Soulive, "get Down!"

Just a few short years before Soulive stoked the crowds at Bonnaroo, turned in those intoxicating early morning sets at Jazz Fest, collaborated with the likes of John Scofield and Dave Matthews, and trotted the globe, the group's three founding members got together and recorded on a whim.

The results are heard on the first five tracks of "Get Down!," a disc which augments material from that impromptu March 1999 session at the Woodstock, N.Y.-area home studio of drummer Alan Evans and his brother, B-3 organist Neal, with two songs recorded live three months later at the Izzy Bar in Manhattan. The bonus cuts were culled from audience tapes.

The sound, courtesy of a pair of mics and an ADAT machine (and whatever the fans used for the concert recordings), isn't as full or rich as what's heard on the group's Velour debut or subsequent Blue Note releases. But "Get Down!" does demonstrate how potent these musicians' chemistry was from the start. Indeed, the mojo exhibited by Alan (ex-Greyboy Allstars), Neal (former Jaki Byard student), and Eric Krasno (ex-Lettuce) was evident from day one.

The CD also offers glimpses at the early versions of favorite tunes reborn on later albums. "So Live!" is all appealing start-and-stop riffing and rolling grooves; "Uncle Junior" is a deep-funk blues with a catchy guitar/organ melody; and "Cash's Dream" feels like vintage R&B spiked with jazzy twists and interludes. Live during the summer of 1999, they were even more tight and righteous, as evidenced by extended funk meltdowns "Brother Soul" and "Right On."

Soulive's approach -- mixing organ-trio jazz in the mold of Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, and Jimmy McGriff with fresh funk and hip-hop grooves, and tying everything together with sophisticated arrangements -- may not be particularly revolutionary. But it's darn fresh sounding, and it has clearly been viable from the beginning.