Album Notes

The Natural Selection is the band’s new self-titled album that pumps out infectious grooves like hot cakes. The young, soulful funk band brings a bright musical light to the city of St. Louis with this new release. The band fuses the driving rhythms of funk and soul with the melodic palette of jazz to create a rich blend of modern music. Basically, if Stevie Wonder and D’angelo met on a street corner and then a spaceship of intergalactic funk crashed on top of them: you’d get The Natural Selection.
Working on their new release provided opportunities for the band to expand their song writing abilities. “We realized we want to make music that gives our listeners a fresh and funky slap in the face.” The band teamed up with Chris Thaw (who has opened for Herbie Hancock) to write the arrangements for horns and strings. The album’s up-tempo grooves and inventive rhythms draw on the influences of Sly and the Family Stone, The Meters, and the Average White Band.
The Natural Selection was formed in St. Louis when singer/songwriter Samuel Glover and guitarist Ivar Rodriguez came together to write their third album. The duo had previously used studio musicians for their recordings but bassist Nick Jost, who gigs with top jazz musicians in St. Louis, became interested in the group by hearing their new music. “Nick immediately fit into the group’s dynamic, we felt as though he was on the same page as us musically. And Nick knew a drummer, Alfonzo Jones, who he thought would be perfect for the group.” Alfonzo grooves like a young Dennis Chambers in the divinity of Parliament.