Lettuce began in the summer of 1992, when all of its members attended a music program at
Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts as teenagers. Brought together by the influence of various funk bands including
Herbie Hancock,
Earth, Wind and Fire, and
Tower of Power, the band jammed throughout that summer before going their separate ways. In the fall of 1994, the band reconvened as undergrads at Berklee and attempted to play at various Boston jazz clubs, walking in and asking the club owners and other musicians if they would "let us play", giving birth to the name Lettuce. Michael Butler played keyboards with the band early on and then Jeff Bhasker took on the role. When he left, Neal Evans joined. Mainly from word of mouth, Lettuce developed strong followings in
New York City,
San Francisco,
Chicago, and
Tokyo. They released their first CD,
Outta Here, in 2002, followed by their
Live in Tokyo album recorded at the
Blue Note in 2003. In 2008, Lettuce released their second album, entitled
Rage!. Drawing heavily from many of the leaders of the 1970s funk movement,
Rage! features covers of
Curtis Mayfield's "
Move on Up" and
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's "
Express Yourself". In 2011, Lettuce played on the Royal Family Ball tour with their brother band,
Soulive, and was accompanied at select shows by
Rashawn Ross of the
Dave Matthews Band. During this tour, they began playing new songs that would be featured on the band's next album,
Fly!, in 2012. Many of Lettuce's members have had success in other areas of the music industry. Krasno and Evans are members of the jazz/organ trio Soulive. Zoidis is a former and founding member of the
Rustic Overtones. Coomes is a session bass player and has toured with
Britney Spears and
The Game. Deitch is a producer who also plays with Break Science, and he has worked with
John Scofield and
Wyclef Jean. Smirnoff has toured with
Lady Gaga and
Robert Randolph and the Family Band. In addition to playing with Lettuce, Ross has been a full-time member of the Dave Matthews Band since 2010. Lettuce played with the
Soul Rebels Brass Band on Jam Cruise 2013. The band's album
Crush was released in November 2015 and reached number one on the U.S.
Jazz Albums chart. In 2020, Lettuce's album
Elevate was nominated for a
Grammy for
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. ==Band members==