Philip Lassiter

TEXT ALLEN SOVORY II

I was teased as a kid for being a band geek and playing trumpet — guitar, bass, and drums were the “cool” instruments. Everyone around me was into ‘80s rock. I don’t know what any of those people are doing now, but I felt pretty COOL playing with Prince.”

PHILIP LASSITER

If you don’t already know about Philip Lassiter and his band Philthy, you’re about to find out. First and foremost, we highly recommend that you see them live as soon as possible — it can only be described in one word: beyond. Beyond words, beyond hype, and beyond funky! Sir Lassiter has taken almost everything that he learned from his former boss, Prince, and packed it into 45 action-packed minutes that will (metaphorically) cut your head clean off. Once you experience Philthy’s hypnotic drum beats and Philip’s sexy quips (which fit seamlessly into arrangements of startling intricacy), you may find yourself asking “is this actually happening?” The answer is yes. It’s really happening! If you’ are awake and aware you will know that you are in the presence of a musical master.

I have been around and worked with some of the best musicians for most of my life, and I was thoroughly impressed with the first three quarters of the show. That said, it wasn’t until Philip revealed his secret weapon: his wife. The beautiful and talented Josephine — unmistakably the absolute centerpiece of the entire production, performing her new single, Got It Made (only ballad in the set), that I was absolutely blown away!. The setup, the timing, the way that that perfect moment caught me by surprise… it was pure genius!! It is very rare to hear the perfect match of a voice to a song… they nailed it!

After seeing Philip and Philthy on stage, I must admit, I became a bit obsessed with getting the inside scoop regarding who and what brought him to this level of excellence. So I called him up and asked him to share a bit about his background. What he shared was surprising. Philip, the son of a preacher, developed his musical foundation playing in the church, and seemed to be the only person within his immediate family to have a naturally musical disposition.

“My mother is really the reason why I’m playing music. She heard me tinkering on the piano at the age of five. I was playing ‘Amazing Grace’ with one finger. I sat next to her at church and listened to her sing alto. That’s how I learned to harmonize. I didn’t understand why most of my friends couldn’t do it. I didn’t grow up in a musical family but I was around music because we were in church three times a week. Once my mom discovered my musical talents she did everything she could to foster them. I started on piano but quickly gravitated to the horn. I hated my piano teachers and wanted to quit. My mom wouldn’t let me because she knew it was the grandfather of all instruments and was essential. She would drive me once a week over an hour to take lessons from a lady who could teach me to play chords and improvise. She used to tell me ‘you’re going to thank me one day for these piano lessons.’ She was right. it would be pretty difficult to be a musical arranger without an extensive knowledge of harmony on the piano.”

I’ll take this moment to personally thank Philip’s mom at this juncture, for today Philip’s contribution and relevance to the music industry are as diverse and celebrated as he is. The highlights of his impressive career range from production and arranging work for seven GRAMMY winning projects to working as section-leader, arranger, and lead trumpeter for some of the most gifted and famous artist on the world stage today. Lassiter’s songwriting and production skills have earned him an endorsement with Cannonball Instruments. As an arranger, he has worked with a host of musical luminaries including Prince, Fantasia, Kelly Rowland, Jill Scott, Roberta Flack, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Al Jarreau, Anthony Hamilton, Frankie Beverly, Ledisi, Regina Belle, Donald Lawrence, and many others.

It would be impossible to describe the bombastic brilliance of Philip and his band on stage, but if you’ve ever been present in a church service that just – took off you’ll appreciate this analogy… Philip is a minister whose religion is music. HIs piano: the pulpit. His horn players: the deacons. The background singers: the choir. And the rhythm section: sanctified! To stay in the loop about upcoming shows and releases, follow Philip, Philthy, and Josephine from the links provided on this page.