Soul Funk'd Ape ft. Jun Iida

Soul Funk'd Ape returns to Salon No.10 with the high-voltage live set they are known for, joined by Japanese-American trumpeter Jun Iida as featured guest.

For a band built on the rhythmic backbone of funk and soul, adding a trumpet means reconfiguring the entire sound. Iida's tone is warm and full-bodied, shaped by a reverence to Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, and his 2024 debut album Evergreen on OA2 Records blends contemporary jazz, classical music and traditional Japanese elements into a single voice. What happens when that tone drops into the rhythmic and harmonic fabric Soul Funk'd Ape have woven together — that is exactly what this night is about.

About Soul Funk'd Ape

Soul Funk'd Ape is a Hong Kong-based contemporary jazz band known for its high-energy blend of jazz, funk and soul. The group grew out of the Carpio Brothers Quartet, formed in 2016; after years of touring and performing, its members chose to start afresh under a new identity in order to focus on writing and exploring original music, and Soul Funk'd Ape was born.

The current line-up is saxophonist Bernard Carpio, keyboardist Chris Carpio, bassist Jezrael Lucero, and Taiwanese drummer Fish Huang. Their music is bold and thoroughly modern, and their live shows are known for sheer explosive energy. In June 2023 the band released its debut album of original material, Birth of the Ape, a full statement of their signature vocabulary — deeply grooving basslines, intricate keyboard solos, muscular saxophone improvisation and richly layered drumming. Beyond the electric, funk-charged format, Soul Funk'd Ape also perform frequently in a stripped-down, fully acoustic setting, returning to the essence of jazz and showing off the depth of their improvisational craft and pure musicianship. In recent years they have established a distinctive and infectious sound within the Asian jazz scene.

About Jun Iida 

Born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jun Iida is a Japanese-American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader. His mother, a semi-professional koto player, was his earliest musical influence. He studied classical music at the Cleveland Institute of Music and went on to a double major in jazz and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University. His career spans Los Angeles, Seattle and New York, with performances at Tokyo's Pit Inn, Smalls Jazz Club, Blue Whale and SFJazz, and appearances at festivals including SXSW, PDX Jazz Fest and Earshot Jazz Festival. He has shared the stage with Takuya Kuroda, Anat Cohen and Deltron 3030. In January 2024 he released his debut solo album, Evergreen, on OA2 Records — featuring the Japanese children's song "Akatombo" and the anime theme "Shiki no Uta" — which earned him multiple Golden Ear Award nominations.