The members of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions first met at a Tokyo club event in 2001. The group itself is more jazz based, but mix their 60s jazz influences with modern club music sensibilities, somewhat recalling the acid jazz scene of the 90s. The group however is less laidback that most the acid jazz ilk, and perhaps more closely resembles the jazz tinged funk of Tower of Power. Another way to see Soil & "Pimp", would be to note them as the culmination of a long bubbling-under...

The members of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions first met at a Tokyo club event in 2001. The group itself is more jazz based, but mix their 60s jazz influences with modern club music sensibilities, somewhat recalling the acid jazz scene of the 90s. The group however is less laidback that most the acid jazz ilk, and perhaps more closely resembles the jazz tinged funk of Tower of Power. Another way to see Soil & "Pimp", would be to note them as the culmination of a long bubbling-under Japanese jazz-funk scene that included at different times and from various angles Kyoto Jazz Massive, Mondo Grosso, Phat, Urb, Grooveline, Loop Junktion, Izanami, and Ego Wrappin, among others. The group members are Shacho the vocalist/frontman/"agitator" (formerly a club event organizer), Tabu Zombie on trumpet, Motoharu on saxophone, Josei on keyboards, Akita Goldman on bass, and Midorin on drums. The group all have serious chops, and Shacho manages to whip them and their audiences into a fine musical frenzy on a regular basis. In the early part of their career the group was known as Soil & Hemp. The group built their reputation playing clubs, and in 2003 were invited to perform at Japan's mega music festival, Fuji Rock. Following their spirited performance a number of labels expressed interest in the group, who eventually signed with Victor. The group changed their name, reportedly after having a gig in Singapore canceled over their chosen moniker (odd as it is that "pimp" would be considered more socially acceptable that "hemp"). Their debut EP Pimpin was released in June, 2004, and received critical and popular acclaim. The band, however, continued to expand their horizons playing live, and members are known to sometimes sit in with other bands. Notably members were invited to jam on stage with Los Lobos at the Asagiri Jam festival in October, 2004. In February, 2005 the group released their first full album Pimp Master. As another sign of their rising popularity, Tower Records featured the band on one of their famed "No Music, No Life" posters. Also Soil & "Pimp" started getting international attention. Well known British DJ Gilles Peterson took note of the band while visiting Japan, and signed them to his new start up label Brownswood. The band played a European tour, which included two nights at London's Jazz Café in April of 2005, which was filmed and later released as the DVD Live In London+. Amongst their UK acclaim Soil & "Pimp" also picked up a BBC Radio 1 John Peel award. The group kept the ball rolling with the 6 track EP Summer Goddess in July, 2005. Brownswood released their album in July, 2006, and Compost are handling it in the rest of Europe. Also in July, 2006, the band were the only Japanese performers at the highly regarded Montreux Jazz Festival. In addition Soil & "Pimp" Sessions made a spirited appearance at 2006's Fuji Rock festival.