LETTUCE - Move On Up / Express Yourself
Year Released:
2008 (from the album Rage!; pressed as a 7″ in 2025)
Genre:
Modern Funk / Retro Soul / Jazz-Funk
Description
This 7″ single captures Lettuce’s exceptional ability to reinterpret classic funk and soul with both reverence and fresh energy. A collective of highly trained musicians with deep roots in jazz, Lettuce injects vintage grooves with new vitality, drawing on decades of funk lineage.
“Move On Up” is a bold, exuberant reimagining of Curtis Mayfield’s anthem. The band retains the uplifting spirit of the original while bringing a heavier, more hard-hitting funk edge: blasting horns, lively percussion, and thick, warm bass. Everything is played with studio precision but radiates live energy.
“Express Yourself”, originally by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, becomes a joyous groove machine in Lettuce’s hands. Their version is deeply pocketed — drums crisp and steady, horns vibrant, and Hammond organ swirling — paying homage without ever sounding like a mere reproduction.
Vintage Production Aesthetic: Lettuce often record with analog gear, tube compressors, and classic microphone setups to achieve warmly saturated tones.
Horns: Their brass section is enormously tight, echoing 70s funk but with modern clarity.
Rhythm Section: Lettuce’s drummer Adam Deitch and bassist Erick Coomes lock into a perfect pocket, making both tracks dance-floor ready.
Lettuce formed in the mid-90s and grew into one of the premier modern funk ensembles. Their covers of “Move On Up” and “Express Yourself” reflect a deliberate effort to honor the lineage of funk while pushing it forward. On the Rage! album and the 7″ release, the band connects the past to the present — both as students of funk and as ambassadors introducing younger audiences to the classics.
The record also sits at a crossroads where live musicianship meets the aesthetics of sampling culture: precise drums, isolated horn hits, and clean grooves make these tracks attractive to breakhunters and beatmakers searching for new raw material that still feels authentically old-school.
Lettuce’s covers essentially provide “sample-ready” funk played in a contemporary studio, a goldmine for producers wanting fresh material that carries the soul of the past.
This 7″ is a vibrant celebration of funk history. Lettuce take two timeless soul anthems and rejuvenate them with exceptional musicianship, crisp production, and deep respect for the original artists. For DJs, funk collectors, and producers, Move On Up / Express Yourself is both a tribute and a toolkit — a record bursting with groove, heart, and musical craftsmanship.