Jazz Funk Soul

Jazz Funk Soul is a trio that started in 2014, when saxophonist Everette Harp, keyboardist Jeff Lorber and the late guitarist Chuck Loeb collaborated on a record (“Jazz Funk Soul”), which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The three went on to tour and record another album, “More Serious Business” (2016).

After Loeb passed in 2017, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. joined Harp and Lorber to continue as Jazz Funk Soul. They have released “Life and Times” (2019) and “Forecast” (2022).

For this special double-header concert, Raul Midon, the amazing guitarist/singer/songwriter, will kick off the evening before Jazz Funk Soul takes the stage.

Everette Harp grew up with gospel music; his father was a minister and his mother an organist. He learned sax in Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and at North Texas State University. Then, after playing in local bands, he moved to Los Angeles, toured with Teena Marie and Anita Baker, and joined George Duke and his band, 101 North, in a project for Capitol Records.

Duke produced Harp’s first eponymous solo album on Blue Note in 1992, the first of nine. Harp has worked with many well-known artists, including Stanley Clarke, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, and Dianne Reeves.

Jeff Lorber, whose latest solo album is “Space-Time” (2022), was a Fender Rhodes pioneer and has been one of the most in-demand producers in contemporary jazz. His band, Jeff Lorber Fusion, formed in 1977, won a Grammy for their 2018 album, “Prototype,” after six previous nominations. Originally from Cheltenham (PA), the Berklee grad also studied chemistry at Boston University.

Paul Jackson Jr., known in the business as “the guitarist who can play anything,” grew up playing in local bands around L.A. and became one of the most prolific guitarists of the ‘70s and ‘80s. He recorded with a mile-long list of luminaries, including Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Stan Getz, and Barbra Streisand. He appeared in a special performance at the White House during Barack Obama’s presidency; on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno; and at the Academy Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors. He has scored movies and written music for television, and has released eight albums, most recently “Life and Times” (2019).

Raul Midón, from New Mexico, has been blind from birth, but that never stopped him from becoming a successful touring and recording musician who is known for his sense of humor.

An alumnus of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, Midón worked as a session singer for Shakira, Julio Iglesias, and Jose Feliciano, and toured with Shakira. He has recorded with Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers, and has built his own home production studio so he can supply tracks for collaborators.

His debut album, “State of Mind” (2005), was the first of 11. He received Grammy nominations for “Bad Ass and Blind,” “If You Really Want” and, in 2020, “The Mirror.”