Features : Moe Flavour’s “Steppin Sauce” brings a jazz groove to the dance floor

Moe Flavour does jazz, its own version of jazz, but what they call it is not on the list of genres maintained by the streaming channels. Sometimes the choice is R&B and jazz or Neo jazz.

Smooth jazz, perhaps.

Or you can call it what Lawrence Ross and Bryne Donaldson call it: groove jazz, jazz to ride in whatever groove you’re vibing to at the moment.

“Steppin Sauce,” a swinging, easygoing number starring Bryne’s saxophone and Lawrence’s keyboards, was created for a particular groove.

“Moe Flavor has been together 15, 16 years, making original music, and, over time, we’ve created a style we call groove jazz,” said Lawrence, who is also the engineer and producer.

“The ideology behind it is, it’s about the groove.”

With a lot of the music they perform, they noticed the audiences dancing, “steppin through” in a style called Chicago steppers. The dance step is the star of the video.

“And when we created this song, we realized that this song fits that style of dance.”

“I’m really agreeing with everything he’s saying,” said Bryne. “We came up with this song with the idea of promoting it to that genre of the steppers, which is nationwide.”

Bryne and Lawrence are the core of Moe Flavour, once upon a time called simply Flavour, but with Moe added to distinguish themselves from other artists with flavor names.

It also indicates all the different flavors in their music. And, when the need arises for more musicians, they add moe.

Bryne noted that their fans, primarily in the Phoenix area but also in other venues around the country, covers a wide demographic, from middle-aged and older people down into youth.

“I think it’s because of the groove,” he said. “I think the groove unites people of all ages.”

“Our mission statement,” said Lawrence, “is ‘to inspire love and unite.’”

The groove of “Steppin Sauce” will either take the listener to the dance floor or off to a dance in the mind. It is musical comfort food for the feet or the soul.

“Our template was to create a feel and a groove that people could do their steppin moves to and do it fluently,” said Bryne. “That’s the thought we had behind the feel of the song.”

But in this song, steppin is definitely the sauce.

Which is another aspect of the Flavour name.

“We have a lot of songs based off of our name being Moe Flavour,” said Lawrence. There’s “Midnight Snack,” “Groove Thyme,” “Savory,” “Wings and Thangs,” “Mac and Cheese,” “More Soulfood,” “The Sweet Note” and more, as well as titles not food related.

“Love’s Tasty Flavour” combines the food metaphor with a strong R&B vibe.

Moe Flavour’s groove is all jazz, with everything people listen for in jazz — the variety of sound and the combinations of instruments and melodies, the sensation of riding a river through musical rapids, going wherever the music is going.

They have produced a variety of singles and three EPs, Food for Thought, Hungry for More, and Sunday Brunch with Flavour. Their single “Savory” reached high in the smooth jazz charts when it was released in 2015.

They have several local shows booked in the Phoenix-Glendale area, including the R&B and jazz festival in August, a monthly performance at the West Valley music venue and, every Sunday, a saxophone devotion show that has more than 35,000 followers.

Their schedule of performances is available on Moe Flavour’s website.

Bryne said two more tracks are coming out in the stepper-style of “Steppin Sauce” — “Mashed Potatoes” and “Gravy.”

“They’re both fantastic,” said Bryne. “They are badass songs, man! We’re ready to support ‘Steppin Sauce’ when we get a toehold with that one.”

Another song they have recorded to put out soon is “Because God Said No,” which Bryne said comes from gospel inspirations and has a gospel feel but which is not a gospel song.

“That one’s going to be closer to a smooth jazz type of situation,” he said.

Ride Moe Flavour’s groove on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.

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