tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56807255544893058912024-03-04T20:51:08.785-08:00The Rickey Vincent blogThe notions, emotions and observations from KPFA deejay, author, historian and funk-head Rickey Vincent.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-51032579791157755562016-04-22T00:00:00.003-07:002016-04-22T00:11:42.593-07:00Prince Was A Revelation<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px auto 28px; width: 700px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="color: magenta;"> </span><span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri;"> Went
to see Prince on Friday 3.4.16 in Oakland. My friend Will Nichols had an extra
ticket, but I went because I knew Prince wanted to be there. He had just played
in Australia, and could have landed anywhere in the States when he returned,
but he came to Oak Town. He booked his "Piano and a Microphone" show
at the Paramount Theater in downtown Oakland, which sold out within seconds.
Shortly after those shows, a third date was announced, for five days later at
the Oracle Arena, formerly known as the Oakland Coliseum Arena. This meant that
Prince was going to be in town for a good part of that week. It came as no
surprise that he showed up at the Golden State Warriors game on Thursday, the
night before his concert at the same arena. He came to the Warriors game,
famously sauntering onto courtside with a cane and a pimp limp Oakland style -
to a standing ovation of Warriors fans. Steph Curry even commented after the
game: "I was digging the outfit, and the cane." Maybe Prince has a
thing for the undersized, light skinned kid that is changing the game forever.
He told the rapt Paramount audience "what can you truly count on besides
Steph Curry?" </span><br />
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Like
the greatest of the greats, Prince never takes a moment off. Every public
gesture, smirk, spin, scream is done with purpose and effect. Steph Curry is
one of those players that never takes a play off, no mater what the score is,
every play is played to the max.. That is what separates the very good from the
legendary. Game recognize Game. Last month, Beyonce was also at the Oracle
Arena to see the Warriors play the night before her Black Panther Party
inspired performance of "Formation" at the Super Bowl. Oakland is not
only the center of the basketball world, it is the epicenter of Black Life - a life
that has universal appeal and everyone in The Town knows it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I
had been to many of Prince's shows, and some cozy after parties where he
played, but nothing like this. By choosing to play only grand piano versions of
his popular tunes, Prince took us into the core of his songwriting , so we
could see and hear the heart of the music like never before. Maybe he would
not have played "Starfish and Coffee" with an 8 piece band, and maybe
not worked out as long to "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore." But
in this format he could dig deep into the catalog, and then emerge with
renditions of the hits that were so sweetly rendered, you learned to love them
all over again. The sentimental charm of "Raspberry Beret" and
"Cream" were hypnotizing. And every track from Purple Rain, within a
couple of notes, brought the house down. "I Would Die For You,"
"Purple Rain," "The Beautiful Ones" raised the roof, and
even "When Doves Cry," the only song Prince added a beat machine to,
drew a thunderous response. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">But
in truth, no machines were needed. A few notes, and Prince would take us in, to
the innerworld of his creative being. It's as if the band was always there to
keep the nasty groove, and the piano rendition was where the love was hidden
all along in the songs. I'm of the belief that all of the great funk bands are
really playing love music - with some monster grooves employed to deliver their
message. Prince is letting us know that the hard shell is unnecessary. The pure
love of a funkmaster is indeed the most satisfying kind! Old songs felt new
again, and the source of the memories (Prince himself) that we all had was in
front of us, fully baring himself. It was a swirl of memory and memorable
moments that were tossed like a Chef and made into a new and organic dish! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">He
managed to make that cavernous arena feel intimate, as if he was only playing
his favorite songs for you. For years he had called himself "The
Artist" but for the first time, without all the bells & whistles, you
could truly see that he was one of the great artists of our day. He didn't
have to troll through memories of past moments of music history. He didn't have
to play a few riffs of Ray Charles standard, because lets face it, he is our
Ray Charles of today. No one can scream or get low down any lower than Prince
today, with his voice in top flight form. He didn't have to swing and step to
any Brown moves, because he is the James Brown of our times. Someone that can
be relied upon to bring it new, when everyone else is wondering what to do, he
comes through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When
the event announcers claimed "no cell phones" most Prince fans knew
the deal. He is the most guarded about is image than anyone in the business.
But Pince took it another step. He told the audience that they needed to unplug
the phones and deal with the real world, whimsically and perhaps literally
praising how much better life is "off the grid." We are living within
a generation that wants the big collective experience, but listens to music on
smaller and smaller headphones. Prince managed to be both inntimate &
personal and larger-than-life at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When
the lights came up from his many ovations I thought about the many soul
epiphanys that have taken place on that same hallowed ground. This is where
Marvin Gaye sang "Distant Lover" in 1974, a live recording recognized
as one of the greatest of all time. The shrieks and shouts of Oakland girls
that night are preserved and are embedded on a generation. This is where
Earth Wind & Fire delivered spectacular concerts every year from 1975 to
1981. Shows that crafted the positive - universal - multi-racial spirit of love
and unity and collective possibility that set a standard for modern music
performance. The only available full concert video of Earth Wind & Fire in
their prime is from their Oakland shows, in Dec 1981. I was at every one of
those concerts. This is where Parliament Funkadelic landed The Mothership in
January of 1977 - and recorded it for their <i>Live:
P-Funk Earth Tour</i> album. The live recording of "Mothership
Connection" is perhaps the most spiritual rendition of street-funk ever
put to tape. This is where Stevie Wonder played on a Monday night in 1980,
and had to announce to his audience that John Lennon had just been shot, and
dedicated his show to Lennon's memory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Prince
has played the Oakland Arena many times before, singing, strutting, shimmering,
shrieking, jamming and showcassing his genius. But for this show he was far
more visible. The personal touch of the piano and microphone is part of the evolution
of the perennially reclusive and once most mysterious of entertainers. But
over the past decade or so, he has begun to change all of that. He opened up
much more on his appearances with George Lopez and Arsenio (the few men of
color to host talk shows). He walked <i>onto
The View</i> to give Whoopi Goldberg tickets to his upcoming show, and his bit
playing himself on <i>The New Girl </i>is
still hilarious. And he will still rock the award shows like no other. Unlike
many of his contemporaries, Prince is still an Icon of the times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> He
outlasted his hardcore funk competition: he used to feud with Rick James - or
at least Rick James feuded with him, and Zapp featuring Roger Troutman had the
hottest funk show early in the 80s. (some of us heads remember when Warner
Brothers promoted Prince and Zapp as 'the new black funk'). But Rick James and
Roger are gone now. He outlasted the icons of 80's pop - Whitney Houston,
Madonna and Michael Jackson. Whitney set a standard of musical virtuosity and
of capturing the celebrity moment, and Michael Jackson was the King of Pop for
all the right reasons. For all the wrong reasons, Whitney and Michael are gone.
And Madonna is but a living fossil of her once inventive self. Prince has
outlasted the greatest crooners of out time, Luther Vandross and Freddie
Jackson. Luther could deconstruct soul music into its most heartfelt constiuent
parts, and Freddie Jackson appeared to be his heir. But Luther is gone, and
Freddie is trying to find his way in an industry that has moved on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">While
Prince was once considered the freak of the industry, his love ballads and
bedroom musings are now outlasting the competition at a time when real love is
dead in R&B. D'Angelo and Bilal and some others are trying to do the
loverman thing, but they must remember they must bring that Funk, or the sweet
stuff just wont be as sweet. Unlike the other black pop wannabees, Prince has
had no fear of The Funk. This is what made his personal guest walk through the
secret moments of his mind so thoroughly satisfying. </span><span style="color: #fb00ff; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">While he shouted out
the Bay Area, his love of Oakland was genuine. I was one of those tepid fans
back in the day when he took Oakland’s own Sheila Escovedo, darling child of
the East Bay Latin jazz scene, and returned her to us as Sheila E, standard
bearer of the "Minneapolis Sound." And Sly Stone's legendary bass
player & singer Larry Graham, now Prince's musical and spiritual mentor,
has long since moved to Minneapolis.
This show was the first time it felt like Prince wanted to return the
Love that Oakland has given him all these years. And 20,000 of us were happy to
receive it!</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-2037485131481167182015-04-13T00:27:00.000-07:002015-04-13T00:27:12.752-07:00FIRST YA GOTTA SHAKE THE GATE (late review by Rickey Vincent)<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Talk about sneaking up on a mug
after 33 years. The Funkadelic 3CD monstrosity dropped in December and bugged
out all of us Funkateers, with a spectrum of reactions not heard since, well, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Electric Spanking</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. After the pristine
release of George Clinton’s memoir earlier in 2014, many of us Maggots were
expecting some polished popular P-funk notions. Well weren’t we just Adolescent
Funkin’ !</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">True to the Funkadelic mantra,
this was the nasty, smelly underbelly of the Parlia-FunkadelicmentThang…
rebooted for 2015, and in your face like a shot of Mace. To understand <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shake the Gate</i>, one must take it all in,
all of it. It sinks in like the high from a special brownie, tickling slowly at
first, but by the end of the day it overwhelms the senses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">From precision-delivered
crunk-raps to baby-face ballads to distorted mutron throbs and relentless metal
thrash, there is a bit of everything inside this Gate, yet all of it fits
together. Each track sinks in, and has its own stank. There is a reason for the
sequence of the songs, and you can get lost, then found again. Eventually you
start to think there is a madd master-plan for this madness – and at that point
you are hooked!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">For a minute I was all into disc
3. Then I started just listening to disc 2, thinking it couldn’t possibly slam
as hard as my last experience with disc 3. Well, was I kicked over! Disc 2 had
something for disc 3’s ass! Now disc 1 serves more or less as an overture to
the kids, the youth sound, the Southern crunk stank funk thang. But George is
not just playing nice. Once you realize that he isn’t playing, but he is
CLAIMING all of that music as his personal plaything, and his grandkids are
more than capable of pushing that sound forward, then the utter untouchable
awesomeness of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shake The Gate</i> comes
home to roost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">What is most sinister about the
3-disc adventure into the mind of the Main Maggot Dr Funkenstein is the way he
allows everyone to take turns playing in the playground of Funkadelic Funk,
before The Doctor smokes them all out. If you listen to George’s rapping on
“The Wall” and “Snot n Booger,” the standard bearers from the final disc,
George comes SO HARD, bringing ass-kicking attitude he gives a psychedelic
beat-down to all who preceded him (‘cept maybe Sly). -- We are reminded here
that George has been spittin’ rhymes since “Dog Talk,” before many of the
pimply pups on the disc were even born –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">This is not unlike what Miles
Davis used to do with his legendary quintet in the 1960s and electronic swamp
funk workouts in the 70s. He would let everybody shine in their own way, then
with delicious subtlety emerge and blow them away. George was just slithering
on the back burner through most of these tracks, until its time to Drop a Load.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">Shake the Gate indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">Now at first I was one of the
serous non-believers. I wasn’t ready to let go of Garry, to let go of Boogie,
to let go of Belita, Jessica or Mallia, and all I wanted was some retro Pee and
what remained of the Mob as I knew it. (and maybe some Ronkat) A great deal of
that is in there to be sure, like “Jolene,” “Dirty Queen” and “Fucked Up.” But
there is so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">There are some great clubby
tracks like “Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You,” “Boom There We Go Again”
and “Catchin’ Boogie Fever,” and some wicked one-of-a-kind jams like the thunderous
title track, and “In Da Kar,” “Zip It” and “Yellow Light.” What stands out are
the rap/funk collaborations, like “Get Low,” “Roller Rink,” “I Mo B Yodog Fo
Eva” and “Snot n Booger.” Some are incredibly creative productions, but they
were complete surprises at first. Florida's 13teen and Bay Area producer Rob “G
Koop” Mandell are geniuses with the new grooves, but I never thought they would
be carrying the weight of the Future of the Funk like this. They deserve all
the props for gluing this mad mess together. George knows how to find the top
of the line geeps & zeeps for his ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">But I’m still not a fan of
gratuitous rap tracks over good funk. I’m one of those O.G.’s that often thinks
a rap track on good funk is like a cockroach crawling across my pizza slice!
(Not only is it a shock, I’m not even hungry anymore!) Good Funk doesn’t need
rap, but we all know that rap needs The Funk more than ever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">But as the wild ride through the
Gate continued, the depths of the P started to hit me, and then I got it. Even
though George Clinton is 21 years older than I am, I had to eat my doo doo and
realize that GC is far more forward thinking than this putrid doo-loop driven
maggot ever will be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">At first I treated the record
like the 80’s <i>Star Trek</i> reboot, thinking of it as “Funkadelic, the Next
Generation.” And like a lot of Trekkies who approached <i>Star Trek the Next
Generation</i> with mild appreciation, it was ah-rite but at some point we’d say
“WTF where is Kirk & Spock & Uhura!” But The Gate is more like the recent
reboot of <i>Star Trek</i> -- the same but totally different -- with some true homages
to the OG feel, and some Brand New Grooves to boot. Forward thinking Dogs
pointing their paws ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">This Funkadelic brings new and
old together in a truly original way. It is a thrill to hear Trey Lewd getting
the space to play like he does, and Sly Stone’s deviousness gets threaded into
the mix where he belongs. And let’s face it, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shake the Gate</i> is keyboardist Danny Bedrosian’s Tour De Force. He’s
on almost every track, doing the heavy lifting Bernie used to do, with a silly
wiggle all his own. Once you understand that, the entire production falls into
magnificent, beautiful place. Some Next Shit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: inherit;">So now I cant wait for the new
Parliament album, as much for the new surprises as for the epic, classic horn
riffs and O.G. hooks that I will expect. (& maybe some Ronkat) But the
bottom line is that P-Funk is alive and well, and that is the best part of this
Funkadelic experience.</span><span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-51674285991539529852015-04-12T23:00:00.000-07:002015-04-13T00:06:00.147-07:00RV'S FAVORITE FUNK OF 2014 - Year in Review <div class="MsoNormal">
This is crazy late but its been on my computer all year so
here goes:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2014 was cool because so many funk legends represented yet again,
and even managed to get some pop airplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The two greatest albums of the year, D’Angelo’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Messiah</i> and Funkadelic’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First
Ya Gotta Shake the Gate</i> both dropped in December, which pushed this review
back a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But overall, from what I
heard this past year, The Funk is alive and well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Former
War keyboardist Lonnie Jordan’s impostor outfit he calls War put out a
surprisingly enjoyable set <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evolutionary</i>
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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cheech & Chong’s cameo on the reprise of
“L.A. Sunshine” helps out too, but is isn’t needed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jazz fusion giant Stanley Clarke released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Up</i> 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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He even remakes “School Days,” and the George Duke classic “Brazillian
Love Affair.” I would just download those and keep on moving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harvey Mason also did an album,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Chameleon</i> that tried to do the same,
but it is a bit too tranquilized for my taste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good music, but I never thought of the Headhunters becoming dinner jazz.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Prince delivered a double-dose of rock and pop with two
albums, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art Official Age</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phlectrumelectrum</i> which featured his all
female band 3<sup>rd</sup> Eye Girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some brilliant
tracks here like “Clouds” and “Breakdown,” but dare I say it, some filler cuts
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
slightly more rock oriented 3<sup>rd</sup> Eye Girl effort <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phlectrumelectrum</i> isn’t so far off from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art Official Age</i>, and I was hoping for more jamming workouts from
the musicians here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, the bass
player in this group is Ida Neilsen, and her 2012 solo project <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sometimes A Girl Needs Some Sugar Too</i> is
one of the hottest funk albums of the past 5 years, so I was hoping to hear
more of that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Also in terms of old school, there were some strong reissues
this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A long lost JB’s album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">These Are the JB’s</i> was released – only
on vinyl – that thing burns with Bootsy’s early fire. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polydor didn’t let that go by, and released
the James Brown <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Live in Paris <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Power Peace</i> as a 3 lp set – the
look and format that James intended for the record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a brilliant return to form for folks
that want their OG funk uncut.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Compiler and researcher Alec Palao was at it again with
another killer Sly Stone reissue, this one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I'm
Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969-1970</i> unearths the Little Sister
sessions and other outtakes from the short lived Stone Flower label Sly had
going during his genius transition years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a transcendent exploration of Sly’s genius here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The late Chuck Brown released a sweet Go Go session <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautiful Life</i> that follows up with his
recent magnificent work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’re About the
Business</i> 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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Riptide</i> is a stellar example of what
they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still play the hell out of
“Fruit Basket,” “Ball of Fire” and “Determination.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Two of my favorite “roots funk” bands are hard to get ahold
of because their music is not yet on itunes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My man Joe Keyes has an ass-kicking horn driven outfit out of Maryland
that absolutely smokes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a local news story on the Band, Joe Keyes
was asked what 3 albums he would want on a desert Island, he said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agartha</i> by Miles Davis, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thermonuclear Sweat</i> by Defunkt, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Minute of a New Day</i> by Gil Scott
Heron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nuff said!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look for their EP <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forever is A Long Time</i> on Itunes soon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the most bangin’ club funk bands is the United Funk
Order, led by vocalist Thulani Jeffries, and Indigo Blu on multiple instruments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a 4 song EP called “Fried Ice
Cream” on Itunes that is a helluva teaser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to undertake a serious
funk hunt to get ahold of their entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fried
Ice Cream</i> album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My man Philip
Colley played some tracks on his “Funk Bus” show and got my nose open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would also like it if they
could EQ those songs with more bass & volume, but hey they are unquestionably
on the One!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Out of the south, great New Orleans Funk bands keep coming
and coming with the good stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came
across Analog Son, and their debut album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Analog
Son </i>has a tough grind and tight horn driven swing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of these bands make a living doing
covers of great Southern soul & rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I was really blown away by “Earphunk” and their 4<sup>th</sup> album
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweet Nasty.</i> 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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And out of
the blue they drop a Roger/Zapp vibe on “Phine” that stands up against any
Dayton thunder-funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are my
surprise discovery of 2014.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their sound has the influence of the recent
Maceo Parker funk albums, and their original spin on classic soul & funk is
infectious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do a particularly asskicking version of
Aretha’s “Rock Steady” that features P-Funk guest vocalist Mary Griffin in full
effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mean cover of Curtis
Mayfield’s “Move On Up” kicks too, and the overall feel is modern but very
soulful & funky.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other funkers were good at pushing a new type thang forward
in 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is that satisfying underground Hump that
should be on every street corner!<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The P-Funk veteran players are going strong as ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our girl Sheila Horne, aka Amuka Kelly aka
Sheila Washington aka Sheila Brody delivered a mean & lean 5 song EP <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mississippi </i>released under the name
Sheila Brody that was produced by Chuck D of Public Enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sound is hot and slamming soul with a
modern feel and an old school theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Chuck and Sheila even do a hip hop /blues number that kicks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 5 songs you’re just left wanting more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The prolific P-Funk keyboardist Danny Bedrosian was at it
again with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endangered.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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P-Funk bassist Lige Curry was in fine form as well, delivering
a stomping 13 track monster with his group the Naked Funk Project: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Around The World For The Funk.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thundering set could have been called
“All Around The Funk” because Lige has produced one of his most satisfying and
diverse productions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The year was going good but without a dominant funk release
until December when D’Angelo dropped <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black
Messiah</i>, and Funkadelic’s 3 disc monstrosity <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Ya Gotta Shake The Gate</i> hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each release was thrilling and challenging at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was and
is stunning, and I wrote back in December:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><i>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… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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I stand by that assessment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For the first time in YEARS I was proud to be black – buying
music in the record store!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a long
lost feeling!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then gradually it sinks in, this is the
stankiest record of the year, of many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way it’s been a great
way to wind up a funked up year in America.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Honorable mention has to go to Andre Cymone’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Stone</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is an absolutely brilliant package of
clean & hot rock and roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Les Klaypool’s
nutty <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Primus and the Chocolate Factory</i>
spins a goofball take on the classic children’s movie and keeps the chewy funk
vibe throughout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also thoroughly
enjoyed the tribute to the Sly & the Family Stone album “Stand!” produced
by Undercover Presents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nine Bay Area
bands each contributed a spirited interpretation of the legendary album and the
legendary band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what The History
of Funk is all about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all a solid
year for funksters…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">MY TOP 14 OF 2014 (now 2015)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">1. FUNKADELIC – FIRST YA GOTTA
SHAKE THE GATE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">2. D’ANGELO – BLACK MESSIAH<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">3. CHUCK BROWN – BEAUTIFUL LIFE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">4. PRINCE – ART OFFICIAL AGE &
PLECTRUMELECTRUM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">5. LIGE CURRY’S NAKED FUNK – ALL
AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE FUNK<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">6. UNITED FUNK ORDER – FRIED ICE
CREAM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">7. JOE KEYES & THE LATE BLOOMER
BAND – FOREVER IS A LONG TIME<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">8. SHEILA BRODY – MISSISSIPPI<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">9. OSAKA MONAURAIL – RIPTIDE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>WAR – EVOLUTIONARY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">11. EARPHUNK – SWEET NASTY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;">12. DDOF – JUST AS FUNKY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">13. HORNDOGZ - #WOOF<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">14. UNDERCOVER PRESENTS – STAND!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-42764917828333615072014-08-15T11:35:00.003-07:002014-08-15T17:21:05.383-07:00 TOP TEN SINS OF OMISSION FROM THE “GET ON UP” MOVIE:<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">The August 1, 2014 release of the James Brown biopic Ge</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">t On Up </i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">has been a long anticipated event for many music fans and people that grew up with</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Soul Brother Number One</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> as an integral part of their lives. The film has been praised by mainstream critics and ripped by many who believe it did a disservice to one of the greatest African Americans that ever lived. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Many of Brown’s closest supporters such as Bootsy Collins and Charles Bobbitt have stated that while flawed, they enjoyed the film also. </span></span><br />
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">If nothing else, the release of the film has given many of us “insiders” into the discourse of soul music a reason to publicly reassess the narrative of the most important black musicians - and black people - of our generation.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">While Chadwick Boseman’s role as James Brown has been universally praised, and the producers have delivered an entertaining treatment of Brown’s rags to riches story, there are some omissions and issues of emphasis that stand out more and more as sins of omission, particularly when the subject matter is one of the Greatest African Americans that ever lived. There has been strong criticism that of all the writers, producers and directors associated with the film, none of them are African Americans. This is not a reason to avoid the film, but it is one reason why I was trepidatious when I went to see it. One should approach the film more accurately as "Mick Jagger presents Get On Up" and the perspective will become clear. Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, is a very sympathetic and strong supporter of soul music and the legacy of black entertainers in his work and of Western popular music in general. He and the other producers are nevertheless coming from an outsider's perspective and it is revealed in the film in many places.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Here is a - pared down – list of sinful omissions from the film:</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1-Emcee Danny Ray does not exist in the film, yet Danny Ray was with James Brown longer than Bobby Byrd was, and was the reliable voice introducing “Mr Dynamite, Mr. Please Please Please himself…” at countless concerts and events for over 40years. Danny Ray also donned the cape on Mr Brown during the shows and was integral to the stage act for decades. During music performances, the film shows numerous times when the cape is placed on Mr. Brown but the cape holder is conspicuously anonymous. This is inexplicableto any JB fan. Why his character was omitted is unconscionable. Similarly, longtime (black) business manager and confidante Charles Bobbitt was eliminated from the film altogether. There were many backstage scenes in which Bobbit’s sage council and trustworthiness could have been shown, however briefly. Bobbitt’s loyalty was and is legendary, and for it to be rewarded by his omission is also unconscionable.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2-Fred Wesley does not exist in the film. As Mr. Brown’s bandleader off and on from1969 to 1975, Wesley was responsible for such classics as “Get On the GoodFoot” “The Payback,” “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” and “Mother Popcorn” all of which were heard or referenced in the film, yet Wesley is nonexistent. Further, Maceo Parker’s character was playedby a heavy set, comic actor Craig Robinson that resembled Fred Wesley bothvisually and in terms of temperament. Robinson did not in any way resemble or reflect the smooth, slender dark chocolate hued Maceo. Essentially Fred and Maceo were fused into one person. This was unforgiveable. (It is plausible however in light of the fact that Fred Wesley was among the first of the sidemen to pen his own autobiography which delineated the trials andtribulations of working for the Godfather of Soul. It is possible that the family members that “approved” the script were petty enough to request that Fred Wesley be removed from the story line)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Many of us music collectors figured that once the JB reissues came out in the 1980s, with liner notes from Cliff White and later Harry Weinger, that the days of ignoring the genius of the James Brown bandwere over… but with the omission of Fred Wesley from this film, they are back again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Further, during Brown’s 1971 Paris concert, his last great one in the timeline of the film, there are cutaways to the white bandleader (David Matthews most likely) that night. This was a subtle nod to the worldliness of James Brown, and a subtle erasure of Fred Wesley once again. This was troubling to me because it reflects once again an outsider’s view of Brown’s music which ignores the genius of Fred Wesley in the creation and maintenance of the JB’s funk sound of the early 70s.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3-The women are all cardboard cut-out characters with lines thata film school intern could have written, and probably did. They were dimensionless tragic victims of Brown’s ambition, without any complications, back stories or personality. Viola Davis’ role as Brown’s mother was particularly troubling, not because she can’t act, but because we’ve seen that act so many times before. Almost no references to who these people were and how they dealt with life as black women during Jim Crow, was consistently troubling.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Furthermore, there were many other important women in Brown’s life and career, such as Anna King, Martha High, Lyn Collins, Marva Whitney and Tammi Montgomery a.k.a. TammiTerrell, which the movie chose to wipe away from the narrative. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Brown’s third wife Adrienne was left out of the film, as was Brown’s companion Tammy Ray at the time of Brown’s death. These were white women that Brown was passionate about and should have been seen. While the chronology of the film did not make a necessity of their roles, their absence denies a particular element of Brown’s racial ideology that is more complex - and reflective of the complexity of blacklife in America - and deserved to be seen as such. This leaves little doubt that the film was from a white Brit’s viewpoint of blackness. In the absence of these women, Brown is seen as a racial simpleton, a victim of the binary logic of Jim Crow and little more. He was far more than that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">4-The film re-creates absurd encounters with white pop culture such as the “Ski Party” sequence in great detail. However Brown’s encounters with radical black leaders, while well documented in the literature on Brown, were only mentionedin passing. Brown writes in his autobiography of a face-to-face meeting with black radical H. Rap Brown on the Harlem streets. This would have been a priceless encounter and priceless opportunity to educate the audience, black white and other, of Brown’s steadfast positions on black pride and black power. This was clearly a dimension that the (entirely white) team of writers and producers were not equipped to develop with any authority. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Further, the only references to Brown’s relationship to black power were portrayed in the context of his revealing to his confidante, his white manager Ben Bart. It is an incongruity that would only be generated by a writer/producer with more affinity with the white manager than to the brother from the block. This is where the ‘center’ of the story gets lost. James Brown is a product of America to be sure, but he is first and foremost a product of Black America, and the film lost touch with this point just as the racial consciousness of the nation was on the rise, compelling Brown to remain in touch with his people in ways he saw fit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">5-The film could have dealt with Brown’s visits to Africa –his trip to Nigeria in 1971 when he and his band witnessed the genius of “The African James Brown,” Fela Kuti, and most importantly, his 1974 performance in Zaire ahead of the Muhammad Ali – George Foreman fight, the “Rumble in theJungle.” This was a true cultural moment appropriately named in the 1996 film <i>WhenWe Were Kings. </i>The filmmakers chose not to emphasize Brown’s worldwide impact as a musician and cultural icon of African / Black identity. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">6-The encounter with Brown’s recording of “Say it Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud” while exciting, was unsubtle and cartoonish. Out of the blue – and inconsistent with the plot up to that point - the characters were dressed in African garb and natural hair. Then just as quickly, that moment ends and the story moves on. As if Black Power – and Brown’s popularization of Black Power came and went in a whiff, yet it is perhaps Brown’s most lasting contribution <i>to the world.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">There are any number of live performances on tape that could have been re-created to show Brown’s towering stance in the community at that moment. Cutaways to the 1968 Olympic games,with the triumphant black power fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos could have been shown, as “Say it Loud” was the #1 R&B song on the radio at that very moment. Visual images of the Black Panthers, of Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Kathleen and Eldridge Cleaver, Ron Karenga and others that represented what “black and proud” meant to the black community and the world community could have been shown. This is the singular moment where James Brown did not simply cross over to the mainstream as a black artist, he made the mainstream <i>cross over to black. </i> This is perhaps his greatest accomplishment, and the greatest omission from thefilm.<i></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The cutaway from the gleeful chorus of “I’m Black and I’mProud” in the film to Brown’s character shoveling dirt on a casket with aJewish symbol is the most jarring and incomprehensible edit in the film. This is a moment when a sensitive director (of color?) would have embellished the “Say It Loud” moments with cutaways to Brown’s influence on black popular culture, fashion, language, style and identity. A few seconds would not have been difficult to produce, but instead a moment was cut off, crushed in orderto emphasize Brown’s sentiment toward his white manager -deliberately identified as Jewish – just as the film was embellishing Brown’s blackness. It was an inexplicable jump cut from a filmmaking perspective, and a racially insensitive one. It is hard to imagine an African American director making that kind of edit on this film, in that moment. (Furthermore, the son of manager Ben Bart contends that Brown did not even attend Ben Bart’s funeral….)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">7- The film could have easily referenced a young (black) Michael Jackson doing the “James Brown moves” as part of the Jackson 5 audition for Motown. Mick Jagger was not the only superstar transformed – note for note and move for move by James Brown. During a lifetime achievement award for Brown on BET in 2003, Michael Jackson emerges (at the peak of his popularity) to introduce his mentor James Brown and to educate the mass of MJ supporters where he got his funk from. This is on tape and could be reconstructed like the other Jim Crow era events on tape. The King of Pop’s profound debt to James Brown could have been mentioned in less than one sentence but was omitted.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">8- The final performance sequence in which Brown walks to a stage and sings “Try Me” with Bobby Byrd and Vicki Anderson in the audience was given a deliberately intimate feel. But anyone that saw James Brown in the years after his prison release in the early1990s saw a spectacle of a stage show, with tall glamorous dancing girls and a sprawling stage set reflecting the scope of Brown’s triumphant return. This final scene implied that Brown was a shell of his earlier star power, which was not the case. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Further, the decision to render the climactic scene of Brown’s triumphant life to a forlorn Jim Crow era ballad speaks volumes about the orientation of the all white, predominantly British filmmakers. This did not reflect the triumphant natureof the man’s life. The previous scene,in which Brown is seen as a young boy, still wearing the painted number one on his chest (from one of the few illuminating scenes about the racism of JimCrow) speaks to the camera and says “I paid the cost to be the boss.” That would have been the proper moment to end the film. On the undisputed triumph of Brown’s life. Period.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">9. The film harps on Brown’s isolation and loneliness in the years from the death of his son Teddy in 1973 until his arrest in 1988, as if those intervening years were not relevant to his life. Only to outsiders to the black experience would this be plausible.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The narrative should have continued until The Payback in1974, and should have featured Browns’ dominant presence on <i>Soul Train</i>, and his strong relationshipwith <i>Soul Train</i> host DonCornelius. A behind the scenes dialogue between Brown and Cornelius about the state of black people and black music would have been priceless. But apparently this was “not important enough” in this film about yet another self-made Jim Crow survivor. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In addition there exists footage of a young Al Sharpton on <i>Soul Train</i> during an interview giving Brown a “Black Record” (a prize for having the best black song of 1974, “ThePayback”). Sharpton would go on to become a “surrogate son,” stand-in for Teddy, and an important part of Brown’s self-recovery. But the producers chose to simplify Brown’s loneliness, as if he was in a death spiral for 15 years and not a single event was worthy of inclusion until 1988. And yet to these filmmakers the entire comic-tragic highway chase was worthy of detailed reconstruction on film.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">10. James Brown, through his raw Soul Power in the late 1960s and early 70s, taught us how to frame our blackness. Perhaps more than Malcolm, more than Huey & Bobby, it was Soul Brother Number One that gave us the fuel for our emerging black identity. During the first half of the 70s with songs like “Get on the Good Foot,” “Make it Funky,” “Hot Pants,” “Doing itto Death,” “Funky President,” “My Thang,” “Papa Don’t Take No Mess,” “Take Some, Leave Some,” “Mind Power,” Lyn Colllins’ “Think,” Fred Wesley’s “Damn Right I Am Somebody” and “The Payback” all helped us define our “blackness” in a certain way. This film completely missed a means of truly bringing that to light. A quick passage to a deejay in the mix, or a montage of rappers sampling JB, might have illuminated this essential aspect of the great man’s life.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The entire creation of hip hop should be seen as an outgrowth of this fact, yet the fact that hip hop has taken over the world, andis STILL and FOREVER based on the work of James Brown was barely even mentioned. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Having said all of this, I truly enjoyed the film and would recommend that people go and see it while it is in the theaters.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">People should realize that it has been many years since we have all been able to see a truly impactful performance of The Godfather of Soul. He was performing up to his death in 2006, but those later shows were relatively mild showcases of a pop superstar rather than a burning beacon of black self-awareness. This film brings back Soul Brother Number One in many entertaining ways despite all of its flaws. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">There have been complaints of "why can't black filmmakers do projects like these" and that white film producers have such privilege they can just peruse wikipedia and stumble on a black cultural icon and get a film green-lighted about them. It is not that simple. The <i>Ray</i> movie took years to get approved, and it was produced by Taylor Hackford, a white man. I also noticed with chagrin that at the peak of the popularity of black film makers in the 1990s with Spike Lee, the Hudlin Brothers, John Singleton, Mario Van Peeples, Oprah Winfrey and others, I don't remember any of them seriously taking on a biographical project involving a black musical icon. So stop hating on this very thoughtful and professional production and Get Up Offa That Thang and do something to change this situation!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><i>Get On Up</i> should open the door for other films to focus on more events in Brown’s life with greater detail, emphasis and affection. It is a good first step, on the goodfoot…</span></div>
Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-30221061674496419342014-02-09T17:15:00.001-08:002014-02-09T17:15:23.135-08:0010 classic albums that sound different on CD.<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">For a lot of us crate diggers, the transition to CD in the
late 1980s was both a blessing and a curse.
The convenience of the CD format made it easier for some people to get
an entire listening experience, especially when double albums like Funkadelic’s
“America Eats Its Young” or the Crusaders “Southern Comfort” are finally easy
to play in sequence.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">But the CD thing also made listening to the album a more
rewarding experience, from the great visuals of the album art, to the extra
sparkles that came from the lp sound, not simply from the scratches on the
disc. Often the sound is still brighter
on my lps than the CD’s. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After years of listening to some great funk & soul in
both formats, there are a few tracks that are glaring in the contrast from lp
to CD, both good and bad:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Here are the most memorable to me:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1) Parliament Live: P-Funk Earth Tour (1977). When the 2lp came out when I was in high
school, I was thrilled, only to discover that the mix was hella murky on
lp. It would be another 15 years before
the CD reissue would “fix” the sound and deliver a much brighter mix. You can finally hear the Mike Hampton guitar
solo on “Dr. Funkenstein” live. This is
one instance when the CD was an upgrade sound wise from the lp. But you don’t get “Fantasy is Reality” on the
CD, so you are missing something. And of
course you don’t get the crazy Dr Funkenstein poster and Iron on T-Shirt
Transfer!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2) Similarly, I always tripped on how murky Stevie Wonder’s
70’s albums sounded. Particularly Fulfillingness
First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life.
But the 2000 remaster of “Songs …” (thanks Harry Weinger) brings out all
kinds of new layers on songs like “Another Star” and “All Day Sucker” that I
never heard before on the album. In this
case, the CD is a great new treat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3) Brick “Good High”
(1976) This was always one of my favorite creative funk records back in
the day, and I had to wait a hella long time for the CD reissue on Wounded Bird
in 2011. Unfortunately by then I had
already converted my lp to an mp3 album – And that still sounds way brighter
than the new CD. That was a big
downer. I don’t know what was missed but something is
flat on all the tracks. You can compare
the versions from the Greatest Hits versions of “Dazz” and “Good High” to that
disc and it won’t feel good.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4) Collectibles has always had a shaky reputation when it
comes to putting classic soul on CD.
Maybe it is because other labels will remaster tracks and Collectibles
appears to just take a tape and put it directly to CD. That was the case when they did Slave’s two
albums “Hardness of the World” and “The Concept,” two of the wildest funk
albums ever created, put on one CD. I
really wanted The Concept so I could put all 9 glorious minutes of “Stellar
Fungk” on the radio with all the spacey sounds (and Steve Arrington’s
other-worldly percussion!) nice and clean for a change! But no, the sound is gloomy and murky to the
point where I’m still playing my lp or mp3 from my lp on the radio.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The tough part with this is that Rhino did a best of Slave
featuring Steve Arrington that really brought to life “Stellar Fungk” and “The
Party Song” – but cut them way down to fit single versions on the CD comp. So you can easily see how hot the Rhino mix is
versus the Collectibles mix. So I’m
still pining for a sparkly clean version of Stellar Fungk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I wasn’t impressed with that 5CD Album Series release
either. Coulda given a mug some sparkle
on their funk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5-6) Earth Wind & Fire: Gratitude and That’s the Way of
The World. Somehow the CD manufacturers
just don’t know what to do with EWF and their style of putting silly interludes
all over their albums. Do we track them
as individual tracks? Or blend them into
main tracks, therefore messing them up for those of us making mixes. Or do we just delete the sounds altogether?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">On “Way of the World” on both my CD’s the first piano
interlude in front of “All About Love” is gone altogether. Just like it never happened. WTF? That song is magic, for a reason, because of
Larry Dunn’s weird piano/synth tripping, the lovely song enjoys a special place
“inside” EWF’s jazzy world, but not on the CD.
Poof. Some industry hack just
distorted the vision of Maurice White.
Also, the 2 minute piano/synthesizer vamp at the end is stuck on the
track, so if you only want the ballad, too bad, you get: no mellow intro but
you have to get the long outro. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I have an old version of the “Way of the World” CD that put
the piano/synth intro to “All About Love” at the end of the previous track “Happy
Feelin’” which meant that Happy Feelin’ in a mix would go into a piano ballad
before the track ends, making a mess of the mixes I was trying to make with
that song.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Gratitude was almost as bad, as the intro to “Sun Goddess”
is messed up. Most of us OG’s love
hearing the nice intro: “Right now, we
have a special song for you, a song we recorded with Ramsey Lewis…” and then it kicks into the jam. That is one of the most memorable moments of
a legendary live album. For the CD the
track kicks in right on the song, and the dialogue is stuck at the end of
“Devotion.” That means, if you want to
play “Devotion” live in a mix, you also have to listen to the Ramsey Lewis
intro before the song cuts out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">They did put that crazy riff that comes just before “Cant
Hide Love” on the last side of the lp, on the CD and it is tracked by itself,
which was a good idea. An idea that
should apply to all EWF interludes; make them all separate tracks, period.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7) “Aqua Boogie” on Motor Booty Affair. When I came across “Motor Booty Affair” for
the first time in 1978 it was one of the greatest surprises! I didn’t know Parliament was coming out with
something new, and I was still swimming in the P, with One Nation Under A
Groove and Bootsy’s latest “Player of the Year” still making noise. So I copped that disc and ran home and played
the whole thing! I couldn’t believe how
trippy, liquefied and stanky the album was, and Aqua Boogie was just on another
level, with the final ripping groove turning a mutha out! But dang it faded out hella quick! As it turned out, the lp LISTED the song at
6:43 but it was about a minute shorter.
It always bugged me out. Nevertheless
the song was psychedelic p-funk perfection, so I wasn’t trippin’…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">But when the CD came out in 1990 I was stunned to hear the
final minute of Aqua Boogie in all its super stankiness, and sloppiness. I figure it was faded on the lp because that
underwater bird (performed by who?...) kinda lost his breath in that final minute,
and the perfection of the arrangement is somewhat lost. Maybe that was the case, maybe it was just a
ghost in the machine…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8) Spider on Herbie Hancock’s “Secrets” album. This has always been one of my all time
favorite jazz funk albums, and “Spider” is to me a masterpiece of precision stank
funk hiding on a jazz album. Herbie’s
ability to put a serene sheen on the gangly spidery groove has always been
hypnotic to me. The ending, in a splash
of synthesizer splatter is also a memorable jazz funk legendary moment. But when I rushed out to buy the first CD
reissue, there was a “glitch” in the end of Spider, as if the “tape” had folded
as it was being digitized. A funk
buzzkill if there ever was one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So I figured it was just a bad CD, and I bought another one,
same glitch. Dang. Glad to know that used CD’s are always being
bought & sold, but I really wanted that Spider to come out clean. Many of those mid 70s albums have been
remastered and completely upgraded sound wise, but not Secrets. Still waiting. Fortunately one can download “Spider” from
itunes from a “Greatest Hits” and it sounds fine. Or better yet, crank the original album!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">9) Sometimes CD reissues come with sound that is way too hot
& loud, like my best of the Emotions, and my best of Mother’s Finest. Sometimes CD reissues come in way too low,
like for some reason a lot Al Jarreau, my Gil Scott Heron “Pieces of a Man”
comp, and my Quincy Jones “Mellow Madness” CD from Japan. For a long time there was no real standard
for what level to put the lp out on CD.
Drove me nuts trying to make a radio mix.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">10) Does anybody else remember when CBS messed up and put
the “alternate” Fresh album by Sly & the Family Stone out? That was a trip. Apparently it was murkier and trippier than
the album most of us knew and loved anyway.
I believe it is what Sly gave originally to the label, and somebody
decided to mix it again after Sly handed it in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Any other big surprises?</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-33426980128318550122014-02-09T17:07:00.004-08:002014-02-09T17:16:32.210-08:0010 Excellent takeaways from Undercover Presents Stand!<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">10 Excellent takeaways from Undercover Presents <i>Stand!</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">On Sunday January 19th, over 100 musicians gathered together at the Independent in San Francisco for the finale of three nights of a presentation of every track of Sly & the Family Stone’s groundbreaking 1969 album Stand! I was honored to be a part of the festivities, giving some Sly knowledge, hanging with the brilliant and buoyant musician</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">s, and acting a fool during the finale on stage!<br /><br />There were so many awesome elements to this experience, for instance:<br /><br />1. Multiple generations of musicians got to not only perform Sly Stone’s music, but to immerse themselves in the prophetic visions and the stylistic range of Bay Area legends Sly & the Family Stone. Each act, each collective on stage was able to process and express Sly’s vision of a "Love City" that took on but went beyond the racial & gender divides of the times, and took us towards a true global love community!<br /><br />2. The once revered epiphany of the album listening experience was brought back with a vengeance! The entire night was designed for the audience to witness the range, depth, funky thump and cumulative optimism of the entire 1969 <i>Stand!</i> record, which was attained with spectacular results. This will have folks flocking back to the original album all over again - for the first time!<br /><br />2. Everyone in the place got to witness nine separate finales, as each act just took their sound and Sly’s vision to a Higher level, bringing down the house again and again! So much talent! So much funk! So much love in the house!<br /><br />The true genius of Sly Stone was revealed by the fact that his work was accessible to musicians from nine different genres, musical worlds, tastes and musical scenes.<br />They were each reflecting Sly’s vision that "Everybody is a Star," and celebrating "Everyday People" with Different Strokes for Different Folks!<br /><br />4. The final night was a clean technical sweep, as very few sound problems or glitches delayed any of the sets or transitions. Truly a feat of wizardry from all involved. The Independent never sounded so good! (and I’ve seen some legendary shows there)<br /><br />5. Original Family Stone members Rustee Allen (bass) and Greg Errico (drums) appeared onstage and not only got the love they deserved, but were clearly moved by the experience, and in no time they FUNKED UP the place with their musical mastery!<br /><br />6. Dave Moschler’s indomitable genius of drawing together artists from disparate genres into one project - one vision and one creation - was simply a divine stroke. The diversity and the unity all over the building was a soul penetrating experience! So many of us were able to meet and to learn about each other’s works and start new funky networks of our own. Thank U Dave!<br /><br />7. The Awesome Orchestra Collective’s opening “Stand!” performance was thunderous, while the exhilarating sounds of Soprano Lauren Woody, pianist JooWan Kim and two rappers doing “Don’t Call Me Nigger Whitey” are still in my head; The unforgettable Energy of Zakira Harris’ Afro-Cuban dance ensemble ripping “I Want to Take You Higher” is still bouncing me around; the exquisite polish of Tiffany Austin’s vocals and upright bass player Marcus Shelby’s rendition of “Somebody’s Watching You” was masterful; and the all-consuming, explosive Latin hip hop in Bayonics’ thunderous rendition ‘Sing A Simple Song” was enough to satisfy any music fan – and that was only Side 1 of <i>Stand!</i><br /><br />8. The hypnotic, dreamy soul country flavors of the Tumbleweed Wanderers (with Jeremy Lyon channeling Allan Gorrie of AWB) was utterly haunting as they revitalized “Everyday People” in a way that tapped into all of the energy in the room. The disparate spirits became One as they gave love to America’s vast expanse of the human heart; The highlight of the show for many of us was Con Brio’s lead singer Ezekiel McCarter, who channeled a passionate Marvin Gaye on “Sex Machine” and made it his own, while celebrating the original 13 minute masterpiece with a rendition that you never wanted to stop! The increasing funkativity was not lost from Will Magid’s wickedly funky keyboard & trumpet work on “My Brain (Zig Zag)” with bass from Family Stone O.G. Rustee Allen. The party was rocking off the chain when the Jazz Mafia – featuring Greg Errico on drums brought down the house with “You Can Make it If You Try” – and Uriah Duffy’s channeling of Larry Graham to punctuate the ultimate Funk of the whole thing!<br /><br />9. The all hands - all bands - on deck finale was as transcendent a moment as Bay Area music can deliver! The chaos, the pure joy, the elevated spirits and thunderous funk was a living Monster! That was truly Love City!<br /><br />10. The heavy lifting of Lyz Luke to bring together the musical talent, the promotional efforts, the venue operations, the merchandizing, and a thousand logistics while remaining cool, calm, lovely and funky onstage and everywhere else set the tone of this unforgettable set!<br /><br />11. Sly Stone would be so proud of this!</span></span></span>Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-78053806481165701832014-01-01T14:56:00.000-08:002014-01-01T15:03:41.137-08:00RV's FAVORITE FUNK OF 2013<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">I</span><span style="color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black;">t</span><span style="background-color: black;"> has been a strange year for funk releases. A number of Funk MASTERS released music this year, but their spins on the Glorious Funk Vibe have gone well out on eccentric Plutonian orbits, while a lot of us are still hungry for the gravity of a fat gas giant Jupiter-sized scoop of funk right about now. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">The best of the Masters’ work include: Bernie Worrell, <i>BWO is Landing</i>; Jerome Brailey and Mutiny: <i>Funk Road</i>; and Danny Bedrosian: <i>Songs for a Better Tomorrow</i>. Each of these carries the weight of P-Funk legacy and a serious dose of funk mastery, yet each also reminds us of how disembodied the entire P-Funk Nation has become. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Working with a band of talented younger players in his Bernie Worrell Orchestra, Bernie has found a niche that truly showcases his unique genius. At it’s best (on songs like “Double W”) the BWO band shows us what the next generation is capable of, and how satisfying their sound can be. But there is always the specter of standard vs stank with younger funkers. Though it is wiggly and wondrous - and Bernie turned out the Long Beach Funk Fest with his BWO - one always feels the tug of The P with Bernie…as if the next collaboration will bring back the Super Groovalistic Prosifunkstication.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">P-Funk drummer Jerome Brailey brings the dirty south Uncut Funk vibe on his spectacular <i>Funk Road</i>. Jerome goes everywhere here, from Latinized Florida funk, to raw country funk and dirty funk-rock riffing that he is the master of. The band and the sound goes everywhere, and BigFoot doesn’t cut corners, he splatters with his patented percussive, polyrhythmic, relentless beats. The only drawback is that he goes so many places that the overall experience loses focus, which reminds us of how far out of phase our collective notions of The Funk are becoming.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Current P-Funk keyboardist Danny Bedrosian can always be counted on to bring the comic splatter-funk adventures. On <i>Music for a Better Tomorrow</i>, he’s really working on doing a focused funk project here, but his wit and wackiness just takes over and the record jumps around like a monkey in a cage. Not that that’s a bad thing! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">The hungry upcoming funky bucks kept it going in 2013: Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band delivered <i>Onward!</i>, a crazy party session that upholds their growing reputation with an unstoppable southern funky vibe. West coast baby O.G’s Weapon of Choice came back with <i>Really Relevant</i> and features Lonnie Marshall’s silly groove style back in total effect. From Europe, original Rubber Band vocalist MudBone is featured prominently on the very thunderous <i>Who’s Cooking</i> by Grand Slam, maybe the best of the polished contemporary funk releases. The New York based United Funk Order continues to bang out delicious soul-inflected funk, but only released a 3 song EP this year. (check out Crackpipe!)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">My favorite of these about-to-be O.G.’s is Detroit based P-Funk drummer Gabe Gonzales’ super-stanky <i>Intergalaxative</i>. This mash-a-mug is nearing that magical mix of crispy clean and down & dirtay at once that all great Funk aspires to. Gabe is well on the dirty side, but this is a much sharper effort than his Negative Nuisance from a couple years back. If you want and need that hard hitting dirty dog thumping Funk and no filler, you can start with Intergalaxative.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Two of the most mindblowing releases come to the funk from a wider, righteous angle: <i>Kentyah Presents: Evolutionary Minded -Furthering The Legacy Of Gil Scott-Heron</i> is a completely mind blowing righteous treatment of jazz, funk and revolutionary rap from M1 of Dead Prez, and producer Kentyah Fraser (who brought us the Headhunters’ Platinum a couple years back) all in the vein of a Gil Scott-Heron type production. Gil’s homie Brian Jackson is on a lot of the production, as are superstars such as Blackbyrd McKnight, percussionist Airto, drummer Mike Clark, Juma Sultan, bassist Paul Jackson, Martin Luther and the voice of Bobby Seale. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">The other mind bending funk-jazz excursion is the return of Kelvyn Bell’s Kelvynator: <i>Funk 4 Wha Cha Know</i>. Kelvynator was a rowdy 80’s funk fusion act that stood strong in the mix of alternative ass-kicking radical jazz-funk acts like Defunkt and Jean Paul Bourelly. His new music is as strong as any of his earlier work. Kelvyn Bell’s radically offbeat thumpasorus humps, chords and grooves are an intoxicating radioactive mash of stank, that dares anyone from the funk or jazz worlds to reach them at the crossroads. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Then there are the funk redux sounds of Aurra, Global Noize and the latest from Earth, Wind & Fire: <i>Now, Then & Forever</i>. Steve Washington was “rediscovered” in a sense when producer Daniel Borine located the lost tapes of a 1984 Aurra album done without Kurt Jones & Starleana Young but with Bride of Funkenstein Sheila Horne and (Chaka’s brother) Mark Stevens. The crazy legal mess with the original Aurra has passed 30 years later, but the grooves, remixed by state-of-the-art producers on the new release <i>Satisfaction</i> sound badass, ole school and brand new all at once. The hype has also helped inspire Steve to break out with Kurt Jones again and start on some real new Aurra music too!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Earth, Wind & Fire came back yet again with their patented sound of horn driven positive R&B. This time they brought back in the fold original keyboardist Larry Dunn, and as a result their sound is more satisfying than it has been in years. Some of these O.G.’s are really trying to bring back that REAL black music, they just need our support cause the industry will try to make them all disappear!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">A massive collaboration of artists led by producer Jason Miles put together <i>Sly Reimagined</i>, yet another spin on the Sly Stone catalog, that brings even more fresh flava to the insastiable positivity of Sylvester Stewart’s work! With contributions from the likes of Maya Azucena (singing lead on “Fun”) Will Bernard on guitar and original Family Stone drummer Greg Errico on most of the tracks, the feel is rich, fresh and funky yet again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">Sly & the Family Stone really got the repackaging treatment this year. Get On Down released a deluxe repackaging of <i>There’s A Riot Going On</i>, and Epic/Sony Legacy finally got off their asses and produced THE Sly box set airybody’s been waiting for, <i>Higher!</i> The 4 discs of hilarious unreleased gems, classic masters and alternate takes makes for an intensely uplifting experience, and the massive MASSIVE book of photos and memorabilia make the project the definitive treatment!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">But there is more, Dutch collectors extraordinaire Arno and Edwin Konigs finally completed their giant picture books of the music of the Sly & the Family Stone and one on the music of George Clinton & P-Funk. These coffee-table sized labors of love are as satisfying as any music reissue to come along, and are welcome additions to the ever growing multi media recognition of the legacy of The Funk!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">One should not sleep on the funkativity of our European funk head friends, with Rony Playstation (Funkadelian Johnson), Tiny & the Underground Funk Squad, P-Theory, Bobby Soul, Octave Pussy, Seven Eleven (featuring Dodge) and many others producing tracks, their albums are regularly at the top of my Best Funk of the Year lists. One should peep the tracks posted by Heavy Baby Makers, a collaboration of many Euro-Peein’ Maggots I’ve listed!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">It was too hard to make a straight “top ten list” of funk releases this year because so many artists spun around a funk orbit but didn’t spend enough time in that “ habitable zone.” We keep hearing rumors about new funk albums from giants like George Clinton, D’Angelo, and the Prince/3rd Eye Girl/Ida Nielsen confab, but fo real, put something out already! Here’s hoping that 2014 will be the year that we get The Funk Over The Hump!</span>Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-43526460908236314532013-08-12T11:55:00.000-07:002013-08-14T01:57:38.968-07:00I Spent The Day With Sly & the Family Stone On July 31, I was asked to interview Sly & the Family Stone. Not a gig that comes along every day, but there was a buzz about a big box set coming up, and I knew the collectors that contributed to the spectacular book of photos of memorabilia and other goodies in the box. Neal Austinson and Edwin & Arno Konigs are probably the most accomplished collectors of Sly Stone stuff in the world, and they put together a monster package that is coming out next month. In addition to laying out a masterpiece of Sly memorabilia, I was told that that Neal suggested me to do the interview, and I’m real indebted to him for that.<br />
The buzz from Sony/Legacy was that Sly was actually going to show up on Monday August 5th at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley for an all day interview session to promote the box set. It was also a time for the Family Stone to get back together, and the Stewart family to reconnect.
Freddie Stone, the Reverend Frederick Stewart showed up with his wife Melody. Vaetta (Vet Stone) made it; their sister Rose arrived, and most were asking questions about how this thing actually could come together. Cynthia and Jerry drove up in a car together, and had a banter that could only come from partners in 45 years of friendship and work. Greg Errico came with his usual upbeat personality, and a halo of technicians were buzzing around, with Sony rep Marisa Jeffries keeping it all together and trying to get promo copies of the box set signed by everyone there.<br />
The techs had the group members sit in a semicircle of low couch seats, facing me off camera. I had to submit a list of questions days ahead of time, even though it is always the impromptu questions that get things really rolling. But hey, Adam Farber at Sony Legacy was cool with what I wrote, so it was all good.
Cynthia, Vaetta, Freddie, Rose, Jerry & Greg settled in. Larry Graham was contacted but wasn’t available. Some folks still believe that Larry & Sly have some kind of beef, but in talking with Larry over the past couple of years, it is clear to me that he reveres Sly like the rest of us, but is wary of his missteps and the industry shenanigans, and is just waiting for the “right” moment to join the party.<br />
Not everyone was thrilled about getting back together, and there was a bit of awkwardness, so I opened with individual questions of each member, so they could get a groove without any side stuff. Greg got into how he studied the drummer Buddy Rich, and Freddie spoke on how the Haight Ashbury affected his life. I asked Cynthia if she was the only black girl in the Sacramento High marching band (there was one other), and Rose what took her so long to join the group (she had a day job at a bank!). Then they all spoke on how nurturing mom and pops Stewart were to them, how they were all welcomed into the “family” and allowed to do their thing.
The discussion of the magic of the early group was just exhilarating. Their first shows at the “Winchester Cathedral” in Redwood City, the way Sly would ‘deliver’ songs to them, with his clear vision yet a trust in each one’s own ability to put a stamp on their parts.<br />
We had a ball with “Dance to the Music” and what it was like to redefine pop music – introducing an entire band in a 3 minute song – giving the goods to people “who only need a beat!” and becoming overnight stars as a result.
When we got to <i>Stand!</i> and the social issues, folks got all up into it, with Freddie going on about the song “Nigger Whitey” and how important it was to get clear on what it means - equality. The song is not featured on the box set I was hired to ask the band about, but they all got into it. Freddie and the others also talked about how that song came about because they toured the country and witnessed the race hate from all directions, although in the Bay Area they had a different experience entirely.<br />
They also got way deep into the Woodstock session, and what its like backstage at an all night outdoor music festival. These folks all crossed paths with some incredible moments in history and going through it with them was as thrilling as advertised.
Then the techs started buzzing around, “Sly was in the parking lot” is what I heard. The folks were ready for a break but the techs were hoping to get Sly to walk in on the set… they said “no break!” Freddie got up & said “we’re old folks, we’re taking a break!”<br />
So the techs herded folks around quickly and got us all back together just in time…
I was out of questions by then, and started riffing on songs and issues and moments that meant the most to me – and the group was much looser – and then Sylvester the slippery one shows up! He rushed in, crossed the stage and gave every person a long warm embrace. Everybody was thrilled to have him back in the room! Then he goes back to the starting point across the stage, where he isn’t supposed to be, and tells the techs, this is where I’m staying…<br />
So we do the interview from there and it is just a HIGH! I start by saying “Sly we were just talking about the idea that is in much of your music that “you got to get through it to get to it!” Sly jumps in and starts riffing on “Nigger Whitey” and all the dramatics that the band went through and what it takes to be yourself through all the madness. It was a trip! He rambled a bit, scattered some ideas, but was always on point. Sometimes you had to rewind in your mind what he said so you could keep up with what he was telling you.
The man lives on another level than the rest of us, but his heart is where we all know it to be, and we love him for it.<br />
After what felt like 5 minutes but was more like 40, they wrapped up the taping and I could finally exhale! But I head earned my paycheck because this was a group like no other, with a story like no other that deserved to be told like no other and I was proud to be a part of it.
The techs took the band into a sound studio and they listened to some of their hits mixed in parts, like “Everyday People” “Hot Fun in the Summertime” and “Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin.” The look and sound of that session was surreal. It is why we collectors collect. In the hopes of connecting to a moment like this. For a moment, in the mix with SLY & the Family Stone, all was good in the world.
At some point, some of this footage will be part of the promotional package for the Sly & the Family Stone Box Set “Higher” coming out at the end of August.
It was a momentous experience, and I hope it can happen again (maybe with Larry, who Knows?) But if not, at least this gathering took place and the Family Stone took another step toward their immortality with this gathering.<br />
RV
Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-75492214223363081772012-12-29T01:32:00.000-08:002012-12-29T01:38:42.445-08:00RVs favorite funky releases for 2012:Another year, another plunge into the inspired world of funk music. This year has been both invigorating and frustrating because so much great funky music is being released, but the lack of recognition of the music outside of our funk networks is galling. Nowadays the funk is both everywhere and nowhere, as you cannot find any great funk release on the R&B or hip hop charts, but through our doo doo loops we often hear of killer music before it is even released. So if you want to find The Funk, here's some good starting points: <br><br>
<b>Ronkat Spearman’s Katdelic: D.O.T.M.S.</b>
P-Funk guitarist sideman Ronkat Spearman left George Clinton’s touring group a few years back to concentrate on his own band and his own production and it has taken off in blazing fashion. Katdelic is a great experience live, but one of Ronkat’s greatest talents is songwriting, and he has put together a deep, diverse, thunderous, tender, sentimental and stylish celebration of the magnificence of The Funk. Utter funk slabs like “Oh Hi” and “Mackin’ with No Hands” are complimented by ever so groovy trips as “Drive Away,” “Change Generation” and the haunting tribute to Garry Shider: “Peace to You.” This disc is silly, serious, soaring, subtle and superior in every way. Bustin’ “Bob” Mitchell at The Funk Store.com wrote a spectacular review of the CD that I could not have said better myself. http://www.thefunkstore.com/CurrentCDs/JustTheFacts/CRNT_RonkatDOTMS2012_TFS.htm
Check this review here, or better yet, check the CD and you’ll see it is THE ONE for this year, and you will be <i>Dancing on the Mothership</i>. <br><br>
<b>Larry Graham and Graham Central Station: Raise Up!</b>
FINALLY! Larry Graham is back with The Thunder and he’s here to let every body know what The Funk is all about. Graham has been in collaboration with Prince for a number of years, and it hasn’t always produced music that brings out the best of each artist. Raise Up! is the most Larry Graham-ish record in years! By far the best production quality of any record on this list, the record has that ole school Bay Area feel of atmospheric soul, and incredible bass tone that the REAL GCS was all about. Some of the surprise of this is taken away by Larry’s remakes of original GCS tunes like “It’s Alright” and “Ain’t No Fun to Me.” I’m not entirely sold on those, but the redo of “Now Do You Wanta Dance” is in another place altogether, and reconfigures the notion of 2000s funk in about 30 seconds of hump. <br><br>
<b>Ida Nielsen: Sometimes a Girl Needs Some Sugar Too</b>
Formerly known as Bass-Ida, Prince’s astoundlingly funky bass player Ida Nielsen delivers a brilliant stomp fest here, with some vicious chops and an excellent range of moods to compliment her butt ripping bass slams. Listening to this set gives a clue as to why Prince has been getting so deep into the super strong funk sound nowadays. The hard funk tracks like “Feed Me” and “Rubber Toy in my Bathtub” and the title track are just the front lines to a nonstop slice of multiple mood funky heat from an underrated master of the craft. <br><br>
<b>GoGo Get Down Compiled By Joey Negro: Pure Ghetto Funk from Washington D.C.</b>
This one brings it! The days of the wacky and badly mixed Go Go comps are finally over! 24 of the wildest, looniest, meanest and ghettoest 80s Go Go tracks ever put to disc shine here in this one of a kind celebration of the crank!! There are some tracks and some artists here that are fairly well known, but the true magic of this mix is the consistently grooving genius of Go Go street funk from the depths of the scene, captured and apparently remastered for a consistent mash of magnificent, endless funk joy! This came out just weeks before we lost Chuck Brown, and his legacy as the Godfater of Go Go shines brighter than ever here. <br><br>
<b>New Trinity Revolution: 9</b> and <b>Zootzilla: To Lie With Wolves</b>
These two discs are from P-funk styled Bay Area producer Phil “PTFI” Jones. PTFI keeps the groove slow, lean, tight, dirty and clean all at once. Both of these CD’s are in such a pocket that they should be listed together. Zootzilla is the lunatic George Clinton clone with the voice of a wild wolf in heat, and he growls and clowns over PTFI’s stomping bottom on each loony track. The bass goes off on “Long Gone Fishin” and Zoot just be clowinin’ on “Lord of the Wolves”. This is a nut case of crazy contemporary funky conduits, like “Parasite Dooky Drop” with George Clinton. The New Trinity Revolution is a slightly smoother PTFI project, with cleaner, meaner message music and stoopid thomps. PTFI is Phil the Funky Instrumentalist, and you get the real deal on songs like “Electrohipnoticbumpmusic” and “Funkin’ out of Time”. As serious as the groove gets, guests like George Clinton and Trey Lewd keep the nonsense factor higher than high, while guest Lil T, daughter of Dr. Illenstein, makes her case to keep Obama in the White House on “Letter to the President.” <br><br>
<b>Monophonics: In Your Brain</b>
These bay area funk-rockers put a dirty 60’s rock feel into The Funk for 2012 and don’t miss anything. It is a throwback and blast forward all at once. This is that meeting of 60’s psychedelia and bottom heavy thump that we’ve been waiting for since 1972. Lead singer Kelly Finnigan has the look and sound of someone that played Woodstock and survived, and then did gigs at the Keystone Corner in Berkeley in 1971 fronting this band before time warping it to 2012. <br><br>
<b>D’Angelo: Live in Oslo</b>
For years there has been a buzz about the new D’Angelo studio album, but no dice, no news, only cryptic teases. Then we started to hear stories of D’angelo’s magnificent live tour of Europe early in 2012. He had some great funk players with him, like Kendra Foster on vocals, Amp Fiddler on keys and Jesse Johnson on guitar. We kept seeing the great wobbly youtube posts of his tour, and were left to wonder how and when he would bring That Funk to the States. Then he returned and performed at a B.E.T. awards show, (a fantastic set) and toured – opening for Mary J Blige in a setting that wasted his growing funk legend. Meanwhile still no word about the new album. But lo and behold, his 2012 European tour was captured on a spectacular 2-disc set released in Europe. Everything you loved about D’Angelo is captured in full, thrilling effect on this disc. Why it was not released to great fanfare in the U.S. is a complete mystery because it is KILLER. <br><br>
<b>Danny Bedrosian’s Secret Army: Lost Froth</b>
P-Funk keyboardist Danny Bedrosian’s Lost Froth is once again a brilliant mash a mug of his keyboard genius and soulful, jazzy song styling. Danny’s music takes you crazy places that sometimes you want to desperately stay in, and sometimes you want to get out of right away. Maybe anticipating this, Lost Froth features a crazy mix of some songs that are too short and some that are hella long. But once you take the plunge in the lunatic tripology, you’ll never want to climb out. <br><br>
<b>Lettuce: Fly</b>
This Brooklyn based instrumental group once again packaged a lean and mean funky groove session that takes no prisoners and plays every song like it is their most important selection. Nonstop funk-jazz like it used to be done. Their cover of “Slippin into Darkness” is only the beginning of a deep tribute to the groove, including the killer “Let it Gogo” <br><br>
<b>Esperanza Spalding: Radio Music Society</b>
The delightful bass playing prodigy (and dreamy vocalist) made her move toward R&B with her 4th album of exquisitely soulful jazz driven mellow groove music. She won the ‘best new artist’ Grammy Award in 2011 over the media favorite Justin Bieber, and her career has far more substance to it, regardless of her hit list. This album features some brilliant inspiring soul in the vein of Minnie Riperton, with tracks like “Black Gold” and “Cinnamon Tree” she clearly has a vision that needs to be heard. It is sad to me that she has so few contemporaries in the world of conscious, cool, positive black jazzy, soulful groove music. <br><br>
On the hip hop front, Boots Riley's latest, "Sorry to Bother You" from The Coup is as wild as ever and pushes the boundaries of hip hop forward into headslamming conscious rage music, and the latest Public Enemy is doing an honorable job of reclaiming the roots of conscious rap, but the strate up funk connection is harder and harder to find in hip hop today. Maybe that's as it should be.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-71318914498410611892012-07-02T18:56:00.001-07:002012-07-02T19:03:06.987-07:00Return of The Soul BrotherI caught D’Angelo on the BET Awards the other night. (July 1). His set included a classic ballad of his, and a bouncing, funky groove from his new upcoming album. He played some mean piano, and cooked up the funk at the end with a jam that started to truly smoke, and just pushed aside the shallow pop dribblers in the audience. D’Angelo deliberately gave us multiple sides of this soul/funk master in effect. It was so so refreshing. <br><br>
It is so important for a “Soul Singer” to re-emerge with the values of <i>Soul</i>, because the idea has been getting a bad wrap lately. When Barack Obama “Slow jammed the news” with Jimmy Fallon in April, it let us all know that, while Obama has his ‘race’ card fully intact, it also made a statement that the slow jam from a strong man is now an artifact, an item to be manipulated like a trinket at tourist trap gift shop.
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Black popular music has been in bad shape for a number of years. It is not simply that people are not talented, well ok, a case can be made that the talent level of black popular artists of recent vintage has been lacking, but a larger issue has developed, one in which black male performers are caught in a creative vise grip, due to forces from within and without.
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to come across such young female firebrands as Ledisi, Goapele, and Jill Scott. The rise of mature black women such as Sharon Jones & her Dap Kings is heartwarming. Esperanza Spalding is a delight and a genius, and her incredible album “Radio Music Society” is a ray of hope for black popular music.
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But I’ve been asking myself for years now, where are the brothers? Can a brotha sing with the raw power of Ledisi or the hypnotic allure of Esperanza Spalding or exotic passion of Goapele? For what its worth, the great female pop stars enjoy a range of styles and sounds in their works. Even Beyonce can do ballads as well as dancefloor burners.
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The brothers? Well there have been some great lovermen, bedroom crooners like Eric Benet and the legendary Luther Vandross. But their range remains in the bedroom, as if they are capable of imagining nothing else. This is a problem.
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To their credit, a wave of new black male vocalists is on the scene, trying to break out of the loverman image, and present themselves as thoughtful, original, entertainers. I’m not talking about the Bruno Mars clown show or the Chris Brown fiasco, but provocative and original black male singers like Bilal, Martin Luther, Van Hunt, Reggie Watts, Amp Fiddler, Dwele, and a long list of others.
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Most of these self styled soul brothas do a fine job of working around a musical idea, of working around a groove, and working their emotions to make excellent songs of personal love and a greater social love.
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But without attempting any disrespect, to my ear, most of their songs sound like Prince or Marvin Gaye b-sides. Not that this is a bad thing necessarily, but everyone is trying to be the next b-side balladeer. Where is the next Rick James? So much great soul music works around a soft side, but nobody wants to stand up and throw down!
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As much as these fine neo-soul singers emulate the b-side material of Prince and Marvin Gaye and the ballads of Michael Jackson, it is as if they have forgotten that Prince and MJ would rip the dancefloor to pieces with their hot funky party jams. As much as Prince could create an intimate bedroom mood and writhe on the floor in intense passion, he is still just as capable of bringing that passion to the Funk, to the party music.
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Dwele in the club? Bilal stomping the stage? Van Hunt doing some club moves? He tried on his second album, but just didn’t put it together. It is like they are all doing the ‘safe’ black male singing thing. The hard stuff, well, let’s face it, that’s the domain of the <i>rappers.</i>
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As I see it, we all have abdicated a critical perspective on our young male artists, and simply allowed them to diverge into one of two characters: the hypermasculine hip hop male pimp-daddy clown, or the hyper-sexualized R&B man-servant. Where is the middle ground? In this formula, folks like R. Kelly show their ‘hardness’ by their ability to abuse and humiliate women, not in their abilities to rouse their passions in a dance.
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My issue is this: to be a black male soul singer today, these artists are compelled to leave their masculinity at the door. One can be a lover, but not a fighter too.
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You want to emulate some great black soul singing? Try the Isley Brothers’ “The Pride” or “Who’s That Lady” or “Fight the Power.” We all love Ronnie Isley, but he did far more than great love ballads. Everyone remembers the O’Jays ballads like “Cry Together” and “”Let Me Make Love to You” – because they get played on ‘quiet storm’ radio formats regularly - but they also scorched the dancefloor with the number one pop tune “I Love Music” and the legendary “For the Love of Money” was a funk classic. And while we regularly hear legendary Lionel Richie ballads like “Just to Be Close to You” and “Three Times A Lady,” people forget that he was singing in the Commodores at the time, and those same albums had bigger hits with dancefloor punishers “Fancy Dancer,” “Slippery When Wet” and “Brick House.”
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But here’s my deal: almost all of these newbies are masters of the whispering/singing/whining bedroom tones that are the “standard” of black music nowadays. Van Hunt blew up in 2004 with an amazing debut album and the single “Seconds of Pleasure” and he’s been trying to figure out how to get past that image ever since.
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The emasculation of the black male soul singer is a direct reflection of the fossilization of the black male image in the public imagination – as a rapper, as a thug, as a hip hop gangster – in a hoodie. Nothing confirms this pathetic state of the black male image more starkly thatn the wanton attack on black teenager Trayvon Martin, who was walking from a convenience store “in a hoodie” and therefore “looking suspicious.” The resultant harrasment, confrontation and murder of the Trayvon Martin is a direct result of the public image of the young black male as one of impossibly narrow characteristics: violent, criminal thug. Despite the fact that the Commander in Chief is an African Amerian who claims his son would ‘look like Trayvon” the fact remains that someone or some thing or some entity in our nation has fixated upon the black male and fixed in the national imagination a black man with narrow ideas, narrow values, and a presence to be feared.
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This onslaught, while centuries in the making, can be disrupted, because it was disrupted in the past. For this to take place, black male entertainers can and must expand beyond their accepted ‘loverman’ stereotypes, and try to become spokespersons for a greater kind of love. John Legend made an admirable attempt in 2008 when he performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in support of Barack Obama’s nomination. He was joined by fellow stereotype distruptor Will.I.Am.
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Unfortunately, black music after Obama’s election, like the movement that supported it, faded back to the standard status quo of pop nonsense, masculine blather and loverman overload.
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Black artists and entertainers have a bound social contract with their community that they fail to adhere to when they narrow their voice to a simple stereotypical sound. This was and is the triumph of D’Angelo, to break through and destroy these stereotypes and present to the world a soulful black man.
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This is why it is so important for artists like Martin Luther to expand beyond their love songs and become the psychedelic badass <i>“Martian” </i>Luther, with hard driving – indisputably masculine music – that showcases a range of black male musicality and masculinity, of vision and attraction, in complex ways.
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This is why the return of D’Angelo is so important to the popular music scene, and to Black America overall. A creative tour de force, and a vibrant, masculine vigorous black man with ideas, vision and visceral magnetism has not been seen in the public domain in years. With the death of Barry White, of the Godfather of Soul James Brown, the passing of Teddy Pendergrass, the murder of Marvin Gaye, the suicide of Donny Hathaway, the deaths of Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Phillipe Wynne of the Spinners, Joe Tex, Eddie LaVert and so many others, the broad minded black male has become a forgotten commodity in the American commercial culture.
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D’Angelo represents so much more. He is a card carrying funkateer, with a repertoire of ballads and hard driving funk and thoughtful, spiritual soul that makes all the connections. The connections that the Original Soul Prophets – Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Al Green, Sly, Aretha et al, were capable of doing on a regular basis.
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D’angelo frames his work on his own, referencing Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, the Isley Brothers and George Clinton, as well as Prince and Marvin Gaye. His presence is as masculine as any of the rappers, yet his emotionality is a deep as any of the crooners. These were the traits of the original soul masters, capable of exuding masculinity and embracing their feminine side in a fearless expression of love of the human condition. This is where the black male soul singers need to go, so we can return to a sense of unity within our music and ourselves.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-61084751911374656082012-03-08T17:48:00.000-08:002012-03-08T17:49:50.419-08:00Notes from the Jimmy Castor MemorialOn Sunday March 4th I went to the Memorial for Jimmy Castor. Jimmy Castor was “The Everything Man” and one of my Super Funky heroes. In 2010 I was able to get to know Jimmy Castor and his son Jimmy Jr. and had the privilege of helping to facilitate Jimmy’s performance at the Long Beach Funk Fest, which would turn out to be his last live performance.<br /><br />The Brooklyn native, Jimmy Castor grew up with members of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, and Jimmy wound up singing doo wop professionally while still in Junior High School. Some of his compositions, like “I Promise to Remember” are as fresh today as they were in the 1950s. For reasons that still mystify and amaze me, Jimmy Castor immersed himself in Latin Soul in the 1960, and generated some musical buzz with his 1966 hit “Hey Leroy Your Mama’s Calling You.” Jimmy was equally at home singing doo wop, playing blistering timbales solos and clave on the cowbell, or playing soul jazz on the saxophone. <br /><br />But he’s best known for his outrageous cavemen characters and novelty funk hits in the 1970s, some which are hip hop break beat classics. Stompers like “Troglodyte,” “King Kong,” “Dracula,” “Space Age” and “The Bertha Butt Boogie” were standards of the funk fans of my generation. How one artist could attain a mastery of such a wide palate of music was one reason why Jimmy Castor is the brilliant genius legend that he is, and one reason why he’s often passed over when the greats are mentioned.<br /><br />Jimmy Castor moved to Las Vegas over ten years ago, and found a niche playing his old school sounds with a band that was versatile enough to keep up with his un-matchable creative range. At The Bootlegger bistro, south of the Las Vegas strip, a stirring range of stars came out to pay tribute to the E-Man, Jimmy Castor. The legendary doo wop singer, latin soul maestro, and thumpasorus funkmaster was given a proper tribute that only few could have pulled off.<br /><br />The energy of the place was vibrant, full of color and life. Like Jimmy would have liked it. Jimmy’s daughter introduced the proceedings with a heartfelt tribute that also showed her Brooklyn accent, and a street sense that many of us had come to know through Jimmy’s body of work.<br /><br />Jimmy’s son Jayson Castor starting things off with a wild rendition of “E Man Boogie” that showed that the fruit didn’t fall to far from the tree. Jayson had many of the mannerisms and the wickedly sassy style of his dad. Then one by one a series of performers came on stage to sing selections of Jimmy’s catalog. Avis Harrell sang “Everything is Beautiful to Me” one of Jimmy’s overlooked midtempo tunes from his funk days. Then the surprises really began to take off: Jimmy’s bandleader “Marinaro,” who handled the entire showcase brilliantly, introduced Louis Lymon, who’s name didn’t ring a bell, until he got on stage in a super snazzy white 3 piece suit, and started singing in perfect pitch like his brother Frankie Lymon! Louis Lymon then did some of those super smooth do wop dance steps that let everyone know how much STYLE there was back in the day, and where a lot of break dancing came from. I was transfixed by Louis Lymon, and how fresh he was after 50 years. I also realized that there was a contingent of extremely snappily dressed soul brothas and sistas in the house, wearing loud colors that bounced off the multicolored lights of The Bootlegger bistro that nite. <br /><br />As a string of artists took the stage to do renditions of doo wop; of Jimi’s jazzy instrumentals; of Jimmy’s blistering Latin percussion driven music, and of his killer funk jams, an unmistakable sensation overcame me: that it takes a dozen people to put together the musical catalog of this one man. The Everything Man, Jimmy Castor! It was both exhilarating and so bittersweet.<br /><br />Little Anthony of Little Anthony and the Imperials came up, fresh of a cross country flight, to describe life growing up with Jimmy Castor. And two of his original Jimmy Castor Bunch band members were there, including bass player Paul Forney, and Elwood Henderson, the one mentioned in one of Jimmy’s wildest funk masterpieces of soul rap, “Potential!” Elwood and Forney got on stage and represented that funk exquisitely.<br /><br />During the break, a musician I didn’t recognize sitting in front of me said “I wish I could get a tribute like this when I go.” Something this diverse, where a singer could be doing a Dean Martin standard, following the “Bertha Butt Boogie,” well, only The E Man could make this happen.<br /><br />By the time bandleader Mariano Longo brought up Las Vegas singer Sonny Charles to belt out Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” it was clear that this event was one for the ages. But there was still some of Jimmy’s biggest 70’s hits to be reprised. I had begun to wonder, how was this to be done at the level of the rest of the evenings proceedings? After Sonny Charles, the polish and elegance of the band, of the event, of the properly honored legacy was just overwhelming. But how do take it home? <br /><br />Didn’t have to wait long to find out. The next artist to be announced was none other than FLAVA FLAV! Flava came out on stage to give some love, complete with his clock and sideways cap, and gave it up for Jimmy as only he could: “Yo G, I just want to say that Jimmy Castor is one of my musical heroes G, and his music is what the deejays all used at the start of hip hop” Flava then ran down a list of his favorite Jimmy Castor Bunch jams, and described a hilarious chance meeting with Jimmy Castor in a Wal Mart parking lot.<br /><br />Then Flav announced that his jam – his all time jam - started with, “What we gonna do now is go back, way back, back into time!” The band got the signal and kicked into a rendition of “Troglodyte” and Flava Flave performed the entire song: “Cave men! Cave Women” "Her name was Bertha1 Berthat Butt! One of the Butt Sisters!” Tha whole 9. Flava Flav broght the house down – doo wop singers, Vegas band regulars, everyone got a taste of the attitude that is needed to bring Jimmy castor’s funk to life!<br /><br />And if that wasn’t enough, Jayson Castor followed up, leading the band in a rendition of “It’s Just Begun,” while the Rock Steady Crew did their moves in the center of the dancefloor! <br /><br />Jimmy Castor was given a fitting tribute. I was honored to be a part of it. Thanks to Jimmy Castor Jr for making sure this ole funkateer got to the spot and checked out what a tribute to a giant is all about.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-76792614389834943152011-12-24T01:03:00.000-08:002012-01-02T11:36:59.481-08:00RV's Favorite Funk of 2011Here’s my favorite funky music of 2011:<br /><br />1. DENNIS COFFEY: Dennis Coffey<br /><br />Any way you slice it, funk guitar master Dennis Coffey has put together the best jam session the year. Coffey’s mastery of pocket and groove, his nasty nasty high energy chops, his choice of killer guest musicians and badass songs to cover, all put together to smack the lightweight funksters off their perch. The hooks on tracks like “Space Traveler” and “Plutonius” just can’t be touched. So so many people are trying to do some 60’s retro (see Raphael Saadiq) and in some cases pulling it off, but 70’s funk retro is the hardest sheet to hit with. Dennis Coffey sounds like he did in 1972 with “Scorpio,” only better! No wasted tracks, no shallow detours. Thru and thru the best funk record of 2011.<br /><br /><br />2, BOOTSY COLLINS: Tha Funk Capitol of The World<br /><br />We all know Bootzilla the most talented funky brutha alive, and the undisputed Number One Funkateer of All Time Baba! And he has produced a masterpiece that will stand the test of time. Some of the songs, like “JB-Still The Man,” and “The Jazz Greats” are incredible. His new album is a brilliant montage of music lessons and clean pockets of funk interspersed with vocal vamps from the likes of Dr. Cornel West, Samuel Jackson, Al Sharpton and others. That’s the only problem with this disc. As a “funk lesson” it is one of the most important recordings of the century (do not sleep on the Jim Henrdrix tribute “Mirrors Tell Lies”), but as a free-flowing funk spectacle you can listen all the way thru, it feels too standardized and market driven. Where’s the “Sloppy Seconds” funk blowout ? We know Bootsy can do this because his holiday album Christmas is For Ever from 2006 is a freeform Rubber Band ripping funkblast, not a tamed hip hop hopeful overproduction that this new disc often gives the taste of. But you still gotta love it. If this disc gets Bootsy onto Letterman, on the X Factor, on 106th & Park, onto Sesame Street as a household name, then it will be all worth it…My question is this: does this disc get Bootsy closer to hosting a Super Bowl halftime show? Yeah I said it.<br /><br /><br />3. ORIGINAL 7VEN: Condensate<br /><br />The Original Seven here are the original Morris Day and The Time! Yes I mean THE originals, that means Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Jesse Johnson, Jellybean, Jerome, the whole band bringing it all back! Prince owned the name, but he couldn’t contain the funk in this set. The band provides a mastery of all those Minneapolis sounds, the two-stepping pop, the nu-wave rockin’, the nasty ballads, the lean and slick strutting funk jams, and Morris’ over the top ego tripping are all in the finest form – in years. My only issue is that some of the grooves are so tight that I’d like to hear one of those 8, 9, ten minute versions. Morris Day and the band hasn’t changed, and you can take that for what it is. They bring their flava back in full glory.<br /><br /><br />4. PTFI: Who The Funk is PTFI?<br /><br />Who is PTFI? Phil Jones is Phil The Funky Instrumentalist, and he has been laying down some of the thickest funk tracks around the Bay Area for years. His work on the Zootzilla album P’n All Over the Place, and Dr. Illinstine’s CD last year Listen While I Tell You Of The Clones made it clear that some serious phunk in the bay is getting some serious production quality to boot. Check out "Beware of the Sample Troll" and "Everywhere there's a lack of funkin'" and you'll get it. Phil the PTFI has produced tracks for the new Ronkat and the Katdelic album, which is going to be one of the major funk releases of 2012. But until then, this thumpasorus set will put The Funk straight.<br /><br />5. ZIGABOO MODELISTE: New Life<br /><br />Far and away Zigaboo’s best solo album, and he’s had some good ones! Legendary New Orleans funk drummer Zigaboo Modeliste combines some great Mardi Gras jammies with some brick-cracking funk tracks that all tell a story in Zig’s patented soulful way. “New Life,” “Human Race” and “Keep on Groovin’” let the world know that Zig is as fresh as ever, and his great ballad “Holiday Kiss” shows he’s still got the sentimental chops. But what really kicks this CD over the top is how often and how well Zigaboo features his own phenomenal drumming on the tracks. On earlier records Zig was emphasizing his songwriting, but he has finally broken out with a true solo album from The Meters drummer we always wanted to hear.<br /><br />6. OSAKA MONAURAIL: State of The World<br /><br />A straight up deep JB’s pocket is what these Japanese bruthas bring once again on their latest. But these pockets are killer, deep funk grooves that would make Fred and Maceo proud. Their sense of style and appreciation for the JB’s entire presentation is evident here, and on covers like “Mother Popcorn” and “Ain’t it Funky Now,” but the real meat is on their own compositions like “The Archipelago” and “Syrinxology” that just hold it and hit it the way it is sposed to be done. Recorded and released in Japan, presumably since the terrible earthquake/tsunami/radioactive disaster there, this funk packet can only help folks there and everywhere get over the hump.<br /><br />7. CHARLES WRIGHT: That Funky Thang<br /><br />My homie the legendary Charles Wright gets back to business as only he can, with some sloppy stanky irrestible freestyle funkin’ all his own! A set of delicious dance grooves with CW’s own silly lyrics and stoney delivery make the entire record a delight. This is what people love about the funk, but have long forgotten how to get there. Charles Wright never left, and he will take you there if you follow him. <br /><br />8. BIG OL’ NASTY GETDOWN: Volume 1<br /><br />One of the most diverse records on the list, the Big Ol Nasty Getdown features big helpings of southern fried funk, with some deep ballads and crazee rapping tossed in. Their meat is the monster funk riffs on “College Funk,” “Room 2012” and “Platinum” but the band has an indescribably delicious self made sound, that one can feel across a multitude of styles, from metal funk blasting to laid back balladeering. This is no gimmick. They are big, they are nasty and they get down.<br /><br />9. HEADHUNTERS: Platinum<br /><br />Drummer Mike Clark took the name and produced his own very entertaining trip through jazz funk and hip hop crossover. There are a few “remakes” of classic Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters era material, like “Palm Nut” and “Salamander” that give the sound some familiarity while moving the jazz-funk fusion flavor into the future. Some guest rappers include Snoop Dogg, who vamps on hanging in the San Francisco Bay Area on “D-Funk (funk with us)” The mix of rap and slick jazz funk has its moments, and is worth a listen but this might be one of those CD’s you pluck the grooves you want and skip the others. Usually those releases don’t make my list, but the music is so strong you won’t be able to ignore it.<br /><br />10. GOAPELE: Break of Dawn<br /><br />Bay area soul vocalist put together her tightest, strongest and funkiest album so far. An ethereal sound permeates the music here, as her band captures an exotic, futuristic yet deeply soulful atmosphere for the gifted singer to explore. Goapele digs deeper and and delivers with more passion than on any of her earlier albums, and she kicks up a dance groove on more than a few of them. It is a self-contained slice of Bay Area soul genius that one should not pass up, whether a funk fan or not.<br /><br /><br />Other interesting music this year: Me’Shell NdegeOcello’s brilliant <span style="font-style:italic;">Weather</span>, Raphael Saadiq’s Rolling Stones homage <span style="font-style:italic;">Stone Rolling</span>, Martin Luther’s self released disc <span style="font-style:italic;">Extra Terrestrial Brother Vol. 1</span>, (you gotta go to martinluthermccoy.com to find it), Steve Arrington's work on Stone's Throw (where's the album?!), and my homie Bobby Easton’s band Delta Nove, <span style="font-style:italic;">Imaginary Conversations.</span> There was a time when some hip hop made my funky top 10 list, maybe that time has passed.<br /><br />One thing I noticed about these releases is that they generally stick to around 10 tracks, sometimes less. They can make their point and not overload their listeners with a sense of quantity over quality, and I think other artists should heed this. Make sure the music you are doing is the best it can be, not simply as many tracks as you can muster. There are also a lot of O.G.’s on this list. They are showing up and representing, showing the young bucks how to do it, and I hope more will do just that. As for the P-Funk, there is a taste of it from PTFI, and Dennis Coffey does a couple of mean Funkadelic covers, and you can get some Pee from the Bootsy album, although he’s clearly trying to reach other audiences beyond the Maggot Brains that inhabit that zone of zeep funk.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-44716604547979005152011-09-25T20:22:00.000-07:002011-09-25T20:25:57.079-07:00Can't Stop Won't Stop Herbie Hancock!I just watched one of the greatest concerts of my life. I went to the Herbie Hancock show at Zellebach Auditorium at UC Berkeley on Wednesday night (9-21-11), expecting little more than a polite jazz quartet, playing some of Herbie Hancock’s 60’s standards and some of his modal jazz work with Miles Davis. Of course I have been a devout follower of Herbie Hancock since his days with the Headhunters band, a ferocious funk-jazz outfit that produced massively mind-bending Afro-futurist electronic funk back in the 70s, decades ahead of its time. I was thrilled in the 1980s when Herbie Hancock discovered hip hop beats, and jumped headfirst into electro-funk production, and won his first Grammy Award in 1984 with “Rockit!” I saw him perform at the Greek Theater at Cal in 1986 with the Rockit band (with Steel Pulse opening up), and Herbie’s band going through some incredible sonic fusions of funk, hip hop, rock, afrobeat and bop jazz. His music then was high tech and mindblowing, but after each thunderous song, he would politely say “thank you, this next song is….” His stage demeanor didn’t match the epic sonic and cultural onslaught that his music meant to me in 1986, and I felt then that maybe he was a quiet jazzman at heart, that just dabbled around in musical exploration.<br /><br />Over the years, Herbie Hancock has ‘dabbled’ in some incredible collaborations, and made some extremely popular music, winning “Album of the Year” Grammy award in 2008 for <span style="font-style:italic;">River: The Joni Letters</span>, beating out such acts as Amy Winehouse and Kanye West. He had come on tour in the past with the Headhunters, specifically playing his funky future-beats, he tours completely solo, and he had come to town with just a straight ahead jazz combo. <br /><br />So I was left to wonder, which Herbie Hancock would show up at Zellerbach that night? It was simply billed as “jazz” with Herbie Hancock on piano. I had not heard of any of his backing musicians, a drummer, bassist and guitarist. <br /><br />The night began with the band walking out one by one, hitting a dirty free jazz riff that sounded like “Actual Proof,” one of Herbie’s legendary Headhunters era fusion workouts. That is exactly what they did. Herbie kept burning, and bassist James Genus would burn with him. After one song, Herbie came out front from his keyboard perch – that had more than a grand piano, it had a small keyboard (I thought I saw the iconic MOOG label on it) as well as a computer screen and some other goodies.<br /><br />Herbie began joking with the audience, and took his time to introduce each member of his band. Here was an artist not only a master of his craft, but a master of the stage and a master of the audience as well. I had seen Miles Davis in the same venue in the 1980s, and while the show was phenomenal, Miles never said a word the entire night. <br /><br />Herbie was having a ball letting us know that his personality was as fun as his music was. He went into a long discussion of his classic “Watermelon Man” and how there are two versions of it, and his guitar player Lionel Loueke (a native of Benin, a small country bordering Nigeria) wrote an original composition (in 17/4 time he said) and that they were going to mix that into the song as well.<br /><br />That is precisely what they did. The song had a brilliant funk feel, a strong blues tone, some wild African influences, and then the ridiculous time changes Herbie warned us about. As the jam heated up, Herbie reached around and put on his strap on mobile keyboard, and walked in front of the stage to let the synthesizer rip – in a thunderous give and take with the bass, as they cranked out what seemed like a 20 minute jazz-funk party jam. <br /><br />This was no acoustic jazz combo, this was a funk masterpiece performed at full throttle by a Master Of His Craft with some untouchable protégés in the mix with him.<br /><br />That set a tone that I did not think could be matched or exceeded, but Herbie is NO JOKE. He introduced his guitarist again, and left the stage while Lionel Lueke did an indescribably brilliant piece of African (click) vocalizing, percussive and melodic guitar work at the same time, and just blew all our minds all by himself.<br /><br />When the band came back, they hit into a punishing funk jazz groove that I did not recognize, and could barely handle. The riffing was so hard, the bass thump was so relentless, the soloing was so mindblowing, it was clear that Herbie was in territory NOBODY ALIVE can match. The music had an intensity only matched – I said only matched -- by George Clinton’s band during their 7 day stay in the Bay in July. <br /><br />That is how strong the jam factor was. And I was convinced that Bootsy Collins’ visit to the Fillmore in June was the best concert of the year, until George Clinton did his week of noise at Yoshi’s. But here comes Herbie Hancock with a list of funk credentials that can stand up to any funk-master, and Herbie comes from the jazz side of things to RIP THE SH*T OUF THE JAM.<br /><br />I had passes to this show because I was invited to be on a panel with two jazz experts who loved and still live with Herbie from his modal jazz mode. On the panel earlier that day I claimed that I felt that “all of herbie’s musical explorations were sincere to him” but conceded that a night of polite dinner jazz might be in store. Oops.<br /><br />I did say Herbie connects all of the genres of improvisational music, from hard bop to hip hop and beyond, but I did not believe that he would do this all in one night.<br /><br />After the thunder jam, Herbie and the drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bass player Genus delivered some hot and heavy free jazz that just burned the stage up. This is where the drummer starts channeling Tony Williams. It was hard to imagine what was happening – as it was really happening – as the collective improvisation and relentless rhythm fire would not stop, and the three sustained a pocket that is rare for any jazz giant – then or now. I have seen artists like Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman, who enjoy the collective improvisation of free jazz and cut loose now and then, but they wouldn’t heat it up. To cook a high intensity freeform jam and keep it there like Herbie did, that is out there with Michael Hampton’s Maggot Brain for sustained intensity. There I said it.<br /><br />After that, I was stretched out. Herbie had me in the palm of his hand. The band left, and Herbie proceeded to play an improvised love song on the grand piano. It sounded like he was making the entire thing up as he went, ‘freestyling’ a thing of beauty. That’s exactly what it was, beauty, put to music, plain and simple. Herbie doesn’t play ‘wrong’ notes. He can jam the most wicked ‘out’ jazz, or cuddle up with a warm melody, but everything he plays has that essential love element in it. Herbie just doesn’t go sour.<br /><br />The band came back and breathed fire into a version of “Cantaloupe Island” that was anything but the gentle Caribbean feeling romp that it is on the record. Before I knew it he had saluted the audience and was heading offstage. We brought them all back of course, and the band got started on “Chameleon.” Herbie walked out last, with his strap on “keytar” and proceeded to get down and funky with that thing. After grooving on some synthesizer trickery, he reset the thing to play samples and voice bytes, like James Brown chants, and proceeded to give us a hip hop mixtape live with his jazz band. And Herbie didn’t just play funky, he was funky, letting it all out and getting a little wiggle (waggle) going as he grooved on.<br /> <br />No other artist alive is capable of reaching this much of a range of great sounds and styles of music and make it <span style="font-style:italic;">smoke</span>, let alone own it as part of his own catalog. But Herbie can. And for what it’s worth, the entire show was basically from the Funk side of things. Yes it was a (deceptively) billed as a jazz concert, but Herbie came with The Funk, brought The Funk, and delivered The Funk, peeriod.<br /><br />Herbie showed his jazz audience just how fundamentally The Funk is the heir to the throne of improvisational music; and he showed his hip hop/ electrofunk audience precisely where all of those (funky) rhythmic sensibilities come from. He gave a music lesson across 60 years of black traditions, and kept it On The One. This is THE Herbie Hancock to see, no matter what style of Herbie you may have come to know him from. And especially if you see on the bill the players James Genus on bass, Lionel Loueke on guitar, and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, drop what you are doing and get a ticket to that show.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-36223756642001123572011-08-31T07:35:00.000-07:002011-08-31T07:46:33.244-07:00The End of SpaceLast month the final space shuttle mission ended with Atlantis touching down in the dark of night, a fitting image for the end of the U.S. manned space program. It doesn’t seem to register much on the national scale of issues to be concerned with, but it has been hanging on me for a while.
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<br />As a kid, I watched all the Star Trek episodes (on a tiny black & white TV, I didn’t know Star Trek was in color until 1976), and followed the US space program with the idealism and enthusiasm of a kid that believed that space “colonization” was just around the corner.
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<br />I watched in awe when the 1969 Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Space Odyssey showed a gigantic spinning space wheel in orbit, as a shuttle slowly docks with the massive station as classical music plays in the background. On the station, the lead character makes a ‘telephone call’ to his daughter from orbit, on a video phone that seemed so far ahead of its time, yet now is commonplace.
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<br />The infinite possibilities offered by the Apollo moon landings from 1969-72 gave a lot of us idealists the impression that space travel was the next frontier, and that all other space ventures were variations on that theme of exploration, and “advance” of the human condition in some way. This has always been problematic of course, and Gil Scott Heron deconstructed the situation the best on his song “Whitey on the Moon.” I was thrilled to hear that song, but I was also still excited about the prospects of human space flight.
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<br />In the stoned out 70s I got into the psychedelic music. Jimi’s “Third Stone From the Sun,” Sun Ra’s “Space is the Place” and of course the Mothership Connection. I remember when George Clinton chanted “We have returned to claim the pyramids” and it seemed like an outerspace encounter was right around the corner. If you count the cosmology of P-Funk, and their “specially designed Afro-nauts capable of funkatizing galaxies” it seemed like this kind of thang was gonna be hella cool.
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<br />This was still years before the blockbuster Star Wars film would come out and deposit a space based mythology on a new generation. But I never doubted as a teen that we would all at some point have a chance to touch the sky, and look down upon the round home of earth from above it.
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<br />In college I hustled my way into Cal through a math/science recruitment program as an Astronomy major. I was way into space by then. I went so far as to go to the ROTC office and ask point blank if their program had a pipeline for the space program. For someone that grew up in anti-war Berkeley and had actually participated in anti ROTC protests, that was an extreme, very creepy event, that also put an end to my lofty space ideas.
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<br />After that, I settled on more terrestrial pursuits, like playing the funk.
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<br />“A Slow Death”
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<br />From the first space disaster the space shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986 to today, the US space program has been bleeding a slow death, and the landing of Atlantis was basically the final curtain. It is not the complete end, because private enterprises, and other countries, especially Russia today and most likely China in the future, will be taking this space exploration thing to the next level, presumably to Mars. Maybe in my lifetime. Maybe not.
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<br />Maybe we shouldn’t care, but as one science fiction writer put it, space travel ensures our immortality as a human race, in case something calamitous should happen to our home planet earth, we would still be out there. Maybe we don’t deserve to outlive our planet, but that is for another blog in another century I figure. But it may never come to that.
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<br />One of the hitches to all the science fiction I watched, and all of the heavy lifting the early space program did, was in the real world of human spaceflight, they had a helluva time getting off of earth, out of earth’s gravitational pull. That problem has yet to be solved, and the costs and dangers have not really been improved in 50 years of trying.
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<br />Another sad turn of events is the fact that it still takes months and months to get from one planet to another. The moon is just a few days away, but Venus and Mars, take many months, and Jupiter or Saturn we’re still talking about years. Either way you are in for a long haul.
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<br />I was really intrigued watching the intro to the film Avatar, when they said a crew took 6 years to get to the star where the lush, jungle moon Pandora was located. That was compelling science fiction, and will probably lead to even more in the sequel, when we can presume a 12 year round trip to and from that place.
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<br />But if one does the math - and it gets wild here – this is a big problem. If we assume that Pandora is located orbiting the nearest star to us, Alpha Centauri, which is 4.5 light years away, and it took 6 years to get there, then we are presuming that the spaceship was capable of traveling at 3/4ths the speed of light. Not accounting for all the relativistic effects (a 6 year flight experience on the ship, but at home decades would pass), there is a presumption that humans can get going to speeds near light speed.
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<br />This is so far from human capability right now. At the rate of our fastest ships known to man, it would take 10,000 years to reach the nearest star. Period. The idea that human spaceflight is in our future is not just years away it is starting to look impossible.
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<br />But I’ve started to look at some other issues. What if there were some forms of bug life in our solar system? This brings up the question of contamination. This one goes back as far as HG well’s novel “War of the Worlds” in 1898. In that tale of Martians attacking earth, the invaders finally succumb to the germs that abound on our planet, as there was no immunity to them.
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<br />In a similar vein, scientists have had to face the prospect that if and when we come across a potential bed of biomass, or even organic molecules that might become life forms one day, it is logical to reason that there is no way we could go and scoop a spoonful of this stuff and analyze it without dropping a few molecules of our own germs on them, potentially creating a ghastly hybrid creation like the movie The Thing.
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<br />This issue already has the scientific community in a bind. There was a recent discovery of a pristine underground lake beneath Antarctica. It is such a pure specimen of million years old ecology that there is a conundrum with sending a probe down into it. We would presumably contaminate the lake with 2011 DNA. As a result, scientists from all countries of the world have agreed to a moratorium on exploration of the lake until a fail safe means of examining the lake without contaminating it can be found.
<br />This has implications because a similar situation is in Saturn’s moon Titan. An icy surface is believed to have an ocean underneath it, possibly heated by the moon’s core. This is the most enticing possible home for extra terrestrial life we can reasonably reach. But how do we send a probe down there without mixing earth microbes with the life there? Or does it matter?
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<br />Either way the idea of ‘beaming down’ to a planet getting dirty and like Captain Kirk, getting it on with the alien females and then leaving the planet like nothing was done, well, that is a myth of major proportions.
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<br />So there it is, we not only are not flying into space, may never know space travel, and have major questions about what to do if an when we find even other microbes, let alone animate life forms – or Pandora-like humanoids… But some of us are dreamers, and we must dream.
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<br />So what about all of the visitors we seem to keep getting? All of the alien abduction stories, the many many unexplainable lights in the sky all around the world, maybe we are being visited. All I can say to that is, we must surely look like a population unworthy of membership in the galactic community, And if we don’t qualify for membership, I hope we’re not roadkill on some galactic superhighway, As I’ve said before, I hope they like The Funk.
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<br />Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-27107682991875655082011-04-04T09:31:00.000-07:002011-04-04T09:43:36.385-07:00Me'Shell NdegeOcello does PrinceReview of Me’Shell NdegeOcello’s set of Prince songs, 3/11/11 @ the New Parish. <br /><br />If there was ever a hot east bay show to catch, the Me’Shell show of Prince covers is it. Anyone that knows the music of Prince knows that there is an endlessly interesting, freaky, original and entertaining supply of awesome tracks to choose from, but only a MASTER has any business trying to take them on.<br /><br />How many artists have done good Prince covers? I can count ‘em on one hand. But now Me’Shell has done exactly what a funkateer would like to see done, a truly polished treatment of Prince that captured all of the Artist’s uniquely intimate sexuality and emotional intensity, while bringing the raw power of The Funk to kick it into a new gear. That is what Me’Shell did, and probably no one else in the biz could do.<br /><br />After Martin Luther did a set of far reaching Beatles covers that I thoroughly enjoyed (but the crowd may not have recognized), The exotic, ethnic, original Oakland audience milled about in full color, waiting for their hero…<br /><br />Me’Shell had a quartet of funk geniuses, with drummer Deantoni Parks, guitarist Chris Bruce, and keyboardist Keefus Ciancia that all understood the requirements of Prince’s music.<br /><br />The quartet had a perfect sense of the tone needed to deal with the exotic arrangements of Prince properly, and the eerie keyboard work (from an original MOOG synthesizer and some other keys) captured the spacey emotional techno tone of early 80’s Prince. <br /><br />She began with Pop Life, and just hung every word out to delicious effect. Then she got into a thumping party groove and did Irresistible Bitch which sent me over the top. The audience wasn’t as familiar with that track, a one-off single from back in the day, but it is most definitely part of Prince’s legend.<br /><br />Then Me’Shell began a light version of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” by just singing it, but you could tell the tone of the band was going to escalate, and when Me’Shell picked up her bass and brought the thump, she hit the most exquisitely erotic rock hard THUMP I’ve heard since Bootsy Collins came this way.<br /><br />IT was clear from the third track that despite Me’shell’s affection for all of Prince’s many delights as a soul piercing songwriter, this show provided Me’Shell with more freedom to RIP throbbing funk riffs all night.<br /><br />While there were some disruptions to get their sound right, there was nothing missing when they got cranking, and the band kept things just a silly millameter slower than the record, so the delicious grooves – sometimes overlooked by the shrill vocals and guitars of Prince’s most recognizeable songs – can just be soaked in in full intensity.<br /><br />After an utterly throbbing version of Controversy, She said ‘now that I finished the standard issue, I’m going to cut loose’ She then did a warped version of Dirty Mind, turning it into a metal mash.<br /><br />Her rendition of Annie Christian was brilliant, and at the end, she just casually quipped ‘Prince was more interesting before he found Jehovah” which caused a surprising amount of groans from the audience. Me’Shell was clearly surprised by the reaction, and tried to joke about it. I suspect she figured the Oakland crowd would be far more "post-Christian" in their sensibilities. <br /><br />The new Prince generation of fans may have another perspective on the Purple One than those of us that experienced his music as it happened in the 80’s. Me’Shell clearly did, saying that she “Loved Prince” and that “he changed my life” which I think a lot of people share, but nobody and I mean nobody has been able to DO Prince properly in the past 30 years until Me’Shell did. Hands down.<br /><br />Me'Shell was clearly one of the many folks that caught one of Prince's Oakland concerts in February, and got inspired. I was definitely one of them, and felt blessed to see one of our generation's greatest acts giving it up for Oaktown, for Larry Graham and for Sheila E, and the Bay Area. Me'Shell took it one step further.<br /><br />From my vantage point as a P-Funker that appreciates Prince but always wondered what would happen if Prince’s music acquired some Thunder Thumbs type of bottom, how much Ultimate Phunk would be unleashed? Well, Me’Shell did EXACTLY THAT, and then some. <br /><br />This funky generation is FINALLY doing its homework, studying the deep jams in all their intricacy and liquified attitudinal genius, and then blasting them out with a brand new tone. The Roots & John Legend did this with Soul last year. Folks is WAY beyond sampling riffs, they are digging deep. Much Respect to Me'Shell for showing the way.<br /><br />Props to the folks at the New Parish for making this happen. Some days it is a blessing to be into The Funk, and to be in Oakland.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-57250168975169503582011-02-10T13:02:00.000-08:002011-02-12T15:41:01.474-08:00Could the global rebellion happen here in the U.S.?An amazing sequence of events has taken place in which one of the largest and most strategically important countries in the world disposed of its dictator of 30 years in a matter of weeks, through the sustained actions of the people there. Of course a lot of other factors went into this people’s revolution, but one thing is spectacularly clear: the people ain’t taking this sh*t anymore. <br /> <br /> <br />Many believe that a global rebellion going on, with thousands upon thousands of people (most of them young & ready to take their future in their hands) standing up to tired, corrupt regimes, demanding and sometimes actually bringing about change. It is not just happening in Egypt. Or Tunisia, or Jordan, or Yemen, or just the Middle East. In Albania there were 20,000 protestors demanding the corrupt regime there resign, and 3 protesters were killed by police in January. There was a travel alert in Bolivia last summer when protestors shut down 1/3 of the country demanding better finances with the government, and in December massive protests over fuel price hikes. Similar protests in Chile over fuel price hikes last month. Many of these protestors are young and wired to the internet, so they know they are not alone. <br /> <br /> <br />In Bolivia last summer, tourists were trapped and had to flee. In Chile last month, tourists were trapped and had to flee. In Egypt, tourists were trapped and had to flee. Amazing how this sh-- is going on and we’re just sitting around watching sports & playing video games.<br /> <br /> <br />So I’ve been wondering what is keeping this type of “unrest” from taking place in the U.S.? Here are five reasons why it will spread to the U.S. and five reasons why it won’t.<br /> <br /> <br />1) There are hundreds of thousands of poor, underemployed or jobless, hopeless, pissed off Americans with just as many reasons to protest as those in any other economically oppressive nation. What’s to stop them from rising up by the millions? It would be a helluva thing to see Americans demanding ‘freedom’ again, but this would be about economic freedom, freedom from the ripoff by the rich. It is amazing that we have social freedom, but are just about as economically trapped as those in any struggling nation in the world. Funny that we have the ‘democracy’ everybody else wants, but are losing ground faster than people in some totalitarian nations…<br /> <br /> <br />2) Everyone is wired to the internet, so if a giant scandal or greed driven economic disaster took place, or if something jumped off, say, in Tulsa or Oakland or Jacksonville, Florida, folks would know in an instant and would be able to compare notes on what went down and what is going on. And if the “government” tried to stop the internet, there would be a whole other strata of society up in arms, ready to take their anger to the streets over being “censored.” <br /> <br /> <br />3) Most of these protestors are challenging corrupt, belligerent regimes and tired old leaders. Well, Obama has been brown-nosing big business for so long, most of us have just given up on his message of “change.” Everything is being cut, and yet we see big business fatcats giving themselves $100,000 bonuses, with Obama administration approval. We all know Obama’s abandoned the working class in favor of kissing the ass of the rich, and he’s just about lost all of the cache he had going in, being a cool, black president and all. That only gets you so far. Michelle notwithstanding, folks might just let Obama know what they think of his slobbering over the rich the past two years.<br /> <br /> <br />4) In the past, global upheaval has had a deep impact on social changes in the U.S. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s got a great deal of inspiration from the anti-colonial struggles of nations in the “Third World” such as India, Ghana, Nigeria, Vietnam and Cuba. In the 1980s the worldwide efforts to isolate and sanction the modern day slavery of Apartheid in South Africa eventually sparked a grassroots movement in the US to compel congress to finally cut off ties with the racists there. Who is to say that this youth movement around the world won’t inspire people with nothing to lose here to do the same?<br /> <br /> <br />5) It’s the dead of winter and the spirit of protest worldwide is at a fever pitch. What happens when things thaw out in the northern countries? And on top of that, what happens if there is a lockout and no NFL football? And an NBA lockout too? With no distractions, things could get dicey. As my friend Pat Thomas put it: “If they took all the drugs, nicotine, alcohol and caffeine off the market for a week, they'd have to bring out tanks to control everyone.” <br /> <br /> <br />Not advocating, I’m just saying…<br /> <br /> <br />=<br /> <br /> <br />On the other hand, while most Americans are reaching a state of economic desperation - if not already there - Obama said to Congress in his State of the Union Address, “none of you would trade places with anyone in another country.” Maybe so, maybe not, but that doesn’t mean sitting still while we’re being gouged, ripped off, incarcerated, abandoned, indoctrinated, demonized, and taken for granted all at once. <br /> <br /> <br />The media says that this thing began with a people’s uprising in nearby Tunisia, and that protests in Jordan and Yemen are about Middle Easterners finally gaining a notion of what is possible with a Democracy. To the extent that ‘peaceful protests’ against ruthless dictators have successful a track record anywhere in the world, the influence of some western countries plays a role to be sure. But the Egyptians and others aren’t doing this because they dream about America’s Democracy, because they know that it is America’s Democracy that has kept Mubarak and these other S.O.B.'s in power all these years.<br /> <br /> <br />Our "democracy" has become a joke because while political power appears to change every election cycle, real power does not. Yet too many of us are ok with the status quo, sh*tty that it may be. So we act like the U.S. is somehow immune to these protests. Maybe it is our ‘system’ that will prevent an uprising here. <br /> <br /> <br />Here’s why we won’t have a rebellion; I’m not advocating, I’m just saying… <br /> <br /> <br />1) While there are plenty of poor people in the US, they are so busy hating each other, harping on irrelevant right wing fabrications, watching 800 channels of worthless consumerist garbage, and swallowing up the American myths of opportunity, there is no time left to clearly analyze one’s own socioeconomic status, and to organize with others of similar persuasion. We have ‘normalized’ trivial activities like reality TV shows & sports to the point where actually working in the community is seen as a distant abstraction. So while there are millions of poor in the US, they don’t see themselves collectively as victims of a system, only as individuals suffering in silence while they watch & envy everyone else.<br /> <br /> <br />2) Everyone is wired up, but is that good? There is access to so much information, too many folks just use the web to look up irrelevant sh*t, like that commercial with people blabbering data they searched on the web, leading to search overload. On a deeper level, Cornel West calls the digital gaming epidemic “Weapons of Mass Distraction.” It has a generation addicted to a tiny plastic box, with the only world they can control at their fingers, not in their city.<br /> <br /> <br />3) Obama is brown nosing but because he’s brown we don’t’ see the shit there. Yes he has a long way to go before he’s in the dysfunctional category of Bush, but so what? He’s still selling us out. But the trick is, the presidency changes over each 4-8 years and that saves the country from itself. When we get pissed enough, the ‘regime change’ takes the form of a "demopublican" color change, which is not really a change at all. In our Orwellian complacency, we figure that is great. We have democracy and f**k everybody else. We really don’t have a choice. <br /> <br /> <br />I started wondering, what if in 2008 Bush ‘stole’ the election again, and found a way to claim Obama was not a citizen, and find a loophole to remain in office? What would be going on in the streets? Same as in Egypt… people wouldn’t stand for it. But we wait to exhale every four years while the poison keeps working on us.<br /> <br /> <br />4) As for the protests inspiring people here, well, international influence means nothing to the mainstream. Look at how we trashed the metric system. We don’t care what the rest of the world does. Further, we have a lunatic fringe right wing and a middle and a left wing and they would all be going at it, so there is no clear sense of he bottom vs the top that is seen in so many of these other countries. Further, unlike the protests in all the other countries, we have guns everywhere, so instead of camels and sticks we’d have cracker vigilantes in souped up SUV’s wilding on colored people (and vice versa), so a sustained rebellion that the army “allows to happen” could easily degenerate into chaos that the ruling classes would be content to blame on the poor themselves.<br /> <br /> <br />5) As for sports, drugs and distractions, the US rules the world in this one. Like kids & cartoons, give some Americans some sports to watch in HD and they will be so obsessed with it, outside issues won’t matter. By comparison, every four years the rest of the world’s nations get caught up in World Cup Fever, and stop what they’re doing to watch. In the US we do this every four months, for baseball, football, March Madness, NBA & other playoffs. Who wants to challenge the system, when we’re just about as blissfully plugged in as those pod people in the Matrix?<br /> <br /> <br />So it looks like the U.S. has as many reasons why there won’t be any rebellions here as there will be. I’m not advocating, I’m just saying…<br /> <br /> <br />It will come down to the people here, whether or not they will overcome their generations long biases against each other, unplug from the “Weapons of Mass Distraction” and clearly articulate and focus upon a singular goal, a target of universal wrath that transcends the window dressing of the Oval Office. We blame the political leaders because they are the visible targets of a larger power structure that stays just out of view, so we bitch and moan and vote, and not a damn thing changes.<br /> <br /> <br />As Gil Scott Heron put in so well in Winter in America, "Ain't nobody fighting, 'cause nobody knows what to save."<br /> <br /> ...just saying...<br /> <br /> <br />Here are some other important discussions to read about:<br /> <br /> <br />Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?<br />North Africa and the Global Political Awakening, Part 1<br />by Andrew Gavin Marshall<br />http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22963<br /> <br /> <br />The Fall of Mubarak and the Bankruptcy of Western Empires<br />By Rosa L. Blanc<br />http://www.decolonialtranslation.com/english/the-fall-of-mubarak-and-the-bankruptcy-of-western-empires.html<br /> <br /> <br />Could What happened in Egypt Ever happen Here in the US? <br />by Davey D<br />http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-77795000608406263222010-12-01T15:17:00.000-08:002010-12-01T15:18:40.596-08:00A great year for funk lp reissues on CD2010 is the best year for funk reissues since the 90s<br /> <br />My funk collection is way too big, but I always keep an eye out for CD’s of classic or rare funk, just so the lp’s don’t get worn out anymore. I had figured that after the major labels exhausted their big hit makers’ catalogs there would be no more classic funk to come out on CD. But I was way way wrong here.<br /> <br />The big hitters like Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament, Sly & the Family Stone Rufus & Chaka Khan now have just about all of their catalogs on CD. Columbia gave us all the Isley Brothers, all of the Herbie Hancock jazz/funk, and a great deal of the Philly Sound – O’Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Other labels have released Grover Washington (“Reed Seed”), Patrice Rushen (“Shout it Out”) & Ramsey Lewis’ funk period (“Salongo”), and it keeps on coming.<br /> <br />Warner Brothers has finally brought out all of Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Graham Central Station, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band. Zapp and Prince CD’s have always been easy to track down. Thru Rhino you can get nearly all the Average White Band, War, Slave, and Tower of Power.<br /> <br />Polygram/Universal long ago (thanks to Harry Weinger) put out their entire Ohio Players, Parliament, Barry White, Stevie Wonder & Marvin Gaye, and most of their Kool & the Gang, Cameo and a handful of Bar Kays and Con Funk Shun from back in the day. Their James Brown reissues are legendary, although there are still a few JB albums in their original form that are waiting out there.<br /> <br />But waiting right behind these radio hit funk bands are a slew of lesser known (but just as funky) groups that are FINALLY getting more of their catalog out.<br /> <br />First off, itunes is making available all the JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH from Atlantic! This is an incredible find, and any fan of the funk should look into what is available from him there. Check on “E Man Groovin” “Life Truth & Death” “Maximum Stimulation,” “Equal People” and one of my all time favorites: “Bertha Butt Encounters Vadar.” You can also get the complete STEVE ARRINGTON solo albums, like “Positive Power” with the ridiculous “15 Rounds of Lovin’”. Other groups like Mass Production are finally available in full. Now and then a stray funk classic like ADC Band’s “Long Stroke” would pop up on itunes that you can purchase, but that has become a hunt too, although somewhat easier and less dusty than perusing lps at a record shop.<br /> <br />Out of nowhere it seems, a number of indie and import labels (Soul Brother, Wounded Bird, FunkyTown Grooves, Demon/Edsel, Verve, Strut, Soul Jazz, Harmless, Ubiquity, Light in the Attic, Luv & Haight, Thump, etc.) have cranked up their reissuing of great funk, and I can’t be happier. Most if not all of these can be found at dustygroove.com, and I’m happy to shamelessly promote them. I can often find the used CD at amazon.com somewhat cheaper, but nobody give you discs weeks before the scheduled release date like dustygroove.<br /> <br />Since I like to hold CD’s in my hand (it helps doing radio to have disc info, liner notes, etc handy) I am thrilled to be able to finally complete my record collection with some of these long LONG lost funky albums.<br /> <br />SOME GREAT ALBUMS TO COME OUT ON CD IN 2010:<br /> <br />ROY AYERS – LOTS OF LOVE (1983)<br />This was a lost album in between Roy’s transition from Polydor to Columbia around 1983. It is one of his most party blasting - and most Fela-influenced. An absolute MUST HAVE!<br /> <br />BAR KAYS – FLYING HIGH ON YOUR LOVE (1977)<br />Their 2nd lp after joining Mercury in 1976, the Bar Kays are in full effect on this one, total funk and soul blowout. Unfortunately this lp is available on a 2in1 CD with “Too Hot to Stop” (most of us already have this one) and the mix is not very good. And something horrible happened to “Let’s Have Some Fun” it is an alternate mix and not the complete song. That track (the hit single) is unplayable. A real disappointment. It also sounds like it may have been from someone’s lp – played to a CD player. Not cool if it is sold as an original mix. But at least I can put that album in my Bar-Kays collection, a definite for any funkateer.<br /> <br />BEGINNING OF THE END – BEGINNING OF THE END (1973)<br />This is an incredible surprise!! This lp is way hotter than the first lp from this Bahamas based funk outfit, their big hit “Funky Nassau” was great and this is a brilliant follow up, with better songs and a totally great feel. If you like “Funky Nassau” get both lp’s (now on CD) from this fantastic band!<br /> <br />BRICK – AFTER 5 (1982)<br />Nobody knows about this one but it is ON HIT! The last album from Brick on their great run on Bang/CBS in the late 70’s, this one did not even chart, but it is HOT! Killer tracks like “Free Dancer” and “Wild and Crazy” are as hot as anything from the “Dusic” album. A great surprise because I figured it would NEVER come out on CD. It is packaged with “Summer Heat” as a 2-in-1 CD.<br /> <br />BRICK – SUMMER HEAT (1981)<br />A 1980 session produced by Ray Parker jr, with a lot of crazy-cool grooves. “Sweat (Til You Get Wet)” was the single. The sound is a little polished - but to me Brick needed no one’s help - but that’s alright, it’s extended Brick, ‘nuff said! Comes in a 2-in-1 cd with After 5, a real bargain.<br /> <br />BRICK – WAITING ON YOU (1980)<br />Their 4th album, after “Good High” “Brick” and “Stoneheart” This is a very deep pocket session that will have you tripping off the advanced groove consciousness of Brick. These guys are very mature here, and their vocals and riffs are just exquisite. It is not your typical 1980’s R&B, but some of the songs here will become your favorites.<br /> <br />BRASS CONSTRUCTION II (1976)<br />Unrepentant disco-funk genius here! If BC1 was a 10, then this is a 9. A must have for any fan of Brass Construction, and anyone that wants some HOT dance grooves. FINALLY available after 34 years! This jam session is the reason I was moved to make this list.<br /> <br />BRASS CONSTRUCTION 5 (1979)<br />Randy Muller was trippin on BC 3 and BC4, but he gets back into a killer funk pocket with thumpers like “Right Place” and “Get Up to Get Down” This is advanced thump for those who know what I mean. ADVANCED.<br /> <br />CHUCK BROWN & THE SOUL SEARCHERS – BUSTIN’ LOOSE (i) (1979)<br />A little known masterpiece, the entire album of Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers is just a soul/funk/go go delight! It is really the album that started Go Go! It is upwards of $30 to try and get the import CD reissue of this, but you can download the entire album from itunes and its all good.<br /> <br />CHOCOLATE MILK – WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER (1977)<br />This was one of my all time favorites back in the day, for me right up there with Kool & the Gang’s “Light of Worlds” and some EWF as deep conscious, creative, grooving funk genius. But the sound was always too scratchy and murky to enjoy the old RCA lp. Now it is finally available (along with “Milky Way” as a 2-in-1 CD) and I’m in Chocolate Milk heaven.<br /> <br />JUNIE MORRISON – EVACUATE YOUR SEATS (i) (1984)<br />P-Funk madman Junie has a number of outrageous solo albums, from Westbound and later on CBS, most of which have yet to be reissued. But you can finally get his outrageous 1984 Island release “Evacuate Your Seats” in full noisy techno-funk effect on itunes I would start with the mixes of “Techno Freeqs” and “Stick It In” and go from there.<br /> <br />MANDRE – MANDRE 4 (1982)<br />Mandre (Andre Lewis) is a stone trip. Guitarist, arranger and writer, he produced his wife MAXAYN’s three trippy early 70’s albums, then did a stint as bandleader with Frank Zappa. After that he recorded for Motown some spacey dance groove albums as “Mandre.” His mysterious monicker left him and his cosmic groove music on the margins for years, and collectors and re-issuers MUST get to the three Mandre albums on Motown. After Motown, Mandre did one more lp on a tiny indie label, which was just as funky and trippy as the others. A recent lp reissue of Mandre 4 generated a lot of excitement, but my copy was terribly scratchy. Then a CD reissue came out – with just as many scratches as the lp!! A huge disappointment ‘cause the music is great.<br /> <br />MFSB – SUMMERTIME (1976)<br />A fantastic groove music session from the house band at Philly International. This one has a ‘summer’ theme throughout. The only other album as tightly themed from this time is ‘Motor Booty Affair” the underwater album from Parliament. The work is truly creative here, and the CD comes in a 2-in-1 CD with their “Philadelphia Freedom” another killer session from around 1976.<br /> <br />PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL ALL STARS – LET’S CLEAN UP THE GHETTO (1978)<br />I never thought a release as odd as this one would ever get reissued, but it came in a 2-in-1 CD with a live Philly stars album. This is the lp with the killer all-star track about the trash on NYC streets, and choruses from Teddy Pendergrass, O’Jays, Lou Rawls etc. Was hunting down the long version of that song online and the whole album popped up.<br /> <br />PLEASURE – JOYOUS (1977)<br />For my money the best album from Portland's jazz-funk masters, Pleasure. The legendary title cut is only slightly above the awesome jamz throughout the entire disc. I gave it five stars ***** in my book back in the day. Ace finally woke up and put this record out on its own. Two more Fantasy lp’s from Pleasure still need to be released: “Future Now’ and “Special Things.” A 1982 Pleasure album “Give it Up” came out this year, but aside from the (hot) single “Sending My Love” that lp is forgettable. <br /> <br />SUGARFOOT – SUGAR KISS (1984)<br />This is a real trippy lost gem. Roger Troutman is at the top of his game, producing the legendary Sugarfoot of the Ohio Players. A highly original session, with a fantastic sound, but no hit single left this great disc forgotten for years.<br /> <br />BILL WITHERS – ‘JUSTMENTS (1974)<br />Another long lost masterpiece from a living legend. This lp followed up the great “Live at Carnegie Hall” album. Then the label (Sussex) folded, and it seemed like Bill wasn’t heard from again until “Lovely Day” in 1977, but he had been putting together some strong, creative, original funky soul here.<br /> <br />BILL WITHERS – MAKING MUSIC (1975)<br />A powerful session that just got lost in the shuffle of other great funk band breakouts, but this is a VERY STRONG record. Bill has Louis Johnson on bass on some incredible cuts, and some all-star musicians with him. Bill is in full effect, but again, no million selling single just left this piece of genius on the margins.<br /> <br />=<br /> <br />There are probably others that came out this year, but these are the ones I’m bugging on. One noticeable theme with these 2010 CD reissues is that most of these records did not have a monster radio hit to support their sales, and the blockheads at these record companies over the years never knew the music in the first place, so it just sat around. <br /> <br />That is why the efforts of the reissue labels to the the REAL SH+T out there should be commended. There is still a great deal of great funky music from the classic funk era, if folks just keep on digging.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-80515411814837329492010-10-29T15:21:00.001-07:002010-10-30T13:00:17.023-07:00San Francisco Overload - Sly Stone and the SF GiantsThursday October 28th will go down in history for SF Giants fans as one of the highest highs of the teams 50+ years in The City. Anyone at or near the stadium, or watching it knows what I’m talking about. Nonstop unrelenting joy and pride in The Bay just spewing out is a beautiful thing.<br /> <br />I had another experience that night as well. Just as the game finished, I remembered that there was a film showing of the long awaited movie about Sly Stone, at the Roxie in the Mission. You don’t get much more San Francisco-ish than that, and I took the opportunity to cross the bay and headed out through the San Francisco streets. There was great weather that night -- after gloomy forecasts of rain – that reinforced the notion that Giants Fans in Heaven were making sure the stars were aligned for that nite.<br /> <br />The drive and walk were jovial, magical, and very hard to compare to anything else. Everyone from the panhandlers to the limo riders were flying high, no doubt about it. My mission was another Giant High, and that was to see the latest incarnation of the film about Sly Stone produced by Willem Alkema and "starring" the Dutch twins Edwin and Arno Konings. The three had been “Searching for Sly" like many others for years but their dedication and insatiable desire to find Sly Stone has finally paid off.<br /> <br />The film is titled “Coming Back For More” because as fate would have it, Alkema and the twins tracked down Sly Stone and engaged him with perhaps the first filmed interview in decades, and certainly the first frank and fresh interview since Sly did David Letterman in 1983 (those were the early years of Letterman, late late on NBC after Johnny Carson). <br /> <br />I got to the Roxie a few minutes into the film, and the scene on 16th street was nuts. People partying in maximum Giants ecstasy, and some Sly fans still milling about the theater entrance. Sly couldn’t have had a better entrée. The early segments of the film were incredible: fantastic early footage of Sly Stone, never ever before seen, and stories and vignettes of the great old days of 60’s San Francisco with a funky multiracial twist. <br /> <br />The song selections themselves denoted a level of love for the music that truly has stamped a generation, or many generations at this point. Alkema and the Koning twins did a good job of capturing the musical magic of the early Sly & the Family Stone, although it would have been nice to hear from Freddie or Larry about the nuts and bolts of the groove at that point.<br /> <br />The Woodstock days kind of fly by, but Sly’s underground genius period, the Riot album and the Fresh album are lovingly portrayed. There is a live rendition of “Family Affiar” with just Sly and Rose on piano from that time, that just made me weep. Then the craziness really begins, and Sly’s “wedding” at Madison Square Garden is shown, and all kinds of crazy things Sly either gets into or accused of are discussed. <br /> <br />Somehow in the midst of Sly’s shenanigans in the 1980s and his time with George Clinton, the story shifts to the Koning brothers’ attempts to locate Sly Stone for an interview. The turn is quite satisfying because the filmmakers had made sure that Sly himself was definitely a worthy target for their search. Anyone seeing the flavors of those spirited times, the brilliance and joy of the Family Stone early on, and the nonstop mischief Sly got himself into, anyone would want to put themselves into the twins’ places and do their own Search for Sly.<br /> <br />Most of us know that in 2006 Sly had agreed to do the Grammy awards, and Alkema & the twins bring their cameras there like the ultimate groupies they were, and they get some initial shots of their hero. Connections made there lead them ever so closer to Sly, and with the help of new technologies, and new financial burdens on Sly, Sly’s isolation dissolves, and the inevitable interview is finally accomplished. <br /> <br />There are some incredible sequences in the interview. The man is more brilliant, humorous and charming than we might have expected, yet he is also more worn down and broke than we might expect as well, and we are faced with a combination of transcendent genius, a life force of our generation, coming to grips with the struggles of a senior citizen in our modern times. The juxtaposition of fantasy and reality are mind blowing, and ultimately very satisfying in this powerful film.<br /> <br />When the film ended at the Roxie, Greg Errico, Cynthia Robinson and Sly-book author Jeff Kaliss did a question and answer period, and felt the love of the house (not packed but well attended), and I made a few connections and re-connections, and made my way back onto the San Francisco streets, where the endless World Series celebration was taking place.<br /> <br />It was an amazing night that I am still trying to process. I lost my dad last year, and he was a hardcore Giants fan, and if there is a Heaven, I know he is one of those souls directing events so that this joyous title can finally come to the Bay. My dad also turned me on to Sly & the Family Stone, and I know he would appreciate this night as I did. There was definitely some San Francisco magic in the air that nite.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-64453759403096104402010-08-14T09:59:00.000-07:002010-08-14T10:04:58.748-07:005 Transcendent Moments from the Long Beach Funk FestOn August 7th, Bobby Easton put together the 2nd Long Beach Funk Fest, in which 5 blocks of downtown Long Beach were converted to an all day free festival of fun and music. Once again the entire party went off without a hitch, and some moments were magical...<br /><br />Some transcendent moments from the Long Beach Funk Fest:<br /><br />1) The pure shouts from the crowd as the Original Stone City Band brought the house down and brought Rick James back to life. The songs sounded EXACTLY like Rick James was in the house. You could see and hear the shouts from people who had that kind of visitation – an unforgettable feeling.<br /> <br />2) When Dawn Silva and her massive band – featuring Blackbird McKnight on guitar, & Cherokee on bass, brought the ‘Mothership Connection’ and Dawn called out to Gary, to Catfish, to Mallia, to Glen and all of the fallen funk soldiers. Then when the badass women Jeannette Washington, Dawn Silva, & Sueann Carwell blew such stirring soul, you knew it was heard by the spirits jamming with us all.<br /> <br />3) An incredible thing happened when Jimmy Castor hit those classic notes to the break beat standard “It’s Just Begun” – a spontaneous break dance cipher took place by the stage as youngsters were cranking, crimping and popping to one of the greatest break beats of all time – PLAYED LIVE IN THE STREETS BY THE ORIGINAL E-MAN HIMSELF – All of a sudden hip hop and funk were breathing the same air. An overwhelming experience for me.<br /> <br />4) Bloco Nove’s rock hard Go Go grooves and world funk beats that punctuated their set. Their relentless rhythm assault was one of the hardest rhythm funk overload sessions I’ve heard since Trouble Funk came to the Bay Area in 1986.<br /> <br />5) The delicious groovallegiance of Weapon of Choice featuring Meganut and the ever so dynamic miss Eurie...<br /> <br />6) ...and when the big ol nasty getdown got down and spooked folks with some stirring funk standards, driven by guests Patryce “Choclet” Banks and her daughters Unique and Cynthia. I can still hear echoes of “I Wanna Testify” blowing through the streets of downtown Long Beach.<br /> <br />+ The entire vibe in which people came for the love of The Funk – not for profit, not for the hustle, but to give and get the most natural positive life force out in the world…Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-41429912276789704812010-07-03T10:52:00.000-07:002010-07-03T10:56:12.062-07:00I Have Accepted Disco Into My LifeA few months back I purchased a trippy instrumental album from DJ/collector Oliver Wang thru his website. The disc had a crazy riff on Barry White’s “Love’s Theme” and I thought the beat just had an infectious groove. The album was from jazz arranger Peter Nero and was clearly a throwaway disco effort by him (It is called “Disco, Dance and Love Themes from the 70s”).<br /><br />But the crazier part for me is the fact that I went out of my way to get all up into this record, an album of derivative disco interpretations! First off, and it is well documented in my book, I am very adamant that the rise of disco meant the death of The Funk on the radio and untold damage to the careers of so many of my super funky heroes.<br /><br />At the time I considered disco records to be utterly shallow, monotonous, non-musical assaults on the integrity of music in general, and definitely the kryptonite for the funk. It was hard to enjoy even the most pleasant productions because of what the entire disco movement represented.<br /><br />Now, thirty years later, that period of funk and disco dance is all mushing together, and good dance music from the late 70’s is standing on its own, regardless of source or style. It is also the richest untapped ground for CD reissuers digging around the greatest era of dance music ever. At the time I considered that time (my high school years 77-79) to be the best time for dance music because great funk bands had been forced to stretch out their music for ultimate dance satisfaction. Thus, stormers like “It’s All The Way Live” by Lakeside, “Movin’” by Brass Construction and “Rigor Mortis” by Cameo all broke through the dance funk blackout on the strength of their party licks, but were 100% funk to boot.<br /><br />Other artists like Marvin Gaye (“Got to Give it Up”) Johnnie Taylor (“Disco Lady”) and Chaka Khan made the most of the new style and stayed relevant, even if their music was dumbed down a bit from what it once was. Of course Kool & the Gang was the worst offender, turing their back on the Afro-centric genius of “Let the Music Take Your Mind” and “Jungle Jazz” and producing “Ladies Night” instead. At the time I was easily offended by these disparaging digs at the funk. When jazzmen like Herbie Hancock and Lonnie Liston Smith drank the disco kool-aid I was about through with it all.<br /><br />But with the endless onslaught of talent-challenged jokers masquerading as pop stars, the lameness of the music has put disco songs in a new light. There were actually melodies on some disco cuts. There was actually some singing on some of the songs, and some musicians actually played on some of the tracks. At the time, when Nile Rogers of Chic talked about how he was using jazz chords and putting them on a disco beat, I wanted nothing to do with what he was saying.<br /><br />Now that we have been lobotomized by the standardized nature of American pop beats, even the disco beat features a relatively lively rhythmic interplay, one that does not drone into eternity like so much techno and tired club rap.<br /><br />So I’m digging into my dance compilation CD’s that have disco and funk hits, and finally checking the other tracks and discovering that some songs aren’t insultingly insipid. Maybe it is just generational, but I’m finding more satisfaction in disco tracks than I ever thought was out there.<br /><br />Recently I played Yarborough and People’s “Don’t Stop The Music” the O’Jays “I Love Music” and “You + Me = Love” by the Undisputed Truth. These are all very good songs, but would have had a hard time making my “History of Funk” playlist in the past. These songs were all informed by the funk, so they belong in the funk family, and some put a new perfume on the funky mix. <br /><br />Not that I’ve forgotten what’s really going on. Certainly, to be sure, we as a generation have suffered from a very deep lack of musical leadership, and standards of dance music in America have dropped so low, that one does not need to sing – or even rap – with any quality to get a big hit. This is all real, but my respect for some disco is not entirely based on a rejection of modern music. Okay maybe it is.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-7659263103115597572010-06-22T07:51:00.000-07:002010-06-22T07:52:35.204-07:00Obama and Carter, too many paralellsNow that we are 1/1/2 years into Barack Obama’s term, a fuller appraisal of his strengths and weaknesses has emerged, and with world events going south on him, a picture of his long term legacy is emerging also.<br /><br />We all knew how charming he was in 2008, and how he used that to overcome the race barrier and to tap into sense of fairness within even the most cynical voters to parlay that into an ‘opportunity’ to transcend doubts about his race and get elected. <br /><br />It is important also to note that Obama played on a sense of hope that America’s populace had the potential to save the country in the wake of the Bush administration driving the US into the ground. In short, Obama was elected in part because the Bush era was a new low in American political life and Bush was roundly dismissed as the ‘worst president ever.’<br /><br />Former President Jimmy Carter used that term on Bush, which is interesting because Carter had some of his own troubles as president. Not that he was anything close to the ‘worst president’ in fact, he may be one of the most morally sound people to have served the nation in that office. But his situation bears eerie parallels to Obama’s:<br /><br />Carter gained the presidency after the American political system was in ruins, after Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon, a time when nobody thought America’s government could sink any lower (sound familiar?). The Democrat Carter emerged as a decent man in my opinion, that was overwhelmed by the sheer forces of raw power and evil that surrounded his term as President.<br /><br />Operating on a platform of ‘human rights’ Carter had to manage the US out of the shame of losing in Vietnam in 1975, out of the Energy crisis and the new humiliation of the US being beholden to Middle Eastern Oil interests, and then the domestic “malaise” that was both cultural (think disco) and economic (industrial base in the Northeast collapsing), as well as the crises caused by the so-called “Marxist” revolution in Nicaragua and the fundamentalist revolution in Iran. Carter appeared to be timid and confused when these crises emerged, and as most of us old enough still remember, things would get a whole lot worse.<br /><br />The Iran Hostage crisis began in 1979 when Iranian students stormed the sovereign territory of the US and held US staff members & citizens hostage in their own Embassy. The situation was an international embarrassment that never seemed to end. It fact, it only ended when Ronald Reagan was elected, and the hostages were released the day Reagan took office in 1981. <br /><br />While rumors swirl that a back-channel deal was engineered to keep the hostages in Iran until after the 1980 Presidential elections, (look up the book “October Surprise” by Gary Sick) the fact is that there were far too many sharks in the waters for Carter in his little shrimp boat of a foreign policy to try to manage. The Hostage Crisis ruined Carter’s presidency, and opened the door for Ronald Reagan’s radical right wing restart of America’s national image.<br /><br />To me, Obama needs to study this period closely, because the gulf oil spill is starting to look like Obama’s ‘hostage crisis,’ a disaster that never ends and derails his presidency. The media is using the “count up” that was used during the hostage crisis. As of June, the gulf oil disaster is around “Day 55”, and the hostage crisis went past “Day 440” so it is not the end of the world…yet.<br /><br />Obama is trying everything he can, calling out the oil fat cats and using slang (“So I know who’s ass to kick”) to show he’s tough, but it may not be enough. The sharks in the water may be able to frame Obama as weak against the very interests they support (big oil) and convince the populace that a ‘traditional’ a**hole is a better way to go.<br /><br />I want to be optimistic about Obama’s chances, considering he worked the administration on the financial bailout, the stimulus plan and healthcare reform, he is definitely a doer. But Jimmy Carter engineered the Egypt Israel truce that stands to this day, and yet he is regularly ridiculed by the media as a limp noodle that just presided over US defeats. <br /><br />The Democrats did ok in midterm 2010 primary elections, but this fall will show us whether or not the haters now have the crisis that can sink the first black president from re-election: an ocean of black oil.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-84872386225540070072010-05-11T15:30:00.000-07:002010-05-11T15:45:58.785-07:00The Golden Years of The FunkMany of us funk fans have been giving our thoughts and prayers out to Garry Shider and the entire George Clinton family of funk. And his determination to continue on stage even after his diagnosis with brain and liver cancer is all the more inspiring and distressing at the same time. It has been especially hard for our super-hero --and for many of us, dear friend --George Clinton because he lost his mother, and son Georgie over the past few months, as well as everyone’s best friend in the funk, the one and only Mallia Franklin, who also passed earlier this year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjttyXC_LS19MLV2oCW_Y5bFqoiHAnXGwFitah4ooI40cOcLZbvr9MjmS5ulYjJST7fwMUGBRHNE2SrixanxxNms2oV5qBDZVD6El6l5Zq1gLZBxbtKmcPiaK2dLVT2NQQsuTSsqLYJa7/s1600/GeorgeClinton_Georgie.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 163px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjttyXC_LS19MLV2oCW_Y5bFqoiHAnXGwFitah4ooI40cOcLZbvr9MjmS5ulYjJST7fwMUGBRHNE2SrixanxxNms2oV5qBDZVD6El6l5Zq1gLZBxbtKmcPiaK2dLVT2NQQsuTSsqLYJa7/s200/GeorgeClinton_Georgie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470145914744969890" />George and his son Georgie</a><br /><br />That is a lot of loss for one person to take, regardless if they are the indestructible, indomitable Dr. Funkenstein. <br /><br />I think it is ironic, yet emblematic of The Funk that despite these very real losses and setbacks, the touring P-Funk show over the past couple of years has been the strongest it has been in about a decade. P-Funk is of course hard to measure because there are no comparisons, except to other P-Funk jam sessions, but the new blood, the new guitarists, the new drummers, the new singers, the new keyboardist Danny Bedrosian all are holding up the banner very well. Many of the folks aren’t ‘new’ exactly, but they are fully formed entities in the act, and there are no down spots anywhere in the show, except when one steps back and wonders how long it will continue.<br /><br />It has become possible now to imagine P-Funk even after the Clinton era is over. This is not really conceivable for me, considering I figured the good doctor would live to be 205. But if he were to retire at this point, no one could possibly blame him, (except for maybe a few creditors) and a few bandmembers that might selfishly want to keep the gravy train going.<br /><br />But The Funk Mob as we know it is easily 40 years into it now, and I’m only talking about the touring psychedelic monstrosity that was and is Parliament-Funkadelic / P-Funk All Stars that began its road assault as a black rock funk soul band on the road around 1970. That is quite a long time for anyone to be doing anything, even something they love, that is in their bloodstream, and will be in their dust once it scatters.<br /><br />So I’m looking forward, cause funk ain’t never looking back, it’s always comin’, and I will consider it a blessing that we still get so many legendary funkmasters still cranking at the highest level. Ain’t nothing like it. Ever.<br /><br />Just talking about the funk stars themselves only tells part of the generational story. I’ve been doing radio – funked up radio – since 1983, and I think I’ve been doing a weekly radio show just about every week since 1985. That is a LOT of funk. And some shows are still on an advanced level of groovallegiance, which is a joy to be a part of. But there are days and times when I’m looking at winding this up too.<br /><br />I have been at KPFA radio since 1991, and have been on the same Friday night slot since 1997 doing “The History of Funk.” It is what I always wanted to do, so I ain’t never gonna complain about it. But my homie and co-host The Funkyman, has had his own overnight show at KPFA for about ten years, and he just “retired” from it, announcing it last Friday on my show. He simply needed to get back to his life and quit trying to sustain the funkativity of his fans at his own expense. Another friend and colleague of mine, Gary “The G-Spot” Baca, had been on KPFA for around 20 years, and basically burned out this year too. His great overnight Saturday night/Sunday morning show “Live From Aztlan” was a fantastic trip through funk and soul, and G was and still is one of the best interviewers in the Bay Area I’ve ever heard. KPFA management removed him earlier this year from his show, and just like that a radio legend is blowing in the wind.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9v34DyQgwl09QpVCfW_AmLs3zw-495u66Aev5-WiatnxMH36OoT8iq9bMbP8Xs-vQTFDRY4fPXw5m3u_pjGIfNOoKxTe8uEDYnL3sBc96sUNwWPm_46HGsMXFI8yNJVyGvmJUlZe2eNng/s1600/RV2d.RV+Funkyman.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9v34DyQgwl09QpVCfW_AmLs3zw-495u66Aev5-WiatnxMH36OoT8iq9bMbP8Xs-vQTFDRY4fPXw5m3u_pjGIfNOoKxTe8uEDYnL3sBc96sUNwWPm_46HGsMXFI8yNJVyGvmJUlZe2eNng/s320/RV2d.RV+Funkyman.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470147084068369666" />RV and The Funkyman</a><br /><br />Dang, so now I’m hanging on with this funk, watching generations pass, waiting for the revolution to come that The Funk promised us, embedded so deep into our soul. I must now conclude that may never happen, but as George Clinton always says, ‘funk aint about getting there, it is about the pursuit’ And I guess we are all in pursuit of the funk, till the edge of time…Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-51828686583520796242010-02-09T11:56:00.000-08:002010-02-20T19:24:45.664-08:00Avatar spelled backwards = TARZAN.<br />I was hoping this film would just go away, but after winning Golden Globe awards as best picture of 2009, and breaking all attendance records, it looks like Avatar is here to stay. Yet another epic spectacle of American exceptionalism and White Privilege has been playing in 3D, in IMAX and in every theater across the country.<br /><br />It should not be such a big deal, but huge grossing fantasy films have a far reaching impact on their audiences, of all races and nationalities. The similarities to Tarzan, the mythical white man that becomes “King of the Jungle” were too hard to ignore.<br /><br />The Tarzan tale, first written in 1912 by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs, details the story of a white man left in the jungle and raised by apes, who by his sheer skills and ingenuity goes on to become “King of the Jungle.” The idea was popular among young Americans looking for an escape for much of the last century, but it also represented the worst examples of white privilege– that a white man can “Go Native” , join the “tribe” like Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves – and then emerge as their leader!<br /><br />The story would be incredible except for the fact that it is ingrained in our thinking process as Westerners. Whether the ‘tribes’ are Pacific Islanders, Native Americans or Na’Vi from the planet "Pandora" , it is very hard for Hollywood (or any American fiction) to break out of this mold.<br /><br />It may seem silly, but characterizations of members of racialized groups in American fiction have a sad way of affecting public opinion, and affecting social policy toward those groups.<br /><br />As for Avatar, I really thought that the juvenile plot would be exposed by folks critical enough to see the colonial baggage hanging over every “exotic” flower, every “magical” ritual of the natives and every alpha-male effort of the protagonist, (named Jake Sully, if you can believe that).<br /><br />Yes the film is gorgeous, and that is the draw on the way in, but I’m afraid the lasting images on the way out of the film do a lot of damage to the “Native” in the imagination of the audiences. Since Pocahontas in the 1600s, the (false) story of the benign tribespeople enabling the courageous white patriarch has been indelibly (and often cruelly) marked on our national psyche. For director James Cameron to bring this tale to the largest venue on earth comes as no surprise.<br /><br />I’m afraid this film represents the best and worst of American film-making. As a technical project, this is one of the most ambitious and overwhelming experiences ever put in a film theater. But technical achievement in Hollywood films has just as often led to some of the most backward racial characterizations. <br /><br />How about these examples:<br /><br />In 1915 “Birth of A Nation” was hailed as a “cinematic triumph” in 1915, replete with its fiercely racist characterizations of “free” Negroes;<br /><br />In 1933 “King Kong” was one of the greatest sci-fi productions ever made at the time, complete with the giant “super nigger” chasing the white woman across the jungle and dragging her up the Empire State Building;<br /><br />1939 -One of the first ‘color’ films was “Gone With The Wind” that lamented the demise of the Old South (and the old ways of the Confederacy) with spectacular visual imagery;<br /><br />In 1963 the most expensive film ever made (to date) was “Cleopatra” a four hour monolith that featured a white woman in the lead role, Elizabeth Taylor commanding her multi-colored subjects.<br /><br />In 1969, As a reflection of the cynical, revolutionary sixties, racial domination was flipped in “Planet of the Apes” a hugely popular film (with four sequels and a TV series) that imagined the mess that would incur once apes (read:blacks) took over the world.<br /><br />In the late sixties things began to change. It was a time in which visionary sci-fi producers imagined space journeys in which the humans were not the dominant species, but mere trifles on the galactic road map. Stanley Kubrick’s essential 2001: A Space Odyssey imagined a distant – incomprehensible intelligence that sought to guide humanity through its transformational phases. It was clearly a break from the colonial mentality of so much sci fi. <br /><br />Much of the appeal of the original Star Trek for many of us was that the intrepid Enterprise crew were not merely understood as space police, but that they regularly encountered beings far more advanced than humans, beings that were annoyed by the trivial and savage ways of earth beings, and the humans were lucky to get out of orbit in time without getting vaporized.<br /><br />In 1979, and reprised in 1984, Sigourney Weaver single-handedly pushed the feminist envelope in sci-fi as the indomitable (yet still complex, courageous and feminine) Ripley. But by this time however, the overblown era of hyper-masculine bombast began to overtake the imagination of film makers, as steroid enhanced Austrian body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger became the #1 box office sci fi action hero in the 90’s.<br /><br />We are back full circle now. With American Empire on the precipice, no Hollywood film maker wants to spend their money openly critiquing the system that created their privileged space to begin with.<br /><br />So we are left with a story of a white man who “Goes Native” and joins the tribe, a la Dances With Wolves (another blockbuster white man fantasy of the other), and after disowning his own people, joins the fight against them and becomes essentially the greatest of the native warriors, the King of the Jungle, a la Tarzan. <br /><br />We see once again the benevolent and naive ‘earth people’ that put their trust in the invaders without serious suspicion, and we see the European invader magically obtain powers and status of a ‘chosen one’ that outpaces the warriors and leaders of the people there. What, these natives were afraid of the big bird all these years, and the whyteboy is the only one courageous enough to fly it? Give me a break.<br /> <br />And don’t get me started on the tired broken English accents, straight out of movie westerns and Mutiny on the Bounty. All this praise about ‘creating a new language’ for the aliens, but the actors deliver them like Pat Morita in Happy Days.<br /><br />As a film with a “message,” despite its anti war and corporate greed overtones, in terms of its characterization of the other, it is warped, tired, abusively stereotypical and ultimately unwatchable. So much energy, so much effort, so much care and precision, down the drain. But that’s just me. I’ll probably watch it again and hope I don’t feel the same way, but it is hard to hide from what you can see in 3D.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-83395194158947935762009-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:002009-10-01T22:55:32.632-07:00Michael Jackson: The Original Post-Racial Soul Brother(Here's the text of my talk at the UC Berkeley Michael Jackson Symposium, Oct 1, 2009)<br /><br />Good afternoon, I’m happy to be here on this panel with my colleagues here.<br />We are here to discuss Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. I am here to frame Mr. Jackson as the Original Post-Racial Soul Brother.<br /><br />What do I mean by that? This past year a lot of discussion has taken place regarding the election of Barack Obama and the heralding of a Post-Racial society. Some Obama critics such as Shelby Steele have claimed Obama was a “bargainer” that manipulated whites desires to transcend race, while relying upon his own racial identity to garner support from his racialized base.<br /><br />I would submit that Michael Jackson became the greatest entertainer on the face of the earth in a similar fashion. Jackson initiated social breakthroughs as a de-racialized entity, entertaining and appealing to all, yet Jackson remained relevant because of his effective use of the Soul Music aesthetic, and the moral imperatives of Soul, as I will explain.<br /><br />As a public entity, Mr. Jackson was a transitional figure, one who emerged on the national scene as a child in the 1960s during an era of overt expressions of racial consciousness, yet as a young adult in the 1970s was forced to navigate in an arena where race based social movements declined, and the presumption of racial equality dominated the discourse of the entertainment industry.<br /><br />Mr. Jackson, like others of his era such as Bill Cosby, Diana Ross, O.J. Simpson, and Prince, sought public acceptance by distancing themselves from the overt racial identification in their works, seeking to be judged – by the content of their artistic character – if you will.<br /><br />Michael Jackson was by far the most successful, and succeeded in utilizing the performance aesthetics of the Soul Music environment he was raised in, and applied them to the international arena to emerge as a global superstar.<br /><br />SOUL BROTHER<br />Michael Jackson, the 7th of 9 children born in the working class neighborhood of Gary, Indiana in 1958, came of age when the demographics of the great black migration north afforded opportunities for those most ambitious. The family patriarch, Joe Jackson, ruled the home with an iron fist, driven to make something of his boys, that he could not do with his own fledging musical career. Joe Jackson came from the old school, where force and violence circumscribed daily life in Jim Crow Arkansas. Growing up in Gary Indiana in a touring band, rehearsing with their father sitting by, whip (a big belt) in hand, the young Jackson boys learned how the legacy of Jim Crow violence would shape the Sound of Young America. <br /><br />Michael Jackson internalized the lofty standards of Soul, a conception that emerged in the crucible of the Civil Rights Movement, in which the desires of generations of African Americans would explode in a dazzling array of actions, artistic expressions, and social upheavals.<br /><br />Soul Music incorporated the emotive elements of the blues, with the moral imperatives drawn from the back church and the gospel music, to produce a new standard of black music – one that was forged by, but no longer bound to the historical memory of slavery. The new sound, the Sound of Young America promoted by Motown Records represented a popular interpretation of changing ideals on the streets of young America.<br /><br />Michael Jackson interpreted these ideals as a youth, dancing the “James Brown” during his audition for Motown Records in 1968, and wearing the trademark “Afro” hairstyle in the early seventies as a teenager along with this brothers in the Jackson 5. <br /><br />Mr. Jackson was to become the world’s greatest interpreter of black styles, from soul to disco to pop and even hip hop.<br /><br />Michael Jackson emerged in the 1970s, when black popular culture was straddling the contradictory impulses toward the celebration of black identity and the desires of many for popular acceptance at any cost.<br /><br />As Mark Anthony Neal writes in Soul Babies: “Despite the drive toward self-determination that the soul aesthetic encapsulated, it remained a project that essentialized black identity and culture for one consumer public demanding inclusion into the mainstream on its own terms…and another looking for non-threatening markers of difference…) (Soul Babies p.7)<br /> <br />In the 1980s,popular music would become re-segregated, as rampant stereotypes of jerry-curled Super-Freaks like Rick James played on timeless tropes of the threatening, uncontrolled black buck encroaching on polite white society, which was being reconstructed under the traditionalist mandate of Ronald Reagan and Reaganism. <br /><br />Michael Jackson, with the aid of his mentor and producer Quincy Jones (himself a legendary integrationist jazz arranger), was positioned as the great unifier. Building on his expressive talents and soulful pedigree, Jackson utilized the talents of popular stars from outside of the black music world such as Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen and Vincent Price on Jackson’s landmark “Thriller” album. The resulting soul based, all star pop collaboration became what is still the greatest selling record of all time.<br /><br />Michael Jackson, spawned from Soul, created a new brand of ‘post racial’ pop music, and became as the first post-racial black superstar. <br /><br />Jackson’s commitment to humanitarian causes is another significant part of his legacy and of his roots. Jackson’s support for causes that support terminally ill and abused children was constantly backed up by public presentations of his donations. In much the same way that his mentor James Brown would stop a concert midway to give a donation to the local NAACP chapter, or showcase a civic leader, Michael Jackson would make public appearances on his tours to give to numerous charities that included the United Negro College Fund and Transafrica. (although records are hard to find, he was also a great friend to the Nation of Islam, which was revealed in the memorial issue of the Final Call published after Jackson’s death)<br /><br />As the “King of Pop” in the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Jackson stood at the mountaintop, as a Soul Music giant, philanthropist, and humanitarian, with cross-racial appeal enjoyed by no other American since the days of Paul Robeson in the 1930s.<br /><br />In his own way, Michael Jackson ushered in an era of post-racialism in popular music and by extension, popular American culture. As a result of his constantly whitening skin condition and numerous facial reconstructions, Jackson became a living symbol of a de-racialized celebrity. But Michael Jackson never lost his soul…<br /><br />Of the many social breakthroughs Michael Jackson could be given credit for, from “integrating” MTV, to breaking sales records worldwide, to his global humanitarianism, it is not a stretch to claim that his prominence as a Post-Racial Soul Brother primed a generation of Americans to accept a new President that applied the same strategies for success…<br /><br />Upon his death, and elegant memorial, the global public was reminded of the totality of the man’s gifts to the world. We recognize that like few others American icons, like Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and Dr. King, Michael Jackson was larger than life while he was alive, and was perhaps never destined to grow old. His youthful spirit will transcend all of the doubters. The King of Pop is dead. Long Live The King.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5680725554489305891.post-14021805254487129122009-06-21T13:32:00.000-07:002009-10-05T13:14:12.344-07:00Ted Vincent 1936-2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pZX7gu_c4XkYEQ_DTINRZpk4BSV7eBZNhRtOlPGzETRE7vO0iHoM_l2hUGzn_aS2QCcy5tO2_aCZ_YozlO46fEeQAeHcRIc_lk4na75KY1CRyNr7LTSz-VETwqq2pWcOS0TEVd9PzfYT/s1600-h/TedRV1ll.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pZX7gu_c4XkYEQ_DTINRZpk4BSV7eBZNhRtOlPGzETRE7vO0iHoM_l2hUGzn_aS2QCcy5tO2_aCZ_YozlO46fEeQAeHcRIc_lk4na75KY1CRyNr7LTSz-VETwqq2pWcOS0TEVd9PzfYT/s200/TedRV1ll.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389211610317531586" /></a><br /><br />On Sunday, June 14, 2009 I lost my dad. <br /><br />He had been recovering from a heart attack on May 22nd, and there are some controversies about the change in his care when he was moved to Kaiser Oakland two days before his passing, but it is not important right now because he cannot be brought back.<br /><br />Ted was always his own man and was courageously original in his ideas and how he went about pursuing the issues that mattered most to him. A central part of his values had to do with social justice and racial justice in particular. As an historian by trade, he wrote five books and dozens of articles in papers and magazines all over the world. Most of his writing had to do with uncovering the many untold elements of the struggle for racial equality for blacks in America. <br /><br />As a white man dedicated to black equality, his life and career took some bittersweet turns, but his legacy will stand on its own for generations. My cousin calls him “the last of the white black nationalists.” One of his first teaching gigs was at Merritt College in Oakland in 1964, and the class featured a young, talkative student named Huey P. Newton, eventual founder of the Black Panther Party.<br /><br />Ted was an avid runner, political activist, musician and teacher. He was born in Washington, D.C. in 1936, and earned a Master’s Degree in History from UC Berkeley in 1970. He had entered the doctoral program in History at UCLA but left to write the books he wanted to on his own terms. He always was self -driven, self-taught, and self defined, and I believe that’s where I got my open-minded approach to The Funk as a way of life.<br /><br />His three children are testament to this belief and faith in humanity. He had three loving wives at different times in his life. Toni, my mom, shared Ted’s radical politics and forward thinking social values, and my brother Teo Barry Vincent and myself are proof of those values. Ted’s second wife Selma and their daughter Mimi shared much of the counter-culture Berkeley lifestyle values we always enjoyed while growing up, and his third wife Bernice kept up with him as he was running his marathons for much of the 1990’s.<br /><br />Then there is his massive track record of writings, in essays and books, ranging from comparisons of slave overseers to modern cops, to pioneering research on the runaway slave Yanga, an African prince that founded a city if his own in southern Mexico in the 1600s which survives to this day. Ted uncovered the writings of Malcolm X’s mother, Louise Little, which she contributed to the Marcus Garvey paper <span style="font-style:italic;">The Negro World</span>. Historians now agree that both of Malcolm’s parents were Garveyites, not only Malcolm’s father, which was implied in Malcolm’s autobiography. These are the quiet contributions great historians make to our world.<br /><br />He was a frequent contributor to the Berkeley Daily Planet, and had recently been translating contributions to the mixed race heritage publication Somos Primos. He was also a consultant to the Oakland Museum's current exhibit "The African Presence in Mexico" and was a scheduled speaker the following day when he took ill on May 22nd.<br /><br />Ted’s most enduring legacy will be his books, which are paradigm shifting, often epic and groundbreaking re-evaluations of the established historical record. Here is a list of them, they are all fascinating, accessible reads: <br /><br />1970 - (as Theodore G. Vincent) <span style="font-style:italic;">Black Power and the Garvey Movement</span> Ramparts Press, San Francisco (reprinted by Nzinga press, 1987, and reprinted by Black Classic Press, 2007); <br /><br />1972 - (as Theodore G. Vincent) <span style="font-style:italic;">Editor: Voices of a Black Nation: Political Journalism in the Harlem Renaissance</span> Ramparts Press, San Francisco. (reprinted by Afrika World Press 1991)<br /><br />1981 - (Ted Vincent) <span style="font-style:italic;">Mudville's Revenge: The Rise and Fall of American Sport</span> University of Nebraska Press (1981; reprinted in 1994)<br /><br />1995 - (Ted Vincent) <span style="font-style:italic;">Keep Cool: The Black Activists Who Built the Age of Jazz</span> London, Pluto Press<br /><br />2003 - (as Theodore G. Vincent) <span style="font-style:italic;">The Legacy of Vicente Guererro, Mexico's first Black Indian President</span>. University of Florida Press<br /><br />Ted was a Berkeley fixture and will be deeply missed. I am still processing the scope of the loss on a personal level. Knowing we won’t be going to any more baseball games, or watching him playing any more piano, or discussing black history or modern politics, or watching him teach my kids those little bites of wisdom, will be a brand new struggle for me. But I know he lived a full and rich life, saw his children grow up, enjoyed the unconditional love of his grandkids, and lived to see a Black President. I think he will be at peace with all of it now.Rickey Vincenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10695970857134753701noreply@blogger.com4