This is crazy late but its been on my computer all year so
here goes:
2014 was a crazy crazy year for The Funk -- and a fucktkup
year for black people -- and you can’t separate the two, because a lot of us
need that funk to get thru the drama. I
believe that connection will continue to spawn more heavy music in the future
to help us all take the weight, and to get over the Hump.
2014 was cool because so many funk legends represented yet again,
and even managed to get some pop airplay.
The two greatest albums of the year, D’Angelo’s Black Messiah and Funkadelic’s First
Ya Gotta Shake the Gate both dropped in December, which pushed this review
back a bit. But overall, from what I
heard this past year, The Funk is alive and well.
What struck me was the split between artists working to
recapture their legendary sound, and those that are moving out, way out with
their funky thangs to play with. Former
War keyboardist Lonnie Jordan’s impostor outfit he calls War put out a
surprisingly enjoyable set Evolutionary
that showed that for all the bullshit conflicts between him and the remaining
War cats - now known as the Low Rider Band - Lonnie is a strong songwriter and
damn if this record doesn’t bring that War feel. Cheech & Chong’s cameo on the reprise of
“L.A. Sunshine” helps out too, but is isn’t needed.
Jazz fusion giant Stanley Clarke released Up that brings him back to that 70’s
fusion sound – and that mix of smooth jazz, edgy spastic fusion and straight up
funk that characterized his best albums.
He even remakes “School Days,” and the George Duke classic “Brazillian
Love Affair.” I would just download those and keep on moving. Harvey Mason also did an album, Chameleon that tried to do the same,
but it is a bit too tranquilized for my taste.
Good music, but I never thought of the Headhunters becoming dinner jazz.
Prince delivered a double-dose of rock and pop with two
albums, Art Official Age and Phlectrumelectrum which featured his all
female band 3rd Eye Girl. It
is polished precision pop and rock, with a lot of the riffs and lyrics that
seemed aimed at the younger crowd, so don’t look for a remake of “Darling
Nikki” around here, or some of those extended, adventurous workouts like “Lady
Cab Driver.” There are some brilliant
tracks here like “Clouds” and “Breakdown,” but dare I say it, some filler cuts
too. Nevertheless for Prince it is a
shrewd way of reaching out to a new audience and keeping his long time
lovers/listeners in the loop. The
slightly more rock oriented 3rd Eye Girl effort Phlectrumelectrum isn’t so far off from Art Official Age, and I was hoping for more jamming workouts from
the musicians here. Remember, the bass
player in this group is Ida Neilsen, and her 2012 solo project Sometimes A Girl Needs Some Sugar Too is
one of the hottest funk albums of the past 5 years, so I was hoping to hear
more of that.
Also in terms of old school, there were some strong reissues
this year. A long lost JB’s album These Are the JB’s was released – only
on vinyl – that thing burns with Bootsy’s early fire. Polydor didn’t let that go by, and released
the James Brown Live in Paris Love Power Peace as a 3 lp set – the
look and format that James intended for the record. It is a brilliant return to form for folks
that want their OG funk uncut.
Compiler and researcher Alec Palao was at it again with
another killer Sly Stone reissue, this one I'm
Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969-1970 unearths the Little Sister
sessions and other outtakes from the short lived Stone Flower label Sly had
going during his genius transition years.
This is a transcendent exploration of Sly’s genius here.
The late Chuck Brown released a sweet Go Go session Beautiful Life that follows up with his
recent magnificent work We’re About the
Business in 2009. It is amazing that Chuck could almost see across the
river with this one, musing on how good a ride he’s had, as if he was ready to
move on, even though it was a horrible shock to all of us in 2012 when he died
suddenly of heart failure and complications from pneumonia.
Of all the contemporary bands that relive the old school, no
one does it for me like Osaka Monaurail, the Japanese groove band that holds a
James Brown pocket throughout their work, and their latest release Riptide is a stellar example of what
they do. I still play the hell out of
“Fruit Basket,” “Ball of Fire” and “Determination.”
Two of my favorite “roots funk” bands are hard to get ahold
of because their music is not yet on itunes.
My man Joe Keyes has an ass-kicking horn driven outfit out of Maryland
that absolutely smokes. Joe Keyes’ and
the Late Bloomer Band burns with heavy horn hooks, great solos and swinging
guitar riffs that gives a feel as if Eddie Hazel sat in with Side Effect. In a local news story on the Band, Joe Keyes
was asked what 3 albums he would want on a desert Island, he said Agartha by Miles Davis, Thermonuclear Sweat by Defunkt, and First Minute of a New Day by Gil Scott
Heron. Nuff said! Look for their EP Forever is A Long Time on Itunes soon.
One of the most bangin’ club funk bands is the United Funk
Order, led by vocalist Thulani Jeffries, and Indigo Blu on multiple instruments. They have a 4 song EP called “Fried Ice
Cream” on Itunes that is a helluva teaser.
Their sound is that kind of soulful grown folks funk we have wanted to
hear since Steve Washington put all those great vocalists onto Slave and Aurra’s
records. I had to undertake a serious
funk hunt to get ahold of their entire Fried
Ice Cream album. My man Philip
Colley played some tracks on his “Funk Bus” show and got my nose open. But like so many of our favorite funk bands,
their record release situation is all muddled up and the CD is not yet on
itunes. I would also like it if they
could EQ those songs with more bass & volume, but hey they are unquestionably
on the One!
Out of the south, great New Orleans Funk bands keep coming
and coming with the good stuff. I came
across Analog Son, and their debut album Analog
Son has a tough grind and tight horn driven swing. A lot of these bands make a living doing
covers of great Southern soul & rock.
But I was really blown away by “Earphunk” and their 4th album
Sweet Nasty. Yes the big, soulful
funky chops are there but some of the songs are simply transcendent; “Sunup to
Sundown,” “Lippy” and “Check the Pulse” are on another level, deliciously
mellow and hard all at once. And out of
the blue they drop a Roger/Zapp vibe on “Phine” that stands up against any
Dayton thunder-funk. They are my
surprise discovery of 2014.
Out of France a spicy funk outfit the HornDogz dropped a
nice slice of modern R&B Funk with a lot of old school flavors. Their sound has the influence of the recent
Maceo Parker funk albums, and their original spin on classic soul & funk is
infectious. They do a particularly asskicking version of
Aretha’s “Rock Steady” that features P-Funk guest vocalist Mary Griffin in full
effect. A mean cover of Curtis
Mayfield’s “Move On Up” kicks too, and the overall feel is modern but very
soulful & funky.
Other funkers were good at pushing a new type thang forward
in 2014. My man Maurice Richmond
collaborated with a gang of L.A. Maggots and Euro-peein funkers to produce
Double Dose of Funk, a street strong mash of thump. This is that satisfying underground Hump that
should be on every street corner!
The Amsterdam Funk band Seven Eleven keeps getting better
and better, and their Live in Uden is both a retrospective of their decades of
stank and a dog’s paw pointing forward to a new era of polished, swinging
smelly funkiness from them.
The P-Funk veteran players are going strong as ever. Our girl Sheila Horne, aka Amuka Kelly aka
Sheila Washington aka Sheila Brody delivered a mean & lean 5 song EP Mississippi released under the name
Sheila Brody that was produced by Chuck D of Public Enemy. The sound is hot and slamming soul with a
modern feel and an old school theme.
Chuck and Sheila even do a hip hop /blues number that kicks. At 5 songs you’re just left wanting more.
The prolific P-Funk keyboardist Danny Bedrosian was at it
again with Endangered. His trademark whimsy and brilliance is on
display here once again, and it is hard to imagine he can put out at least an
album every year and keep up with George Clinton’s traveling circus too.
P-Funk bassist Lige Curry was in fine form as well, delivering
a stomping 13 track monster with his group the Naked Funk Project: All Around The World For The Funk. The thundering set could have been called
“All Around The Funk” because Lige has produced one of his most satisfying and
diverse productions.
The year was going good but without a dominant funk release
until December when D’Angelo dropped Black
Messiah, and Funkadelic’s 3 disc monstrosity First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate hit.
Each release was thrilling and challenging at the same time. D’Angelo clearly has grown, and ironically he
rushed his album into a 2014 release because of all of the cop murders and
Black Lives Matter protests. It was and
is stunning, and I wrote back in December:
This is the album Kanye West tried to do but he had
neither the consciousness nor the musicianship. It is the album Jay Z or
Pharrel or the other pop rappers will never do because they must come to terms
with an Awakened Black Man with a Vision for his craft. it is the album the
wannabe Thicke-Timberlake-Bieber bozos can’t do because they will never
understand the Rhythm it Takes to dance through what we have to live through…
I stand by that assessment.
For the first time in YEARS I was proud to be black – buying
music in the record store! What a long
lost feeling!
Barely a week later, the Funkadelic session dropped, and to
make a long story short, it didn’t feel like a Funkadelic session at
first. But George Clintons’ genius is
relentless, and eventually that emerges throughout the production, and you are left
in the presence of a Master, who is taking you beyond your own funktastic
imagination into the realm of Post P Funk for the next P Funk generation. Then gradually it sinks in, this is the
stankiest record of the year, of many years.
It comes at you sideways with some Crunk and some wackiness you might
not have expected, but in the end the deliverance is so wide you cant get
around it, and low you can’t get under it. BAM.
It took a long time to figure out which release was heavier,
D’Angelo’s pop soul juggernaut, or George Clinton’s Next Generation Funkadelic
adventure. Either way it’s been a great
way to wind up a funked up year in America.
Honorable mention has to go to Andre Cymone’s The Stone. That is an absolutely brilliant package of
clean & hot rock and roll. It is
clear to me that if he was of a lighter shade, he would be all up at the award
shows raking in prizes. Les Klaypool’s
nutty Primus and the Chocolate Factory
spins a goofball take on the classic children’s movie and keeps the chewy funk
vibe throughout. I also thoroughly
enjoyed the tribute to the Sly & the Family Stone album “Stand!” produced
by Undercover Presents. Nine Bay Area
bands each contributed a spirited interpretation of the legendary album and the
legendary band. This is what The History
of Funk is all about. All in all a solid
year for funksters…
MY TOP 14 OF 2014 (now 2015)
1. FUNKADELIC – FIRST YA GOTTA
SHAKE THE GATE
2. D’ANGELO – BLACK MESSIAH
3. CHUCK BROWN – BEAUTIFUL LIFE
4. PRINCE – ART OFFICIAL AGE &
PLECTRUMELECTRUM
5. LIGE CURRY’S NAKED FUNK – ALL
AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE FUNK
6. UNITED FUNK ORDER – FRIED ICE
CREAM
7. JOE KEYES & THE LATE BLOOMER
BAND – FOREVER IS A LONG TIME
8. SHEILA BRODY – MISSISSIPPI
9. OSAKA MONAURAIL – RIPTIDE
10.
WAR – EVOLUTIONARY
11. EARPHUNK – SWEET NASTY
12. DDOF – JUST AS FUNKY
13. HORNDOGZ - #WOOF
14. UNDERCOVER PRESENTS – STAND!
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