5 Things You Should Know About Lettuce

1. They’ve gone from young music school students with a shared dream to one of the great funk bands of all time.
   First coming together as students at a summer program held at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1992, Lettuce began as a loose group of enthusiastic teen musicians united by their shared love of Earth, Wind and Fire, Sly Stone, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, and Tower of Power. As undergrads at Berklee, they became known for hitting up Boston venues for gigs with the insistent refrain of “Let us play!” — a rallying cry that gave the band its name and defined the determination and spirit that eventually earned them their place as a funk supergroup.
   The band regularly sells out major theaters all over the world and has released nine acclaimed albums over their 24-year history including their latest, Cook.
2. The members of Lettuce have built impressive careers as solo artists and collaborators.
   Founding members including drummer Adam Deitch, guitarist Adam Smirnoff, bassist Erick Coomes, and saxophonist Ryan Zoidis remain the backbone of the band, and while keyboardist Nigel Hall and trumpeter Eric Bloom are more “recent” additions, they’ve logged 20 and 15 years respectively. Deitch has performed with the likes of Les Claypool, Talib Kweli, and Ledisi, and is widely known for his work with guitar giant John Scofield’s Uberjam combo.
   Beyond Lettuce, Smirnoff’s resume includes recordings with Aaron Neville, Robin Thicke, and DJ Quik, while Coomes is a veteran of work with Quincy Jones, Eminem, Anthony Hamilton, and Dr. Dre.
   Zoidis was a member of Rustic Overtones and has contributed to recordings by Jon Cleary and The New Mastersounds, Hall’s credits include Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes, and Cha Wa, and Bloom has performed and recorded with Solange Knowles, Method Man, Dr. John, and Taj Mahal.
   A pair of former members, founding guitarist Eric Krasno and keyboardist Neal Evans, formed the wildly popular Soulive in 1999 with Evans’ brother Alan on drums — a band that regularly performed with Lettuce on tours dubbed The Royal Family Ball. Finally, former trumpeter Rashawn Ross is now a member of the Dave Matthews Band.
   Deitch will return to the Miner Auditorium stage with Scofield during SFJAZZ’s 2026-27 Season for the guitarist’s “Electrospective” performances highlighting his most popular funk material.
3. The band has made collaboration a signature part of their approach
   From their 2002 debut Outta Here, which included appearances by John Scofield and Parliament/Funkadelic trombone genius Fred Wesley, Lettuce has thrived on collaboration.
   Over the last quarter century, the band has performed and/or recorded with keyboardist Cory Henry, Chaka Khan, hip-hop luminaries GZA and Waka Flocka Flame, Ziggy Marley, Steel Pulse, Soul Rebels Brass Band, jam band extraordinaire Umphrey’s McGee, and shared the stage with Questlove, saxophone king Maceo Parker, and New Orleans legend Dr. John as part of the now-iconic Soul II Soul concert at Brooklyn Bowl in 2011. In 2025, band collaborated with the Colorado Symphony on reimagined symphonic versions of their signature compositions and joined veteran rapper Styles P for the single “Better Than Money.”
4. The band has a memorable history at SFJAZZ.
   From their March 2019 debut at SFJAZZ with guitarist John Scofield, the band has turned each SFJAZZ performance into a special event, and each has been a highlight of its season, turning the hall into a breathless dance party. This four-night run as part of Summer Sessions (7/16-19) takes things up a notch, bringing the relentlessly funky music from their new Lettuce Records release, Cook.
5. They’ve recently released a supremely funky new album.
   A true sensory experience featuring 16 tracks of rib-sticking funk, Cook is more than a reference to what the band does on stage — the album also represents the alchemy of a great group of chefs at work, utilizing various tasty ingredients to create a satisfying and harmonious whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Bringing elements of soul, jazz, rock, and hip-hop to their signature brand of funk, the band takes to heart the influence of recent tour mate GZA’s Wu-Tang Clan for the track “Storm’s Coming,” and moves in a decidedly old-school direction with “Clav It Your Way,” inspired by James Brown and his JBs. The Bay Area funk tradition gets a shout on “Keep On,” a tune co-written by and featuring Tower of Power founder Emilio Castillo on tenor saxophone, and “The Mac” honors funky saxophone great Maceo Parker, whose New Years Eve shows at SFJAZZ became a part of the organization’s DNA. Drummer Adam Deitch said of the album, “Music and food are very related. Use the wrong ingredients in either and you can ruin the sound and the meal.”
   We look forward to the feast.

Lettuce performs 7/16-19 as part of Summer Sessions. Tickets and more information are available here. The 7/17 performance will be broadcast at sfjazz.org as part of our Fridays Live series. Watch here.