Aristotle & the Excellent Lovers

Aristotle and the Excellent Lovers bring genre-crossing, fresh sound to Tri-State
By Justin McElroy

Long-time friends Aristotle Jones and Sam Lowe got their start as a duo, performing as "Aristotle and The Man." From that pairing grew "Aristotle and the Excellent Lovers," whose unorthodox groove has been a breath of fresh, funky air to the local music scene.

At the outset, even with only two members, Jones and Lowe wanted to be accepted as a group.

"We were just determined to be a band," said Jones, laughing. "We were like, alright, we’re a band. We’re this new band on the scene … and it was just the two of us."

Once they began to pad their roster, the band found acceptance a little easier to attain. The two brought in Farouk, a Florida drummer, in January. Last April, the band made its most recent addition, saxophonist Mark Grzyb.

The band was dubbed "Aristotle and The Excellent Lovers" as the result of a conversation that is sadly too blue for these pages. The group got its start as many do, playing open mics and honing their chops.

The sound that developed was a nontraditional amalgam of jazz, funk, rock and soul.

Some of the group’s favorite artists (Prince, Stevie Wonder) have blazed the genre-bending trail the group has set themselves on, though it’s not always the smoothest path for an unknown artist.

"This question gave us a hard time, actually," said Farouk. "As we were getting booked in clubs and bars. The first thing they ask is ‘What kind of music do you play?’ I know music is a science, by itself. There’s something called jazz, there’s something called blues, and none of our stuff is called anything like that. We call it maybe funk, or groove."

"It definitely leans towards the funky aspect," agreed Jones.

One of the nice things, the band has found, about not pigeonholing your genre, is that it allows the flexibility to do some untraditional covers, which soon became a trademark of the band.

Aristotle and the Excellent Lovers have been known to cover "No Woman, No Cry," "Come Together," and Nelly’s "Hot in Herre." Michael Jackson and even The Doors round but the eclectic covers their fans have come to expect.

The guys local gigs will lead to bigger things, but for now, the four talented musicians seem to be satisfied just getting together and creating a groove.

"We really enjoy what we’re doing, we enjoy the songs we pick, we enjoy one another," said Jones. "We all hang out together, we all hit the scene together. First of all, we’re friends, and that goes into it when we’re playing music."
- The Herald-Dispatch