Big shout to Sam’s Crew for lettin’ us sit in.  After that I ran over to my Haitian brother Wyclef Jean’s show.  He was in full crowd control mode as usual, I gave errybody hugs and got shouted out to go on stage for the “Carnival” finale.  Jerry Wonder (bass player and producer of most of Clef’s biggest songs) was smilin’ and jumpin up and down when i got on drums (the happiest millionaire I know).  The whole band and crew are like my surrogate family.  Love and prosperity to them.  Also, saw the great Russ Batiste play with Leo Nocentelli (Meters) and Nick Daniels on bass as well as Big Chief Donald Harrison on sax.  THAT was a BAND…Too much Funk…HEY NA NA is my song!  After that we bolted to the gig with Marco Benevento and Kirk Joseph..  Any gig with Marco is always an adventure.  Dude is happier than most people!  Like a Dalai Lama type vibe.  Kirk repped his city by keepin the music groovin before it headed to outer space (thank goodness).  Props to Kirk and Marco.

I ended up playin a late nite haitian Kompas (com-pah) set on piano at my boy Dino’s b-day party later that nite too!  The party was vibin!  Peace to Dino and Fam….

Next day fest hi lite was Dumptstaphunk - TOO ILL!   they got this song called “Put in the Dumpsta” and the whole crowd was yellin it!  Shout out to them!  Last nite I played with Nawlins’ guitar legend Walter “Wolfman” Washington at the Maple Leaf.  Dude’s rhythm playing is FONKY…BTW.

And finally, the FOOOOOD!   Alligator poboys, oysters, gumbo, fried chicken, breadpudding, crab shrimp eggplant thang.  Whew!  Amazing…Thanks to Kim and Tim for lettin the musicians chill out at their crib..

Off to the airport…..Till’ the next episode…AD
(pictures from Dr. Claw below)

Yooooooooooooo!

  What up everybody? Nigel Hall here, reporting live from sunny Bangor, Maine. I have had a very busy couple of months. I think the last time I blogged, I was in Newport, Rhode Island at the jazz festival. I wanted to meet Herbie. Well, I DID! And it was one of the most amazing things ever to happen to me (next to witnessing child birth). It was awesome. You really can see why his music is so beautiful. Because he’s a beautiful person. He was very nice to me and appreciated that his image was being kept. So Herbie, If you’re reading this, thank you very much for the chance to shake your hand. I haven’t washed it yet.

   So, a lot has happened since then. I just started a new gig with some old friends of mine in Portland, Maine called “Rustic Overtones” as the new keyboard player. It’s so awesome because I get to actually play my instrument first. I think that I’ve shared with you all that I’m a keyboard player first. So I really get to “Duke”-out and it’s a lot of fun. We’re writing a whole bunch of new tunes and doing an album together and we’re having a blast. I also am playing keys in a band with Mr. Krasno called “Chapter 2″ with Deitch and my good friend from my Wally’s days, Louis Cato (vice president of the NOT RIGHT club for musicians). I’m the president, self proclaimed of course. We’re playing our first gig on the 6th of Nov. at Sullivan Hall in NYC. FULL RAGE!!!

    I’ve also been working on my album as much as I can, due to my hectic schedule. It’s comin’ right along.

   I went to North Carolina not to long and did a show with Lettuce which was (as always) a ton of fun. I got to meet another one of my heroes, Mr. Ahmir Thompson, you may know him as the almighty brother ?uestion. It was awesome. 

   So that’s really it… 

I’ll catch up with you guys down the road…

Rage
Nigel

Kraz

3 days at Playonbrother Studios and the new Soulive album is half done.  This has been the best recording session in Soulive history, hands down!  We have been in there writing, vibing, recording and mixing some new tunes that are the culmination of our 10 years together.  After the first session was finished we left the studio for a weekend of shows in Boston and Portland.  We rocked the new tunes in the van on repeat the whole weekend. We really think that everyone from the oldest of the old school to the brand new Soulive fan is going to have the same experience.  Stay tuned for more pics, video, and music from these sessions.

Hope all is well,

Al

Soulive @ the Newport Jazz Festival!  NPR inked us up and posted a set of 7 live tunes featuring the legendary trombonist, Fred Wesley.  Anthony Hamilton also dropped in to put his touch to the Soulive set.  LISTEN NOW!

A BIG thanks to everyone who came out to The Royal Family Ball in NYC on friday night.  For those of you who enjoy hard funk & soul, this was quite the occasion.  On the bill - Soulive & Lettuce attracting a SOLD OUT crowd to a new venue for us here in New York.  Lettuce had special guest “Bobby Deitch” drop by to play percussion with his funky drummin’ son “Adam Deitch”.  Here are a few pics from this past weekends event.

Lettuce sets the mood for the full evening of music!

Neal Evans assists Adam Deitch!

Soulive closes out the event with a variety of fan favorites.

Hey Ya’ll!

Ok. So The past few weeks, I’ve been SUPER busy touring with one of my favorite bands, Lettuce. These guys are wonderful! You know, they’ve been very generous to me, as far as welcoming me into their circle with open arms because they know what I’m capable of. Also, I have the same mind that they do. To go up and kill it every time! If any of those guys are reading this (which I assume they will at some point), Thank you. Let’s Make History!!!

Now that we got that out of the way, Let’s Talk about what’s been goin’ on.

As you may have seen in recent pictures posted by the great Zach Denis, Lettuce whet out to the west coast to Hollywood, CA and 2 Sold out shows in San Fransisco, CA. It was the greatest time of my life!

(NOTE: you will, without a doubt, hear me say that at least 2 more times during this blog)

Hollywood was so cool because… well, it’s Hollywood, man! Palm trees, celebrities, nice weather, Flint Industries, what more could any man ask for? The crowd was so welcoming and into it that it made me feel really good! I love L.A. So any west coasters out there, We’ll be back sooner than later. Count on it.

San Fran was cool. I mean COOL! Right on the bay, really windy, I got a little snotty to be exact. Not what I expected from California, However, It was awesome!!! Sold out crowd who loves Lettuce, 2 nights in a row! Can’t beat that. Just good vibes all around! I love you S.F.!!!

After S.F., The guys went to Japan. I did not join them due to some complications with my passport but mark my words… I’M COMING TO JAPAN, so don’t you worry. Instead, I went to my native homeland (warzone) Washington D.C. to visit some family and friends and have some alone time for myself. It was a much needed trip. I must say, that the whole trip was a learning experience and I’m glad I went, but I don’t see myself going back anytime soon, Unless of course we end up playing down there which I hear is happening soon.

When the guys got back, we played in NYC (another one of my favorite places) on a BOAT! Don’t like boats! But this one was an exception. This was a RAGE-BOAT and it was fully RAGING! NY knows how to do it! The next night I went to another cool place that I go to quite often to jam with some good friends of mine, BOSTON. Guess what? We played on another BOAT! Dude, I CANT SWIM! Why are we on these boats? Shmeeans (Adam Smirnoff) Kept telling me that there was sharks in the water, which I knew was false… or was it? Guess we’ll never know.

So after Boston, I got to get down in my home state, MAINE, bub! It was a lot of fun! Some of my really good friends were there, people who were from the city I live in and other places. Tons of fun. Maine showed me so much love, because it’s where I started. I LOVE MAINE!!! I thought I’d never say that, but there it is.

Lastly, I am currently in Newport, Rhode”s” Island at the Legendary Newport Jazz Festival!!! Today I got to meet Wayne Shorter (Legendary saxophonist, Weather Report), Dave Holland (Legendary Bassist, Miles Davis) I got to witness the most Legendary Aretha Franklin up close and personal, I made a new best friend, The beautiful Sai Smith (I hope I spelled her name right). She’s the most awesome singer I ever heard and she’s also from DC. Turns out, we went to school right down the street from each other. Small world! Last, but not least, I got to do something today I’ve been waiting my whole life to do. I got to play with the Legendary Fred Wesley (trombonist, James Brown) and I got to say ” FRED! FRED!” and he was so cool, man! Today was the GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! But I’m sure I’ll say that tomorrow after I see Soulive and Herbie Hancock, Who knows? I may even get to meet Herbie, or even better, Neal Evans…

Tune in Next Week as Nigel attempts to plat the Wurlitzer Piano with his feet!!!!

Rage
Nig

Attention Royal Family!!!  We’ve just returned from an amazing experience in Tokyo, Japan.  This trip was a range of all emotions.  We have a deep appreciation for Japan, its people and its rich culture.  Soulive performed for 4 nights at the Blue Note to an incredible crowd totaling 8 shows! Make sure you order a “Rajito” from the drink menu next time you’re at The Blue Note Tokyo.