It's Party Time

Roy Porter: Funky Twitch
From Jessica [Chelan, 1971]

Roy Porter: Party Time
From Inner Feelings [Bel-Ad, 1975]

Born in Colorado in 1923, Roy Porter was a drummer who backed up many jazz greats, most notably Charlie Parker during the 40's. He unfortunately fell victim to alcoholism which consumed much of his musicianship and public spotlight until producer Rober Blackwell urged him to get his career back on track. Abandoning his be-bop roots, Porter assembled a band and recorded the album Jessica in 1971, which was the beginning in his development of the funk. For me the winner here is "Funky Twitch," a nice groovy number that makes great use of Hendrix inspired guitar.

He then recorded Inner Feelings which cranks up the groove considerably from its predecessor. One of many standout tracks, "Party Time," starts with a blazing drum break and devolves into a flurry of uptempo vibes, and if memory serves correct Porter didn't even play the drums on this one, he played the claves. This track always makes me feel good and was comped up on Ubiquity's California Soul compilation along with the Mike James Kirkland track that was featured the other week.

Porter was enthusiastic about the merging of hip hop and jazz, and turned many producers on to Bop and encouraged them to sample his music. He was excited to participate in the "Keepintime" project, the collaboration between jazz drummers and DJs, but he unfortunately passed away in 1997 before the project could be funded. Porter is one of those artists who often gets lost in the shuffle of larger more well-known musicians, but for many his contributions to jazz and hip hop hardly go unnoticed.