House of Soul wants you to unplug your laptop and connect with people again – this time, on the dance floor. In an age when parties are started by pressing “play” on a MacBook, and partygoers are more often glued to their smartphones than to each other, House of Soul is remixing the concept of a dance party. House of Soul pulsates music like a DJ would – but with real instruments – to create a personal and intimate approach to making a crowd sweat. It’s the kind of music you’d hear at 2:00 a.m. at a loft party, at the U Street Music Hall or a Deep Sugar party in Baltimore. The band’s debut album, “Let’s Move,” draws on influences like Jamiroquai, Incognito and DJ Louis Vega, fusing house, funk and soul into groovy, uplifting jams.
House of Soul is the brainchild of veteran bassist and bandleader Matt Grason, a DC jazz veteran . Grason created the Motel project in 2007, bringing a NYC jazz-fusion quintet together with DC’s most talented freestyle MCs. With Motel, Grason produced his first commercial CD release, “Lost and Found.”
For this project, Grason drew on his love of DC’s dance music scene. Seeing the elation DJs brought to dark, humid rooms of dancers, Grason was inspired to create an even more intense music experience for listeners and dancers by bringing recorded tracks to life, literally. He assembled top-shelf jazz talent and crafted a band that can play just about anything. House of Soul uses the timing of a veteran DJ to hit the crowd at just the right moment to elevate everyone’s experience.
“My vision for the band is making dance music a more organic, collective experience by pulling back the curtain and showing people how it’s made, trying to draw the audience into the group,” says Grayson.
The band’s debut release is Grason’s second album as producer. He shares the writing credits with other band members, most notably with vocalist Rochelle Rice, who penned the lyrics for the sassy “Push It” and the classy “Forever be Free.” The album’s second track, “Choices,” penned by Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition winner saxophonist Jon Irabagon, is reminiscent of Jamiroquai’s music with Amel Larrieux’s voice.
“Every Day,” the lead song on the album, is a nod to the uplifting sounds and words of soul house music, weaving in themes of gratitude and recognition that this moment is all we have. It’s your morning dance mantra; have your coffee, put it on loud and prepare yourself for a great day.
“There’s a spiritual element to house music and dance that’s part of my inspiration this band. When I’m on a dance floor with hundreds of other people, all loving the sounds and sensations, I think it can be spiritual experience that doesn’t require a religious path. House of Soul is an opportunity to connect people through a shared love of music and getting down,” says Grason.
House of Soul’s “Let’s Move.” Put it on. Turn it up. Let’s move.
House of Soul ~ Every Day by OneLoveMassive
House of Soul ~ Let It Slide by OneLoveMassive
photo credit: Mouhamad Alem
