Detroit-born and New Orleans-based guitarist, Ari Teitel, has been steadily gaining a name for himself in the funk and soul scene since he was eleven, when he first sat in with Robert Randolph at the Michigan Theatre. A little over a decade later and Teitel continues on with his fruitful professional music career, known for his versatility and his skilled playing in genres ranging from jazz to funk to country, folk, gospel, R&B and more and having shared the stage with the likes of Joe Dart and Antwaun Stanley of Vulfpeck, Roosevelt Collier, Lettuce’s Eric “Benny” Bloom, and more.
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2017 marks another chapter in Teitel’s career, however, with the guitarist debuting his first album as a bandleader. This studio effort has been titled, Unteiteled, which contains eight originals performed by Teitel as well as Skeeto Valdez (drums; Trey Anastasio Band), Paul Randolph (bass/vocals; Jazzanova), and Phil Hale (Hammond Organ/Rhodes; Thornetta Davis Band). As Teitel describes, “It contains all original material, and I’d definitely say it’s a soul record, if I had to pick one word to describe it. What will make it unique is that we’re recording to tape, which a lot of people don’t do any more. We’ll record it all in the same room, at the same time, to capture as much energy as possible.”
The project debuted last week at New Orleans’ The Maple Leaf bar, tapping special guests Terence Higgins (Warren Haynes, Ani DiFranco), Ron Johnson (Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes) and Donnie Sundal (Boukou Groove) for the gig. Live For Live Music is proud to present Ari Teitel’s “Take A Walk,” which you can listen to below, off his debut album, Unteiteled. For more information on this upcoming artist, head over to his website here.