Praise for Out to Lunch
“A distinctive brand of funk…expanding the range of the listener’s experience.” —Billboard Magazine
“Bandleader David Levy (woodwinds and electronics) translates his enthusiasm for James Brown’s rhythmic genius and Eric Dolphy’s improvisational acumen into this ambitious and funky groove-prov octet. Funk, jazz, gospel, and dub bounce smartly around the room on the Lunch’s highly enjoyable new Excuse Me While I Do the Boogaloo.” —Village Voice
“New York group Out to Lunch refuses to accept that there are no new ideas left for 21st-century jazz musicians. On their second album, the band – part of the sizzling scene surrounding New York City musical hotbed Nublu — brings forth a percolating blend of funk riffs, hip-hop beats, post-bop jazz chops, and dashes of dub and electronica production techniques.” — LimeWire
“Levy’s soloing on bass clarinet, sax and bansuri flute is accomplished and compelling, while his deft use of Ableton Live elevates this from being latter-day Weather Report.” —Exclaim Magazine
“Percolating instrumental Jazz from this international collective that simply nails the space between smooth night grooves and sophisticated flights of funk.” — The Pulse
“The entire disc is brimming with great tunes, but the ones getting the most love from my stereo are “Maudlin’s Eleven,”… and “Jerome the Negligent Nanny.” The honest, improvised feel of “Jerome” captures the heart of Excuse Me. If they continue to play with the quality displayed on Excuse Me, Out to Lunch will be back to work in no time.” —Jambase
“Out to Lunch features…a very danceable sound that still manages to break new musical ground. Perfect for a hot summer night at the coolest club in Prague.” —The Prague Post
“Levy leads this extraordinary exploratory improvisational funk-rock band from their base in NYC…Out To Lunch create an entirely unique signature sound by fusing a full horn section with the band’s rhythm section, and crossing their organic instrumentation with live electronica. Melvin’s Rockpile feeds listeners improvisational imagination with electric post-bop meets jazz-funk energy while continuously challenging the listeners aesthetic sensibility and captivating a cross-culture of audiences everywhere.” —All About Jazz
“The people in this band know how to play, explore, and then move deeper, as deep as Atlantis will allow. It’s moving, grooving, exciting and surprising at the same time. You know you’re listening to an album with substance, but then it moves you deeper than you expected, and you can’t help but take another breath to swim through its depths.” —Music for America
“The material on Melvin’s Rockpile is perhaps best described as electric post-bop meets jazz-funk meets the mildly avant-garde. Listeners… should have an easy time getting into Melvin’s Rockpile.” —All Music
“Interesting mix of free jazz and funk groove” —Jazz Prospecting
“[Excuse Me While I Do the Boogaloo features] a melodically balanced mix between avant jazz, meshed genres and funky bounce. Boogaloo’s dynamic diversity is…a seamless DJ-style mix of musical Americana (and Caribbeanna), stretching from the ambient jazz house of “Sebbie Says” to the sinewy dub-wise klezmer fusion of “Maudlin’s Eleven.”— Exclaim Magazine
“Out To Lunch’s sound is dizzying in scope, playful in execution, and always close enough to their funk/ back-beat foundation to inspire pelvic-heavy dance…this album is a unique musical statement from a band of accomplished and talented players.” — Beyond Race Magazine
“Jammy local funk-jazz” —Time Out New York
“Out to Lunch frontman David Levy leads a crack ensemble that features stellar keyboard playing from Eric Lane, who stands out on every song he solos in. What starts out as a James Brown-influenced funk outfit takes interesting turns into breakbeat grooves that touch on jazz, house, dub reggae, Latin and beyond. From the straight-ahead groove of “The Good Doctor” through the acid-trip soundtrack of “Maudlin’s Eleven,” OTL’s accessible grooves will keep your brain and booty equally engaged. A funky thumbs up to OTL’s original and extraordinary debut.”—Keyboard Magazine
“Out to Lunch is a mix of addictive jazz melodies…I think Third ‘N Otis caught my attention the most… but all tracks are superb.” —nonmainstreamreviews.com
“It’s fun and funky, danceable yet from the jazz perspective, truly a heady hybrid, combining improv jazz and electronica. It’s infectious and fun instrumental music with roots in very serious musical theory.”—View Magazine
“With Dolphy’s high standards in mind, and a yen for the dance music of James Brown, Levy founded Out to Lunch. There’s two elements, one is groove-oriented music, and the other is improvisation, and they’re both there.” —Relix Magazine
“The music has that big James Brown bottom end but overtop is horn and reed work steeped in modern jazz tradition and monster Hammond organ runs.” — The Hamilton Spectator
“[Out to Lunch] mix their trained chops and fervidly creative flights (on horns, reeds, keyboards, acoustic and electric basses, drums, electronics, and guest guitars, vocals, and samples) into old-school funk, old-fashioned organ-driven soul-jazz, new-fangled spacey dub, polyrhythmic Latin jazz, New Orleans, klezmer electronica, and electric-period Miles Davis. Yes, the music is that breathless…Levy and engineer Kris Smith deliver rich, detailed sonics that bring out the natural warmth, precision, and decay of the acoustic instruments while adding ambiences that are…aurally pleasing. —The Absolute Sound
“A little funky, a little soulful, a little electronica, a little jazzy = a lotta diversity and groove.” —Last.FM
“Their sound is groovy and danceable, while also giving a new meaning to what you might think of as traditional jazz.” —Aquarian Magazine
“David Levy (clarinet & sax) leads a freewheeling band through a mash-up of classic funk, improvisational jazz, electronica and a bunch of other things. Hard to pin down, but it’s a fun ride.” — zookeeper.stanford.edu
“Out to Lunch are very skilled musicians…the music is tight, well done and all around plain good.” — Hot Indie News
“Out to Lunch’s songs are like snow flakes, each one is different, and once in a while they give you goose bumps.” — CJN
“For some tasty funk-infused jazz, check out the NYC based Out to Lunch. They pulled their title from a 1964 album of the same name by the late great Eric Dolphy, and they do the man some justice.” — Play/Pause 2.0
