You could also read it as a recipe, the name of guitarist Adrian Reiter’s new trio project, which he now presented in the Unterfahrt: Take catchy but provocative melodic lines, add lots of funky grooves, tasteful voicings and casual ones Solos, and let all of this be served by an effects-laden guitar, a powerful drum set and a sometimes wobbling, sometimes hissing Hammond organ: that’s it Soul herb.
Of course, bandleader Reiter, who also wrote all the compositions, means something different and quite self-confident: We Krauts can also create the black sound from the sixties and seventies, as for Reiter, for example, the old Motown recordings, the Southern R’ n’B the meters or the neo-soul of Daptones represent.
Of course, no one has seriously doubted this for a long time. Also thanks to André Schwager, who for years has been at the top of the ranks of Hammond organ specialists – which has grown astonishingly with people like Barbara Dennerlein, Hansi Enzensperger and Matthias Bublath – and, in addition to his own trio, has also worked with Pee Wee Ellis or the Soulmates grooved. Or one (ex-Moop mom-)Drummer like Christoph Holzhauser, who is equally committed to the driving beats of soul and funk.
Reiter’s soul herb grown with this trio is still a very unique plant. Because a lot of things, from the phrasing to the harmonic ideas, emphasize the jazz background of the three. And because the pieces played publicly for the first time in the Unterfahrt – and mostly collected on the self-published album “Full Of Dreams” – are always based on Reiter’s experiences, experiences or emotions. “Green Odyssey,” for example, is a casual homage to Al Green. “Fiat Ritmo” gets its funk theme from the memory of a wrecked car that stood on his street for a long time when Reiter was a teenager. “Pardon My English” refers to an absurd barrier to communication during a stay in the USA and is – like Reiter’s moderation in the Unterfahrt – permeated by a quiet humor. So it’s a well-rounded thing, soul-jazz that puts you in a good mood.