Ministers of Soul

SOUL MEN SOUNDTRACK BAND DEBUTS AS “MINSTERS OF SOUL” Studio Hit-makers Join New Soul-Funk-70s Super Group

LOS ANGELES (November 14) – In the new film SOUL MEN (Dimension/MGM) starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac and the late Isaac Hayes, estranged former band mates take to the road bringing their Stax-era sound with them.

When producer/arranger/pianist Raymond Jones (Chic, Jeffrey Osborne, Whitney Houston, Talking Heads) assembled the musicians to record the film’s soundtrack, he realized this powerhouse unit needed to be heard on its own, too.

So, he blessed the studio clan with the name Ministers of Soul as the elder statesmen and shamen of the soul genre that still propels popular music today with the likes of Amy Winehouse, Raphael Saadiq and Sharon King & The Daptones celebrating that era’s seminal style.

The Ministers of Soul will be holding service and performing music of the soul and funk music eras of the late ’60′s, 70′s, as well as some of the massive hits they have written and performed, at their debut at the legendary Los Angeles mecca the Catalina Jazz Club on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., located at 6725 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, 90028. Admission is $15 (plus two-drink minimum or food).

The band members are a conclave of veteran studio and touring musicians who have played on over 100 million records like “Good Times”,” We Are Family”, “Forget Me Nots”, “Stay With Me Tonight”, and a repertoire of hits and underground classics from the works of Kool and the Gang, Cymande, Betty Davis, Ann Peebles, Albert King, Jimi Hendrix, Isaac Hayes, Chic, Average White Band, Stevie Wonder (circa mid-seventies before he called to say, “I Love You”) and Jeffrey Osborne.

Ministers of Soul features Raymond Jones on keyboards, bassist Freddie Washington (Steely Dan, Patrice Rushen), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee drummer Steve Ferrone (Average White Band, Tom Petty), guitarist/vocalist Randy Hall (Ray Parker, Miles Davis), guitarist Fred Clark (Isaac Hayes, Teena Marie,), keyboardist Hense Powell (Bobby Womack, Bloodstone,) and vocalist Will Wheaton (Michael Jackson, Anastacia,), along with an all-star horn section. The Ministers of Soul will be recording a collective studio album with new material but in the old reliable soulful style that defines the group to be released in 2009. For more information please go to www.ministersofsoul.com and www.uegmusic.com