Sure Fire Soul Ensemble will record a live album at upcoming show – but expect a party too

The list of music acts who have released live albums that were recorded in San Diego is
relatively small.

There’s Eric Clapton’s 2016 “Live in San Diego,” for one, but not a whole lot else, at least when it comes to officially released, non-bootlegs.

But the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, a 10-piece band based in America’s Finest City, not only has released one live album made in San Diego – the 2023 release “Live at Panama 66” – they’re gearing up to record a second.

Three years after “Live at Panama 66” – recorded at the Balboa Park restaurant and bar in the album’s name – the band will make its next live album the last weekend in May. This time however, the site will be Lou Lou’s Jungle Room, a supper club inside the Lafayette Hotel, which straddles University Heights and North Park.

The band’s leader, Tim Felten, said the change in venues is due to how familiar the Soul Ensemble has become with Lou Lou’s during recent shows there.

“We’ve just been playing there the last few years and it’s been a very positive experience for the band,” he told Times of San Diego. “We’re selling out every show there and the crowd response has been awesome.

“Panama 66, as you know if you’ve ever been there, it’s just kind of a more of a relaxed, less formal environment,” he continued. “So, I was hoping to do something and this time at Lou Lou’s, where it’s like a high-energy environment.

“Six months ago (Lou Lou’s) recorded our set and I got the files back and it sounded incredible,” Felten said. “So I was like, ‘Man, we should just record another live album’.”

Felten said that the vibe of Lou Lou’s interior was also a factor in recording there, because there will be more than just an audio component to the recording session.

“We’re going to shoot video as well this time,” he said. “For some reason or another, our band kind of lacks live promotional footage. So I figured if we could record another live record there and get a bunch of video footage, I think that would be a great asset to have for the band.”

It’s still to be determined how the video will be used, but both short-form music videos and a long-form concert film are options, Felten said.

For those not familiar with the Soul Ensemble, they are not strictly a soul music act, despite the name. The group largely plays jazz, but mixed with funk and other genres.

Felten, a Lemon Grove resident who’s the Ensemble’s songwriter and keyboardist, founded the group in 2012.

Although they’ve gained international acclaim, the group remains loyal to the greater San Diego area and has even named some of its songs – such as “Lemon Grove Swagger,” “Balboa Park,” “City Heights” and “Baja Norte” – after local and regional communities and landmarks.

The group’s latest studio album, “Gemini,” came out in March 2025.

During the upcoming live recording, the band will play a mixture of previously released songs and new material that hasn’t yet been performed before an audience.

“We’ve got some new vocal tunes that that are unreleased and we’ll be playing them that night. It’s gonna be dynamic,” Felton said. “We try and mix it up as far as doing instrumental
tunes and we’ve got a bunch of vocal tunes in the set now of varying tempos. We try and keep it mid-tempo to upbeat.

“But we also like to do some songs that are more introspective – mixing the different subgenres in jazz, funk and soul, anything from a spiritual jazz-type vibe to Afrobeat and
everything in between,” he added.

Felton also said that even though the concert will double as an album recording session, the music will flow freely and there won’t be any stops and starts before or during performances like there are during a traditional studio session when there sometimes are multiple takes.

“It’ll definitely be a concert,” he said. “It’ll be like a party and a concert in one.”

Tickets for the show cost $25 each and are available online.