Live in Love Philip Lassiter

• 1 Make America Love Again 03:45
• 2 Poof 04:09
• 3 Sugar Coat Me 04:47
• 4 Take a Little Time 04:53
• 5 Light Me Up 05:36
• 6 Babayaga 04:33
• 7 Love Story 04:11
• 8 Repent 05:16
• 9 Root Chakra 03:57
• 10 Live in Love 06:00
• Total Runtime 47:07

Info for Live in Love

With Live in Love, trumpeter-composer-arranger Philip Lassiter mixes socio-political messaging ("Make America Love Again") with humorous, earthy storytelling ("Poof," "Suga Coat Me," "Root Chakra") and some forays into old school funk (the James Brown-inspired "Repent" and the P-Funk-ish "Love Story"). Along with detours into one-drop reggae ("Take a Little Time" and "Live in Love"), an eerie hoodoo number (the J Dilla-D'Angelo flavored "Babayaga") and a dreamy, romantic love song ("Light Me Up"), Lassiter's latest is a triumph of deep groove, swaggering horns and soul-stirring vocal performances by the likes of Jonathan Hoard, Mariah Meshae, Charles Jones, Durand Bernarr, Mackenzie, LaVance Colley, Munir Hossn, Elliott Yamin and Lassiter's wife Josje (aka Josephine Rojer).

The title track also features a vocal duet between Josje and 22x Latin Grammy-winning legend Juan Luis Guerra. On board for this ride into the funkosphere are fellow musicians; keyboardist David Paich (of Toto), bassist Mono Neon (of Prince), LEOPARD label mates keyboardist Bobby Sparks, drummer Robert "Sput" Searight and Mark Lettieri (all of Snarky Puppy), saxophonist Jeff Coffin (of Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and the Dave Matthews Band), label mate organist Ricky Peterson (of David Sanborn, Prince, and George Benson), drummer Nikki Glaspie (of Beyonce, Maceo Parker, and Dumpstaphunk) and string arranging genius Simon Novsky.

With one foot firmly planted in old school funk, Lassiter confidently strides somewhere else on each of the ten tracks of Live in Love. "You hear a lot of hip hop blended with jazz nowadays and also neo-soul blended with jazz," he said. "But, I don't know that I've heard a whole lot of large ensemble neo-soul/hip-hop/jazz. That's what we do."

Philip Lassiter

Philip Lassiter
Philip's contribution and relevance to the music industry are as diverse and celebrated as he is. The highlights of his impressive career include production and arranging work for seven GRAMMY winning projects with Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin in addition to working as section-leader, arranger and lead trumpeter for Prince. Lassiter is revered as a sought-after songwriter (SESAC) and Jazz musician whose talents earned him an endorsement with Cannonball Instruments and a recent record deal with GroundUP Records. Lassiter is also the musical genius behind the funk group Philthy.

Two decades of gospel, soul, R&B, funk, jazz and salsa sounds have served as a combined muse for Lassiter. Eight years in Dallas, TX brought these inspirations to life, and all the while under the wing of some of the most talented musicians and producers in the world. Bernard Wright, Bobby Sparks, Keith Anderson and many others opened new musical doors and further expanded his notoriety in the gospel and funk industry. As an arranger with multi-platinum artists including Prince, Fantasia, Kelly Rowland, Jill Scott, Roberta Flack, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Al Jarreau, Anthony Hamilton, Frankie Beverly, Ledisi, Regina Belle, Donald Lawrence and hundreds of others.

Several years in Nashville further diversified Lassiter’s musical portfolio. While there, he worked with the legendary producer Tommy Sims, performed and arranged the music of former Columbia Records country artist Shelly Fairchild, and performed in numerous awards shows such as the Dove Awards, The Stellars, and performed with My Morning Jacket at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. While in Nashville, Lassiter also formed his funk group Philthy. The talent Philip gathered for Philthy was representative of his working relationships with the best players and performers in both Nashville and New York. Based in DC, he currently leads an 11-piece horn section for Prince, with whom he tours internationally and in the U.S, and is preparing for his long-awaited album release of DreamZzz which is slated for June 10th, 2014.

This album contains no booklet.