Lettuce brings its jazz-funk masterclass to The Jefferson Theater on February 3.
Having a pair of Berklee College of Music-educated parents with two drum sets in the basement likely didn’t hurt Adam Deitch’s love of music—the drummer has been writing songs since he was 10 years old.
That early access to instruments—and wading through his parents’ record collection, replete with Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power albums—shaped the drummer and producer’s decades-long career as he’s bounded from funk and jazz to hip-hop.
Forming a relationship with the members of funk-jazz instrumental outfit Soulive fed into Deitch’s developing the band Lettuce, and he credits them for helping solidify the band early on, though he says Lettuce has become a sturdier, self-sustaining endeavor during the past decade.
Even as Deitch led Lettuce through a steady stream of self-produced recordings, he remained ensconced in a range of other projects. He’s toured with Wu Tang Clan’s GZA and recorded with an eponymous jazz quartet and an organ trio, Deitch Teitel Fribush, which issued its debut in 2025.
“For every project, I have my hand in a lot of the production,” the bandleader says, adding that each endeavor, regardless of genre, leads him back to Lettuce. “Every record that I do, it’s not like I just go in and play drums and leave. A lot of thought goes into it.”
Like Deitch, Lettuce has pulled from a tapestry of sounds as it’s developed: P-Funk is legion and New Orleans funk isn’t far behind, but the 2019 album Elevate included references to electronic music and hip-hop on opener “Trapezoid” and “Purple Cabbage,” respectively—the latter coming off like the backing track to a lost G-funk classic.
For the group’s latest studio album, Cook, Lettuce conceptually connected the recording to trumpeter Eric Bloom and saxophonist Ryan Zoidis’ wine company and partnered with Aquila Cellars to release two distinct blends of vino—a Crush Red and a Crush Orange coferment.
Like its earlier recordings, the ensemble wades through the history of instrumental funk and its related musics. Cook’s opener, “Grewt Up,” could be mistaken for a Daptone track, the stuttering horn line set up perfectly by bassist Erick Coomes and Deitch locking in and referencing go-go for just a split second. “7 Tribes” recalls slinky, Levantine efforts while still making certain to hit a truly heroic chorus. And seven tracks in, “Gold Tooth” cultivates a Funkadelic vibe while showcasing guitarist Adam Smirnoff’s wah-wah skills.
For those inclined to more laid back moments, “Storm Coming” and the closer, “Ghost of Yest,” make passing references to dub.
That wide berth isn’t an accident. As Deitch discusses a recent Lettuce collaboration with the Colorado Symphony, he details a love of string accompaniment, tossing out names of pertinent ’70s soul stalwarts and mentioning an unyielding respect for arranger David Axelrod, who worked with everyone from Cannonball Adderley to The Electric Prunes. His encyclopedic understanding of the music’s history started in the basement with his parents’ drum kits, moved through their funky record collection, and on to the stage.
“We’ve been dialing in our songwriting and getting the mixing process [down],” says Deitch reflecting on the band’s development, and specifically mentioning his work on Elevate as a time of notable studio advancement. “We’re just moving in the right direction and getting better at what we do.”
