Lettuce

The six-piece American band Lettuce played Milan last night at the Santeria Toscana 31, part of their European tour that kicked off in Zurich and will wrap up at Ronnie Scott’s in London—before heading on to Australia, Japan, and the U.S. Not bad for a jazz/funk outfit out of Boston that first got together back in 1992.

Lettuce are:
• Adam Deitch – Drums, Percussion
• Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff – Guitar
• Erick “Jesus” Coomes – Bass Guitar
• Ryan “Zoid” Zoidis – Alto, Baritone & Tenor Saxophones, Korg X-911
• Eric “Benny” Bloom – Trumpet, Horns
• Nigel Hall – Vocals, Hammond B-3, Rhodes, Clavinet, Keyboards

The first four are original members.

Like many jazz musicians, some of them pursue side projects, but together they’ve steadily built up a solid body of work. Their 2015 album Crush hit number one on the U.S. Jazz Album chart, and 2019’s Elevate was Grammy-nominated for Instrumental Album of the Year.

Their upcoming release, Cook—out later this year on their own Lettuce Records—promises to be more adventurous and exploratory than previous efforts.

I have a thing about band names and Lettuce isn’t the strongest name for a band (the “Let Us” pun is rather simple and perfunctory), but there’s no doubting the hard graft and meticulous attention to detail in their songwriting—and especially their playing. I was looking forward to hearing a truly live band, but one that might bring more energy and spontaneity to the stage than we’ve heard on record.

The Santeria hall is not too big, not too small and was fairly full—a younger crowd that quite surprised me maybe suggesting that live music may be edging its way back into focus amidst the dominance of rappers, trappers, tapes, and autotune.

They opened with “Larimar” off Elevate—a signature tune that sounds like it could score a 1970s American cop show. That framework repeated throughout the set, which became a bit trying, especially since vocals were used so sparingly. It’s a shame, because Nigel Hall has a fantastic voice, showcased beautifully on “Risin’ to the Top.” But there’s little attention paid to backing vocals, and the emphasis is squarely on the jam.

It’s good—but not great. There’s not quite the swing or grittiness that their heroes, like James Brown’s band or Tower of Power, delivered so effortlessly. That said, there were standout moments: “Silence Is Golden” brought a cooler acid-jazz vibe, while “Trapezoid,” with its dub/reggae rhythm and a standout trumpet solo from Benny, had a distinct, pleasing flavour.

Personally, I found the drums too high in the mix—so much so that I moved to the back of the hall for a better balance, which I don’t recall doing in years.

Still, the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves, beers in hand. The encore, a cover of the classic “Make It Funky,” ended the night on a high note.

Lettuce will be at Ronnie Scott’s on October 4th. They do switch up their setlist—which is endearing, especially in an era when many acts don’t bother. They’re definitely worth checking out live, though for me, it leaned a little too far into self-indulgence and not quite enough into fun.

Setlist:
Larimar
Chief
Silence Is Golden
Everything
Trap
Risin To The Top
Gold Tooth
Let The World Know 

Encore:
Make It Funky