Beauty and the Beast (Live)

So nice to hear one of Wayne Shorter's classic tunes performed live by young people. It really takes one back to the good ol' days. Although Native Dancer was never our favorite Shorter album, this tune always struck us as an effective melding of jazz and funk influences.

On the Corner / New York Girl / Thinkin' of One Thing and Doin' Another / Vote for Miles

Although we have long appreciated "Black Satin" from this period in the music of Miles Davis, listening to all of On the Corner was a pure delight. This is Miles masterfully embracing new sound possibilities and creating some ethereal funk. Somehow, all the funk elements, Indian ornamentation, and unstoppable rhythm to combine to create a cosmic stew. 

Aint It Funky Now Guitar

Catfish Collins playing one the best guitar solos in funk music with James Brown shouting and wailing in the background is priceless. If only Fred Wesley didn't always play the "same" solo every time...or if someone like Maceo Parker was available on the alto sax to play an extended solo...

(Not Just) Knee Deep

 

Something about the music around 7:00. Who doesn't love to hear P-Funk rocking out? Something about the music, indeed.

Picking Up the Pieces

I haven't heard this class in several years. It reminds me of that middle-aged African-American man who was paid by my mother ca. 2004 to do odd jobs around the house or with repainting it and the garage. This man, Ronnie, was always blasting this song when I saw him painting. 

Art Ensemble of Chicago's Barnyard Funk

For some bizarre reason, I missed Art Ensemble of Chicago's funky "Rock Out" during my obsessive jazz-funk phase a year or two ago. Like some of the group's blues, "Rock Out" brings a "farmyard" quality of the band doing their best to sound like roosters and other farm animals. While doing this, they pay tribute to an incredibly catchy beat from a James Brown song ("Cold Sweat," according to Paul Steinbeck). As someone who always finds funk music from avant-garde jazz artists to be the most interesting in the genre, this unique number is certainly memorable and indicates how the group always had an ear to R&B and popular music. No surprise, really. How could anyone be married to Fontella Bass and not know a thing or two about popular music?

Don Cherry's Brown Rice

One of Don Cherry's most intriguing works in jazz fusion is surely "Brown Rice." Combining free jazz dissonance with funk and his usual interest in Indian and African music, "Brown Rice" also features Charlie Haden playing the funkiest bass with a wah wah pedal. It's hypnotic groove is so irresistible that even Cherry's vocals and chanting do not ruin it. As Ornette Coleman told us, beauty is a rare thing.

Black Satin

One of the more interesting pieces from Miles Davis's On the Corner is a rather short funky number, "Black Satin." Combining Indian percussion and sitar with soul claps and funk, Davis and company produced the most rhythmically interesting song of Davis's jazz-funk period, and all with tabla, Miles clapping his hands, and a tabla. Sometimes it was the jazz artists who produced the most arresting funk of the 1970s, such as Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" with the African-inspired bottle blowing that opens the song. 

Theme From a Symphony

Ornette Coleman dabbled in just about every genre of music. Here, performed live and shared on Youtube for posterity, someone has shared a funky number from Coleman's Dancing In Your Head. At first, one would think Coleman's singular style could not work in funk, but Coleman found a way, even pulling out his violin for a brief solo. Very simple yet effective, and given funk's origin in blues, Colemand and Prime Time were not really out of their element entirely. 

There Are Other Worlds

One of the more typical or representative songs from Sun Ra's Lanquidity, an important album of his oeuvre and an excellent introduction for beginners to the world of Ra. Lanquidity shows Sun Ra expounding upon his jazz and blues past within the disco and funk idiom of the 1970s. One finds the chants, space themes, ethereal touch via special effects and electronic instruments, a hint of the Orient and 'world music' (a trait in Sun Ra's music since the 1950s) and one has the usual potent brew of Sun Ra. Although not the best composition on Lanquidity, it exemplifies the continuity in Sun Ra's work, despite the vastly different material and styles he played in throughout his long career.

Grass Roots

Lovably funky number from the ever-quirky Andrew Hill, a Chicago-born jazz pianist who bizarrely claimed to be born in Haiti. I have always appreciated Hill for his ability to bridge the gap between more 'out there' jazz and bop, a feat that I also admire in the work of Eric Dolphy. As a sideman, Hill has proven how talented he is as a composer for other artists, such as Bobby Hutcherson. Lee Morgan and Ron Carter round things out on this funky number, particularly Carter's walking bass. 

Pepi's Tempo

Enjoy the rousing "Pepi's Tempo" by Marion Brown. It's jazz-funk that doesn't fall into the trap of becoming too repetitive or monotonous for the full length of its 9 minutes. 

Soviet Jazz and Soul

With all the talk of Russia and Ukraine in the news these days, I've been thinking about the music of the Soviet era. Despite the whole Cold War thing, US musical influences proved pervasive in the Soviet Union, including jazz, soul, and funk. I'm loving this jam, too. I am quite certain the USSR and the modern states of the former USSR are an untapped reservoir of excellent or at least interesting music.

Movin' On Up: The Music and Message of Curtis Mayfield

I finally watched this documentary about the life and contributions to music and society by Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. It was a beautiful tribute to the life of a genius who ended his life paralyzed yet still writing music. The documentary included extensive interviews with several key people in Mayfield's life and music, from his wife and the remaining members of The Impressions (Cash and Gooden) to Johnny Pate and other musical legends, such as Carlos Santana and Chuck D. One prominent civil rights leader actually compares the music of Curtis and The Impressions to that of a spiritual force equivalent to Martin Luther King! I, though very biased as as well-known lover of The Impressions, am inclined to agree. Their music was and is uplifting, encouraging, spiritual, drenched in the ethos of the Black Freedom Struggle but timeless. Unfortunately, I do not recall Jerry Butler being an interviewee in this documentary, though his input on the early years of The Impressions and other aspects of Curtis's life would have been interesting.

Anyway, I learned from this documentary that the reason Curtis joined with The Impressions was because Jerry Butler said the group needed someone who could play an instrument to practice and rehearse with the vocal group. As a guitarist, Mayfield was perfect for the role. Fortunately, lengthy interviews with Johnny Pate reveal some additional facts around the The Impressions. Pate, much like in my extensive post on his impact on the sound of The Impressions, states his primary role was to emphasize and back-up Mayfield and The Impressions, which included jazz and pop arrangements with orchestras and string sections occasionally, but never to overpower Mayfield's voice (as well as enhancing their voices more generally). He also reminded me of the admirable falsetto of The Impressions, best exemplified on songs like "I Need You." Those guys really could sing high, and as an occasional singer myself, I know how difficult that can be.

Pate also revealed his love for "Woman's Got Soul," a jazzy song I have also blogged about. "People Get Ready" and numerous other hits and gems of The Impressions appear in the documentary, as live performances (such as a somewhat cheesy but interesting live TV show rendition of "People Get Ready" featuring The Impressions on a boat with groups of other ships following) or back stories. For instance, the original "We're a Winner" featured explicit lyrics alluding to the death of Uncle Tom, but of course no record label would distribute it so Mayfield changed the lyrics. Mayfield did not have to be that explicit anyway, the intent and meaning of the lyrics were obvious, or at least obvious enough for the song to face difficulties getting radio airplay. According to the members of the group, it was quite a battle to get "Choice of Colors" recorded, too, given its black and proud lyrical content. Unfortunately, or perhaps for the betterment of his career, Mayfield left The Impressions to focus on his solo career and multiple side projects in the 1970s, which is when I stop listening to the group.

Besides his music's lyrical content and gradual shift in the 1960s from more of the soul and pop sounds with slight jazz touches or gospel traditions, Mayfield's quick embrace of funk, black empowerment, and the 1970s milieu of soul and Black Power reveal his flexibility and ability to bridge the gap between the older generation of civil rights activism to something that would appeal to the more youthful aesthetics of pro-blackness (natural hairstyles, anti-colorist, pro-black self-ownership). Yet through it all, Mayfield remained an integrationist, with the hopes and ideals of the 1960s leading to his proud claims in "This Is My Country," asserting blacks' central role and contributions to the US while avoiding some fringe forms of black cultural nationalism that aimed to reorient African-American identity to Africa. By singing "we people who are darker than blue," which really had some resonance with his childhood experiences as the butt of jokes and insults because of the color of his skin, Mayfield also called for black unity among the black, brown and yellow, too.

Even when expressing disillusionment with the state of race relations ("If There's a Hell Below"), Mayfield still penned songs about the need for peace, maintaining hope, or spiritually uplifting music (or funkified versions of his earlier songs with The Impressions about love, unity across racial lines ("Mighty Mighty"), and the inequities and destruction of the proliferation of drugs in urban communities (though Super Fly and other blaxploitation flicks mostly glamorized the 'street life') in some of his other work. Intriguingly, Pate actually considered many of the songs on Super Fly to be quasi-rapping, another sign of Mayfield's relevance to the times he lived in and future generations of music, since he would be sampled often in hip-hop, too.

Indeed, Mayfield's passion for what he calls owning himself led to him running his own publishing company, record label (Curtom), writing soundtracks (Super Fly is the best-known), and, at the same time, recognizing when he needed a break. His wife, children, family, musical interests, and music career became, at a point, too demanding and difficult to balance for a man who wanted to, at the end of the day, be there with and for his family. Of course, he still made music, and even after the accident that paralyzed him at a show in Brooklyn, Mayfield wrote music, hosted visitors such as Chuck D, so to the end of his days, I like to think he did own himself more than most of us ever will. And though such a sentiment of 'self-ownership' could be seen as relic of some conservative strands in black political thought (I'm looking at your, Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey), I prefer to see Mayfield's stance beyond class or economic interests, but a much broader moral question of owning your own time, life, and taking responsibility for your decisions. This could mean a degree of personal autonomy, but really just a much broader question of determining and having the power to decide what you want to do with your life and not having your time and life schedule decided by others. As descendants of slaves and oppressed people with limited options set out for them, it makes perfect since for black folk to want that degree of collective freedom.

Rest in peace, Curtis, your life and music will forever live on. The documentary was put together quite well and some of the live footage of performances are priceless. May the music of The Impressions never die, nor shall its zeitgeist of that elusive goal of a freer world. "Keep on pushing!"

No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song)

Absolutely beautiful. This song epitomizes the best of post-Impressions Curtis Mayfield: embracing the funk idiom while retaining the sweet and soulful strings, horns, and smooth vocals of his earlier Chicago soul days. "My life's a natural high" indeed! With music like this, it's no surprise the Super Fly soundtrack was so popular and Mayfield rightfully honored by his work. I will be honest, part of the reason I love this song is the contributions of Johnny Pate's arrangements and conducting, a key ingredient in the brilliance and touch of jazz and a uniquely Chicago sound in Mayfield's music. I have written extensively on the importance of the Pate-Mayfield musical partnership here. Enjoy, I know I am. 

Home Is Where the Hatred Is

Gil Scott-Heron's brilliant song about drug addiction was masterfully covered by Esther Phillips. Beautiful, hauntingly touching and emotional song. Like Gil, Esther also succumbed to drug addiction to, although the ultimate beauty of this song is that "home" can also include, perhaps, a broken family, addiction of all kinds, and to a great, funky beat with jazz and rock aesthetics. "A junkie walking through the twilight, I'm on my way home." Common would rap over a sample of this song produced by Kanye West expertly.

Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson: Let's Dance, Let's Shout!

"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" is one of my favorite jams from Michael Jackson's pre-Thriller days. The chorus of Michael Jackson's song was taken from the popular "Got To Give It Up" and note the influence of Gaye on D'Angelo's vocal style, particularly the falsetto, and don't forget that funky beat with Latin percussion incorporated and some jazz-funk in this extended version of the song. Anyway, the chorus lien repeated by Gaye, "let's dance, let's shout, gettin' funky is what it's all about" morphed into "let's dance, let's shout, shake your body down to the ground." Although the Gaye song is much better and funkier than the straight-up disco sensibilities of "Shake Your Body," Michael's singing is enticing.

James Brown's Cold Sweat Meets Miles Davis's So What: The Jazz Soul of James Brown

You can definitely hear an influence of Miles Davis on James Brown's "Cold Sweat," which borrows the "So What" vamp for its own rhythmic genius. Maceo Parker and other members of Brown's band maintained some knowledge and ties to events in the jazz scene, much to the greater benefit of James Brown's music, which embraced funk for the late 1960s and 1970s while keeping an eye on the roots of funk, soul and jazz. According to the wiki page, the song's composer, Alfred Ellis, used the horn line from "So What" and Brown changed up the guitar line to make it funkier with some room for a drum solo and Maceo Parker's saxophone solo. Unlike earlier funk pieces by Brown prior to 1967, "Cold Sweat" is no longer rooted in a blues chord progression, instead, basing itself on a single chord, much like modal jazz and "So What." If you want to jam to a jazzy rendition, check this!The best version, unsurprisingly, remains Brown's original recording with the wailing sax of Maceo Parker and a little "funky drummer" Stubblefield. To hear Brown get down with a jazz orchestra conducted by jazz genius Oliver Nelson, check out these funky, jazzy, soulful songs: "This a Man's World," "For Once In My Life," "September Song," "That's My Desire," and "Your Cheatin Heart."  Brown was quite versatile, eh? He almost sounds like Joe Williams but with additional funk and soul instead of the blues.

Donny Hathaway's Live

1. "What's Goin' On" (Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye)
2. "The Ghetto" (Donny Hathaway, Leroy Hutson)
3. "Hey Girl" (Earl DeRouen)
4. "You've Got a Friend" (Carole King)
5. "Little Ghetto Boy" (Derouen, Eddy Howard)
6. "We're Still Friends" (Hathaway, Watts)
7. "Jealous Guy" (John Lennon)
8. "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)" (Richard Evans, Philip Upchurch, Ric Powell)

Jazzy, funky, soulful, and awesome crowd participation, this live set takes from Hathaway's performances in New York and LA. Some tracks, such as "The Ghetto," ain't nothing but soul-jazz and instrumental funk(and you can hear the blues here, too, in solos and the vamp, and the influence of Afro-Caribbean music in the congas playing a sacred 6/8 groove; but don't forget about the nice soul-clap that leads to the song's final movement!), whereas other tracks achieve a balance between Hathaway's not-quite but very similar to Stevie Wonder-esque vocal style and technique. Unlike Stevie, however, there is more jazz here than most of the former's 1970s releases, including Hathaway on the electric piano and organs. The brother knew how to play, too, though acknowledging that the album was not primarily jazz so his voice prevails. His cover of Gaye's "What's Goin On" is superior, with a jazzed-up refinement and unique interpretation that surpasses Gaye's original (though Marvin Gaye plays some nice acoustic piano for a jazz live rendition, here). The instrumental delights of "The Ghetto" come out again in "Voices Inside (Everything is Everything)," which additionally features a funky bass solo from Willie Weeks. And of course the crowd's participation in "You've Got a Friend" is nothing short of a direct transport back to the club in the early 1970s, a powerful feeling that only the best live albums truly capture. "Lil' Ghetto Boy" may be the best track on the album, perfectly jazzy yet funky and soulful, later sampled by Dr. Dre in the 1990s because of its message (with nice electric piano soloing by Hathaway but definitely not McCoy Tyner or Herbie Hancock, and heavy bass). More so than even Marvin, Hathaway's social consciousness permeated his oeuvre so that his music contained poignant and relevant social and political commentary. So, while you're getting down to his quasi-Wonder vocalization, which is strongest in "We're Still Friends," and the funk, the jamming bandmates and political subtext pervades the entirety of the recording. Moreover, the John Legend cover "Jealous Guy" shows off the band's flexibility, playing a 'rock' song while Hathaway's Stevie Wonder-like style, far more appealing as a vocalist than Lennon, actually works.

Any fan of live 1970s soul recordings will love this. In fact, listening to this album reminds me of Curtis Mayfield's Live, recorded at the Bitter End in New York in the same period. Like Mayfield, this album fuses 1970s funk and soul with touches of jazz and extended bouts of improvisation with social commentary. The instruments used are both typical of 1970s soul: electric piano and organ, congas, electric bass, electric guitar, drums, and, in other forms of funk and soul groups, horns. Both artists are signifyin' and "testifyin' to their hearts content, as well as that of their respective audiences. Remember, "lil' ghetto boy, playing in the ghetto street, what you gonna do when you grow up and have to face responsibility?" Also, "everything has got to get better" shows a profound sense of optimism, joy, and determination in the face of great obstacles, best exemplified by "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "The Ghetto." As for those who want to knock Hathaway for sound too similar to Stevie, I say, well, he's playing a different style of jazzy soul that Wonder, also proficient in the jazz idiom, recorded less often. Moreover, he does not aim for the Wonder falsettos or other characteristically Wonder style. Thus, Hathaway remains singularly and uniquely Hathaway, while also performing fascinating covers. Regardless, this style of early 1970s soul is among my favorites of the genre, an atmostphere successfully created in early Gil Scott-Heron albums such as Pieces of a Man (blogged about here). As a fan of both jazz and soul, seeing their successful fusion into the 1970s remains utter delight.

Shotgun!

Jr. Walker and the All-Star's Motown 1965 smash hit, "Shotgun," is one of my favorite songs of all times. With an irresistible funky bass line, honking saxophone, and lyrics calling one to dance, this is my jam. I first heard it properly via Spike Lee's Malcolm X biopic, and one of the later seasons of The Cosby Show used the song as the inspiration for one of their musical introductions (I'll never forget their delightful dancing, especially Tempestt Bledsoe and Malcolm-Jamal Warner's dancing, watch here!). But I digress, the original is the best, and there are some good live versions, too, on youtube. Simple, funky, bluesy, danceable, and Motown! All good things! Check it, here and some good live renditions here and here. Listen to Walker's renditions of "Come See About Me" and "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" if you want more delectable funky saxophone.