MetaFilter posts tagged with Funk

Iranian Funk in the 70s

Stylus Happenstance — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:18 -0800

"Not to get all 'We Are the World,' but Kalakat shows how little difference there is between Iranians and people of any other country." 70s Funk and Soul in Iran

The rare soul of YouTube -- BeyondBodyAndSoul

inquilab — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:06:08 -0800

YouTube user BeyondBodyAndSoul Collectors of rare funk & soul records on the internet are a dime a dozen, few have come close to the generosity and beat-digging wizardry of YouTube user & Philly resident BeyondBodyAndSoul. Enjoy!1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Friday Night, 1974, and there's nothing going on

philip-random — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:34:10 -0800

Here’s a cool concept. Top breakthrough bands of the day playing LIVE on TV late every Friday night. Such was The Midnight Special - from 1972 - 1981 (though the glory days were the early to mid 70s, that lost decade somewhere between the meltdown of the hippie dream and the coincident eruptions of PUNK + DISCO upon planet rock). Burt Sugarman was the man behind it all. You name ‘em. They played it. From the sublime to the ridiculous ... ABBA Argent Badfinger Bee Gees (pre disco) Earth Wind + Fire Electric Light Orchestra (again) Guess Who Manfred Mann's Earth Band Curtis Mayfield The Steve Miller Band Ted Nugent Billy Preston Todd Rundgren T-Rex Thin Lizzy War Gary Wright All apologies for the hairstyles but, as some wise guys said, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.

Soul Train

phrontist — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:01:31 -0800

Soul Train (wiki) has a youtube channel. Lots of great performances here, but in particular I recommend The O'Jays, Sly and The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, The Stairsteps, and the Jackson 5. What really makes it worth watching though are the clips of the Soul Train Line dancing to hits of the day, artists like The O'Jay, Curtis Mayfield, War, and The JB's.

Old Style Jazz

paisley henosis — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:49:59 -0800

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is made up of Chicago Jazz man Phil Cohran's 8 sons on horns and an (unrelated) drummer. The band sold 300,000 units of their first CD while playing on the streets, which they followed with a second home-made album and a live album. They have since preformed their tight, up-tempo, rhythm driven jazz with Mos Def with whom they have a project in the works, and Erykah Badu. They have turned down contracts with Def Jam and Atlantic, but released a self-titled album as well as a number of singles on vinyl on Honest Jon's records. Their now out of print albums have sell for a significant premium on eBay, but their main releases are all available to download on both Amazon and iTunes. They were also the subject of a recent profile in The New Yorker. A few YouTube links: 1 2 3a 3b 3c

How about this stimulus package?

P.o.B. — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:37:51 -0800

Del The Funky Homosapien has two song packs available for free download. His newest album, Funk Man (the stimulus package), is available for the price of your email. All available at Bandcamp.

At last, the present is getting Soul!

myopicman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:45:40 -0800

Soul! New York City PBS affiliate WNET have digitized 9 episodes of Soul!, a early 1970's live music program, providing a groovy video interface with chapters to break down each hour long episode. I ran across this whilst looking for Rahsaan Roland Kirk and his multiple saxophone performances and wow, I never would've thought I'd find something like his appearance on October 4, 1972.

Daily polymathism since the Year of the Ox

shothotbot — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:01:09 -0800

Microkhan is a terrific, eclectic blog by Brendan Koerner. If he had only introduced me to WEFUNK's weekly show he would have earned my gratitude (previously). Other recent posts which have caught my eye: Why does Lehman bros. own the rights to enough yellowcake to make an atomic bomb? The existence of the sport of Unlimited Hydroplaning. Musings on the suicide rate in Montana. America's abandoned polar radar stations. Convict love tokens from Australia. Photographer Harald Finster. The 1898 book about the experience of the British in Afganistan The Rising on the North Western Frontier. Via. Koerner is a writer for Wired and author of Now the Hell Will Start about "one soldier's flight from the greatest manhunt in WW2"

Filling up the city skies with righteous grooves

jammy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:39:49 -0800

Four Hours of Free Funkiness Filter: Pretty Lights Derek Vincent Smith is a DJ with quite mad skills who weaves funky masterpieces of chill-hiphop-electronica. But, really, I can't say it any better than Kyle at Aurgasm (where I found this):

Organic, soulful, electronified and good-feeling vibes, freely shared by Colorado producer Derek Vincent Smith. Nearly four hours of this Pretty Lights sound is available for free on his website. It’s a vivid collage of continuity, enriched with robust beats, eloquently laced vocal samples that range from nostalgic to serene, both compelling and entertaining, with a diverse selection of instruments all aimed towards enjoyment.

Kutiman mixes YouTube

Silky Slim — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:58:10 -0800

Kutiman, the masterful Israeli funk musician and producer, outdoes himself by creating Thru-You: Multiple YouTube clips (mostly instructional and performance videos) edited into slick mega-mashups. They're not just patchwork assemblages, they're sample-based original creations that coud hold their own on anyone's album... Plus they're 100% audiovisual! It's a work of next-level genius.
(sorry for the hyperbole, but my mind has just been blown)
More Kutiman here. Music video here. And for you Pitchfork aficionados, here.

Sooo Funky

Roach — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:49:32 -0800

29 year old Hiromi Uehara first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. 4 albums later she continues to astonish and inspire. On February 3rd, she released the album Duet, a collaboration with Chick Corea, having first played with Corea at age 17. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, Hiromi tours relentlessly with her crack band. I defy your jaw not to drop at their performances here, here, and here. I would have linked directly to the tour dates on her website, but her sites inner pages all reflect the same main URL. Enjoy.

She was a BIG FREAK!!

Joe Beese — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:31:14 -0800

"A wildly flamboyant funk diva with few equals even three decades after her debut, Betty Davis combined the gritty emotional realism of Tina Turner, the futurist fashion sense of David Bowie, and the trendsetting flair of Miles Davis, her husband for a year. ... she turned Miles on to Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone (providing the spark that led to his musical reinvention on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew), then proved her own talents with a trio of sizzling mid-'70s solo LPs." - All Music Guide (many links nsfw-ish)

Do the Wasteland Boogie

empath — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:51:54 -0800

Fallout Funk

From Cold Sweat to the Mothership, Ain't It Funky

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:44:09 -0800

Ain't It Funky is a BBC-produced documentary from 2005 with lots of great performance footage and interviews, as well as period footage from the civil rights era for some historical perspective. James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and many of their key sidemen are featured. Highly recommended. part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. These same YT clips can also be found all together, embedded at Funk Deli. NOTE: Unfortunately, the audio and video are slightly out of sync on part 1. Parts 2 through 8 lock up just fine, though.

James Jamerson: Motown's Secret Weapon

edverb — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:28:54 -0800

"[James] Jamerson terrified bassists all over the world. Still does." The original Motown hit machine dominated popular music between 1959 and 1971, making household names out of Stevie Wonder, the Jacksons, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and many others. Their secret sauce was a tight knit group of musicians called the Funk Brothers. Uncredited until Marvin Gaye's 1971 LP "What's Going On", these musicians provided the backing instrumentation on over 100 hit songs, gracing the charts more than Elvis, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys combined. The soul sound of Motown was driven largely by its innovative bass playing, and that playing was provided largely by the unheralded James Jamerson. A definitive Jamerson bio reads:

Motown's tormented genius, James Jamerson is unanimously acclaimed as the first virtuoso of the electric bass. Plagued by alcoholism and emotional problems throughout his career, James has influenced (whether they know it or not) every electric bassist to ever pick up the instrument. Arriving at Motown in 1959, James' bass playing evolved over the next decade from a traditional root-fifth cocktail style of bass playing into an astonishing new style built upon a flurry of sixteenth-note runs and syncopations, "pushing the envelope" dissonances, and fearless and constant exploration. A converted upright bass player with bear claw hands, James plucked the strings with only the index finger of his right hand (which he dubbed "The Hook), and effortlessly and routinely pulled off head-turning, technical feats on the '62 P-Bass he nicknamed "The Funk Machine." His explosive, earthquake-heavy bass lines have had the entire world dancing and grooving to Motown records for over four decades. But he labored in total obscurity - a condition that ate at him throughout the last years of his life.

After Hitsville in Detroit was abruptly closed and Motown relocated to Los Angeles, Jamerson spiraled downward into alcoholism, lack of steady work, and deteriorating health. He passed away in 1983, unknown and nearly destitute. Fast forward to the 21st century. After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and with his memory looming large over the documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" (previously), the once-anonymous genius Jamerson received some long overdue (sadly, posthumous) recognition. The Funk Brothers have even won a number of Grammys in their own right. The full scope of Jamerson's discography is still being compiled, thanks to exhaustive research, recently discovered documents, and recollections of family and Hitstown USA denizens. Another key piece of the Jamerson puzzle yet to be found is the aforementioned Funk Machine, Jamerson's stock 1962 Fender Precision Bass, stolen from his Los Angeles apartment just days before Jamerson's death. Fender Musical Instruments has offered a no-questions-asked reward for its return. Enjoy isolated tracks of James Jamerson's bass playing from Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", on the Temptations "You're My Everything", and be sure to check out master bassist Rick Suchow's archive of isolated Jamerson brilliance. (though you'll have to contact Rick for a password.)

Soviet Jazz

StrikeTheViol — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:54:48 -0800

When people think of Soviet culture in the Stalin era, jazz usually isn't the first music to come to mind. But it was there, and some of it was pretty good, whether adapting Western standards, partying with a Russian twist, or just being adventurous. If that's a little too old-school for you, try some Soviet funk.

Blacula is Dracula's Soul Brother

burnmp3s — Sat, 24 May 2008 18:22:19 -0800

Shaft was so cool that he had his own theme song. Shaft walked across the street whenever he wanted to. Shaft was a complicated man. But not all Blaxploitation heros were Private Dicks. They could be a Pimp, a Power-Hungry Criminal, a Coke Dealer, or a Male Prostitute. One was a Former Green Beret, one was a Bounty Hunter, and one was a Prize Fighter. Some were Foxy Ladies, such as Vigilante Nurses, US Special Agents, or Escaped Convicts. They might even be a Karate Master or a Vampire. The stars of the Blaxploitation era, among them Richard Rountree, Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Kelly, William Marshall, Tamara Dobson, Rudy Ray Moore, Jim Brown, and Ron O'Neal, were some of the first legitimate black film stars. They came after the first major black film actor, Sidney Poitier, and before later stars like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. When the era ended in the mid 1970s, so did most of their careers. Although many stayed in show business as actors, none found many significant starring roles in later films. One of the most distinctive characteristics of the genre is the music. Other than Isaac Haye's theme to Shaft, Curtis Mayfield's Superfly soundtrack is probably the most famous. Other major artists such as James Brown and Marvin Gaye wrote soundtracks too. In fact, nearly every Blaxploitation film had a decent soundtrack. The Blaxploitation genre itself lasted only a few years. Since then, there have been many parodies, in the form of brutal satire, nostalgic throwbacks, modern genre spoofs, or random pop-culture references. Quentin Taratino is probably the most vocal advocate of Blaxsploitation films, going as far as to cast Pam Grier as the lead in Jackie Brown. John Singleton also directed a "remake" of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson, but his version managed to drain all of the charm and groove out of the original. Although some recognize the political statements that the films made, and the subtle impact that they made to today's culture, as a whole the Blaxploitation films continue to get no respect.

Beats The Hell Out of The Neutron Dance

StopMakingSense — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:01:05 -0800

The Pointer Sisters rehearse. So imagine how they sound with an audience.

Orchestral Maneuvers in the dAKAH

mikoroshi — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:00:13 -0800

In LA, a 63 (70!)-piece orchestra blends the styles of Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington with hip-hop, European classical music, and free jazz. Spend some time with the dAKAH Orchestra and it's founder Geoff "Double G" Gallegos.

Hey! Fred Milton is still SO #1! Wow!

not_on_display — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 22:39:43 -0800

Lynda ! Barry ! Is ! Funk ! Queen ! Of ! Every ! Thing !

Wardell Quezergue: The Creole Beethoven

y2karl — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:10:43 -0800

Regarding the 'Creole Beethoven' Wardell Quezergue, composer, arranger, big band leader, master of Second Line funk, who brought us Earl King's Trick Bag, the Dixie Cups' Iko Iko and Chapel of Love, King FLoyd's Groove Me, Baby, Jean Knight's Mr. Big Stuff to name but a few--not to mention A Creole Mass--and who, later in life, survived Katrina, to become, among other things of late, according to Home of the Groove's Quezergue Onstage and Behind The Scenes, a street performer in the French Quarter. His is a name that ought not be forgotten. See also The Birth Of A Platinum Seller and Recording: Interviews » King Floyd's "Groove Me" And now a lagniappe of Quezergue arranged and conducted YouTubers: The Dixie Cups - Chapel Of Love Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff Live 1972 Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff King Floyd - Groove Me The Clarence Gatemouth Brown Big Band - One O'Clock Jump The Clarence Gatemouth Brown Big Band - Caldonia The Clarence Gatemouth Brown Big Band - Take Me Back Baby The Clarence Gatemouth Brown Big Band - Jumpin The Blues

Kuduro

billtron — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:54:24 -0800

There was a time when it seemed that groups like Frederic Galliano presents Kuduro Sound System and Buraka Som Sistema would do for kuduro what groups like Diplo and Bonde do Role did for Funk Carioca: make it popular with hipsters in the United States. But it hasn't happened yet. Why?

Six Great Apples

KevinSkomsvold — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:04:36 -0800

Think the Osmond Brothers didn't rock? Think again. "In spite of their squeaky clean image, the Osmonds had a soulful, sometimes raucous sound which was a precursor of the power pop of later years." Color my preconceived notions shattered.

I wants to get funked up.

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:15:29 -0800

From 50's doo-wop crooner (and hairstylist extraordinaire) to 60's soul stepper to 70's psychedelic funk overlord and beyond, Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove takes a loving, informative and very entertaining look at the career of the legendary George Clinton and his unstoppable, hydra-headed funk machine. Previously and Previouslier on MeFi.

some amazing contemporary guitarists from the United States

nicolin — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 02:58:20 -0800

Pushing the envelope and changing the frame within which improvisational jazz has evolved for years is the focus of many contemporary jazz musicians. As far as the guitar is concerned, merging Hendrix's legacy with be-bop and the rhythms of popular music has been a primary objective. This can be traced back to the guitar of Pete Cosey in Miles Davis's groups of the 70'S. Jean-Paul Bourelly has been directly influenced by him, and Dave Fiuczynski's group, The Headless Torsos, pays its dues to Miles here. The rhythm concept behind such a shift is explained by wayne Krantz at the outset of this documentary. One can hear how close it is of Kevin Eubanks solo playing. Other guitarists of interest : Mitch Stein, Oz Noy, Charlie Hunter.