Posts in Category: Funk
Soul/Funk/R&B
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
- James Brown: Night Train
- Gladys Knight & the Pips: Midnight Train to Georgia/I Heard It Through the Grapevine
- The Neville Brothers: Fire on the Bayou/Big Chief
- Laura Nyro: Save the Country
- The O’Jays: Love Train/For the Love of Money
- Parliament Funkadelic: Bring on the Funk
- Professor Longhair: Big Chief/Tipitina
- Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That/I Need More Love
- Marlena Shaw: California Soul
- Staple Singers: Respect Yourself/Why Am I Treated So Bad?
- Edwin Starr: War/25 Miles
- The Supremes: You Just Keep Me Hanging On
- Trombone Shorty: One Night Only/Hurricane Season
- War: Low Rider/Cisco Kid
by 
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue: One Night Only and Hurricane Season
This is the first trombone player featured at TDMB. It’s nice that he is a next step in the proud tradition of New Orleans horn players. Indeed, he seems to play trumpet — which of course is the heart of that tradition — as much as the bones.
Here is the beginning of his Wikipedia entry:
Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty is a trombone and trumpet player from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has worked in jazz, funk and rap music. Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews as well as the grandson of singer and songwriter Jessie Hill. Andrews began playing trombone at age six, and since 2009 has toured with his own band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. (Continue Reading…)
NPR did an interview with Trombone (I guess that his operative first name). CBS did a nice segment on him as well.
by
War: Low Rider and Cisco Kid
Low Rider, above, doesn’t start until about a minute and half into the clip. It is interesting to watch Don Cornelius hold court, however.
War has a long, complex and interesting history. Here is the beginning of AllMusic’s profile:
One of the most popular funk groups of the ’70s, War were also one of the most eclectic, freely melding soul, Latin, jazz, blues, reggae, and rock influences into an effortlessly funky whole. Although War‘s lyrics were sometimes political in nature (in keeping with their racially integrated lineup), their music almost always had a sunny, laid-back vibe emblematic of their Southern California roots. War kept the groove loose, and they were given over to extended jamming — in fact, many of their studio songs were edited together out of longer improvisations. Even if the jams sometimes got indulgent, they demonstrated War‘s truly group-minded approach: no one soloist or vocalist really stood above the others (even though all were clearly talented), and their grooving interplay placed War in the top echelon of funk ensembles. (Continue Reading…)
Wikipedia has more:
War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs “Low Rider”, “Spill the Wine”, “The Cisco Kid”, “The World Is a Ghetto”, and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”. Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae.[1] The band also transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was also subject to many line-up changes over the course of its formation, leaving member Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up.
Although War’s lyrics are often socio-political in nature, their music usually had a laid-back, California funk vibe. A particular feature of War’s sound is the use of harmonica and saxophone playing melody lines in unison, sounding like a single instrument, for example in the melody of “Low Rider”. The music has been sampled and recorded by many singers and groups, ranging from R&B/pop singers such as Janet Jackson to nu metal band Korn and hip hop groups like TLC. (Continue Reading…)
Eric Burdon, who had been in The Animals, also was a member of War at one point. The band produced Spill the Wine during that partnership.
by
Mumford & Sons: Little Lion Man and Dust Bowl Dance
Mumford & Sons’ Babel won the 2012 Grammy Award for best album. Here is the beginning of Wikipedia’s profile of the band:
Mumford & Sons are an English folk rock band. The band consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo, guitar, resonator guitar), and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums, guitar). Mumford & Sons were formed in December 2007, emerging out of West London, with such artists as Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and Noah and the Whale.
Mumford & Sons recorded an EP, Love Your Ground, and performed in small to moderate venues in the UK and the United States to expose audiences to their music and build support for an eventual album. Their debut album, Sigh No More, was released in the UK and Ireland in October 2009, and February 2010 in the US. The album reached number one in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and eventually peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the US. The band gained popularity throughout 2010, performing for larger audiences and making their first network television appearances in the US. On 1 December 2010, the band received two Grammy Award nominations, one for Best New Artist and the other for Best Rock Song (“Little Lion Man”). The ensuing live performance at the Grammy ceremony in February 2011 led to increased airplay and popularity for singles from Sigh No More. The band won the ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artist in 2010, and the Brit Award in 2011 for Best British Album. (Continue Reading…)
The band is working on with Justin Timberlake on the soundtrack for the next Coen Brothers’ film. Above is Little Lion Man and below is Dust Bowl Dance. The band’s website has a lot of information, including dates for the current European tour. Mumford & Sons will play domestic dates starting in mid June.
by
Pedal Steel Funk
Thanks to my friend Tim for letting me know about Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
A couple of paragraphs about the band’s new album, We Walk This Road, provides good insight into what the band is about:
[Producer] T Bone Burnett shared the vision of how gospel, blues and rock could be put together in a way that could relate to my history and connect to my present. It was important to us that we make the record we wanted to make, even if the end result was unclassifiable. We just focused on making great songs and great music that spoke to me, and that reflected the way I try to speak to the world.
by
Alles Klar, Herr Kommissar?
Something had been missing from this site. I finally figured out what it was: Falco. Here are the words of Der Kommissar in English. See if you can make sense of it.
by
Still Funky
I look for any rationale for playing great tunes. So, happy 58th birthday, Mark Avsec. Avsec was the keyboardist in Wild Cherry, whose Play that Funky Music reached number 1 in the U.S. in 1976. Avec is a member of Donnie Iris & the Cruisers and a copyright attorney. The question is whether he still can fit into that black jumpsuit.
by
Parliament Funkadelic: Give Up the Funk
I don’t really understand it, from the spaceships landing and the guy in the diaper, but it all is very funky and the musicianship is great.
Believe it or not, Duke University has a Q and A on the band. Parliament and Funkadelic, it seems, are two distinct groups headed by George Clinton. Now I think I get it.
Here is an example of the Q&A, which is weirdly formatted:
8. What are the various aliases P.Funkers have used?
RC: ‘G Cook’, a name used in a number of Funkadelic writing credits, is really Eddie Hazel. It’s actually his mother’s name, Grace Cook.
‘J S Theracon’ is a name used by Junie Morrison at a time when he was under contract to another record company but still wanted to record with Parliament.
David Spradley has gone by a number of names, including ‘David Lee Chong’ and ‘Chong Spradley.’
George Clinton is known variously as ‘Dr. Funkenstein’, ‘Dr. Funk’, ‘Mr. Wiggles’, and ‘Starchild’. These are more characters than aliases, but he has been known to use them on personnel listings on album liner notes, in lieu of his real name.
Bootsy Collins has gone by ‘Casper (the funky/friendly/holy ghost)’, ‘Bootzilla’, ‘The Player’, ‘Zillatron’, and ‘Sugar Crook’.
Here are One Nation Under a Groove and Bootsy Collins’ I’d Rather Be with You.
by