The jazz tradition of re-interpreting the Beatles continues with Rubber Soulive, a new studio release by preeminent New York alt funk, soul and jazz trio Soulive that finds them putting their slinky groovin’ stamp on 11 songs produced by the Fab Four from 1965 to ’69. [Photo by Arthur Shim]
Guitarist Eric Krasno and brothers Alan and Neal Evans (on drums and keys, respectively) had toyed with the idea of recording some Beatles tunes for a while, and finally committed to doing it after performing an all-Beatles set on Halloween last year. Their decision conveniently coincided with the release of the Beatles’ entire re-mastered catalog, which they listened to on repeat even as they scoured the Beatles songbook and figured out what tracks to tackle. “We actually thought it was going to be a really easy thing to do and we’d end up with about 30 tunes and we’d cut and choose from there,” Neal Evans explained when I chatted with him by phone last week. “But basically, the songs that are on the album were the only ones that we recorded.”
“It was definitely a learning experience to really listen to the Beatles,” he continued. “It was the first time I ever critically listened to the songs, whether I was trying to figure out the production of what they were doing or how the songs were recorded.”
