Listen Without Prejudice: Funky Snakefoot

Alphonse Mouzon: The Beggar and Tara Tara
From: Funky Snakefoot [Blue Note, 1974]

Ah, Jazz Funk Fusion eh? There are few terms that have people running for the hills quicker than this incredibly vague category. Forever synonymous with cheesy sax solos, tepid tunes and self indulgence this is an area of music that's easy to balk at and, you know what? There's a lot of music out there to justify their panic.

However, when you're open to something new to prick up your ears, and aren't afraid of the consequences, then you're also open to hearing lazily labelled music like the Alphonse Mouzon album I offer up today to carry you into the weekend.

Mouzon is rightly lauded for his drumming and has played with waaaaaaaaaay too many of the biggest names in music to list here. His status as one of the greats is set in stone and he still plays today along with running a successful record label.
Despite all this I rarely hear reference to his Funky Snakefoot album and it may be because it's a bit of an odd gem. Forgoing the rawness of the playing he would display with The Eleventh House Mouzon instead delivers an album heavy on groove and electronic basslines which comes off less like Funk Jazz Fusion and more like Stevie Wonder around his Hotter Than July period.

The Beggar is a lethal variant on the electric funk tip. With a bassline worthy of old school Detroit techno and key chords from a Chicago house record this is a broody little number indeed. Not funk but pre-disco it seems nestled comfortably in it's own criteria. The breakdown three minutes in sends my speakers into some sort of orgasmic meltdown as well.

Tara Tara is more of a throwaway track but does feature great staccato drums over a busy piano melody which could have been taken straight off a golden age Wonder record.

Jazz Funk/Disco Funk/Electro Funk/Funk Fusion - Personally I'll leave the labels to the record sellers and concentrate on enjoying good music no matter what the genre or current fads.

RIP Richard "Kush" Griffith

Richard "Kush" Griffith 1948-2007

It's my sad duty today to put forward another Obituary post about the passing of a great - Richard "Kush" Griffith. Readers may recall that Kush was featured on the site in March 2003 detailing the work he was still involved in. You can read a touching tribute to the man in this denver post article.

Collaborator and friend of Kush, cHUCK dA fONk, has put together a list below of some of Kush's finest moments and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the man's life:


This man was all Leo heart, good friend, and great musician and big presence. R.I.P. Richard Kush Griffith

Here are some songs and videos from his work over the years ...

Short list of work:

George Clinton, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson Five, the Commodores, Parliament Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band, Buddy Miles.

++++++

James Brown

James Brown .. Probably my favorite ... Kush gets a rollicking solo on "Ain't It Funky Now" and gets called out, but Kush said his favorite James Brown track that he played on ever was "Say It Loud" and you most certainly hear his trumpet featured on this track, so we'll go with this one

James Brown - Say It Loud

++++++

Parliament

Kush's favorite track from Parliament was "I'm a Fish and Your Water Sign" - he's responsible for the introspective little horn arrangements and lines in this Junie Morrison penned tune.

Parliament - I'm a Fish and You're a Water Sign

++++++

More P-Funk era ... He was also the bandleader for the Brides of Funkenstein (the P-Funk girl group), of course a prominent member of Bootsy's Rubber Band, check out his mugg on the back of the Bootzilla LP. So here are a few from his participation in the P-Funk era produced Horny Horns ...

Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns - A Blow for Me and a Toot for You

My favorite track from that LP, but this was actually Kush's favorite from the "Blow for me" LP ...

Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns - When in Doubt Vamp

++++++

Kush's 2006 album, Kush and His Blues Meet Funk Mediocre

With Denver's Neal Landauer (of Uncut Musical Products / fONKSQUISh mOb)

Kush - Up there and Out there

Kush - Let's Don't Talk About It

++++++

Finally, if anyone has the Buddy Miles Atlantic Album, "Sneak Attack" ... which Kush arranged, or Kush's work as the leader of "Bottom & Co." - those are two efforts missing from collection.

Props to Monty coming trhough with a track from the above album - check it out in the comments section......Junior

Thanks for the memories Kush .. here are some videos too.

fONk

++++

Videos

Kush with Marvin Gaye - leading the horn section with a cowboy hat and a purple shirt, and buttons on the hat

Kush in glasses, with trumpet - with James Brown - Mother Popcorn

Kush with Bootsy's Rubber Band -(wait for the horn solos starting about 3 mins - Kush is the large guy)

Kush Solo with Bootsy from 90's (about 4:00 minutes in)

The Evil that Lurks Within

JD & The Evil's Dynamite Band: Everglades, Part 1 and Flames of Darkness
From: Explodes Across the Nation [Soul Fire, 2001]

Few pleasures in life are as rewarding as discovering a great label and slowly exploring its catalogue, finding that every release under its imprint is worth owning. Such has been my experience with the now-defunct Soul Fire label, whose torch was passed in 2004 to Leon Michels (of blogger faves El Michels Affair) and his Truth and Soul organization. One of the gems he took under his wing was a bizarre little record from an outfit calling themselves JD & The Evil's Dynamite Band. Like most of the label's output, Explodes Across the Nation was recorded in 2001, but its fidelity suggests something more akin to an old dusty reel committed to tape 30 years earlier.

Part of what makes this record so appealing is its undeniable air of mystery. Various Internet searches turn up next to nothing, and the production credits on the LP reveal even less. Who is JD, and what's with his band's name? The music itself plays into this aura, and could best be described as Miles Davis' band from the Agharta/Pangaea era (1975) on so many psychotropic substances that they're about to collapse onstage. The eleven instrumentals contained within are laced with backwards tape loops, torture-chamber percussion, and the occasional menacing voice chanting, "DIE." Hell, there's even something about the tropical cover that makes me uneasy, as if there's an evil presence lurking in the shadows behind that chapel.

"Everglades, Part 1" was the track that first introduced me to the band, as it was one of the selections featured on the Soul Fire: The Majestic Collection comp issued by Truth and Soul. It's a journey through the Florida swamp at night, the air so thick it could be cut with a knife and the dense vegetation barely illuminated by threads of moonlight. "Flames of Darkness" hides its wicked secrets behind a facade of funky organ comping, bubbly Latin percussion, and a surf guitar that is perfectly content to play exactly one note on every downbeat.

Explodes Across the Nation is highly recommended for those who prefer their funk with a darker edge; indeed, few records sound remotely like it. Not to come across as a vinyl snob, but it really is the preferred format of choice with this music, and can be ordered directly from the Truth and Soul website.

Steady Playing With The Hustlers

Steady B: Let The Hustlers Play and Serious
From: Let The Hustlers Play [Jive, 1988]

Hey, how you doing? It's been a while I know. Part of my absence is due to the fact that real world moves have resulted in me being in the middle of moving home (what with this and J's impending nuptials it's grown man time on the Fuzz) and part of this has been for less stressful reasons. You see, I finally pulled my finger out my ass and picked up two vital things - new headphones for my Mp3 player and a far improved soundcard for my PC.

The purchase of these two items has led me on a journey of musical rediscovery as I started hearing things a way I hadn't since I burnt everything on to a hard drive. Suddenly beats banged harder, bass vibrated stronger and singers had more soul. It felt like the equivalent of aural spectacles. Unfortunately the opening of my ears meant that I was so lost in my music I forgot to share.

Anyway, no crying over spilt milk, so what have I got for you today? Well, one of the albums that truly felt like a rediscovery was Steady B's 1988 album, Let The Hustler's Play. Suddenly I remembered why this never used to leave my decks and why I regarded it as one of The Great albums to have blasting out the car.

With production from two greats at the top of their game - Chuck Nice and KRS One, the album's beats are bananas (no room for slow love songs here) and Steady B's flow is never showy but always on point.

Let The Hustler's Play kicks off the album at a tempo that never slows down. Chuck's production hides it's class in it's simplicity. Steady details the life of a hustler and, while his rhymes aren't going to win any awards, the level of swagger and confidence of a guy who was still only 18 at the time of this release carries the track with irresistible power.

Serious features the unmistakable production and shout outs of KRS and throws absolutely everything into it's three and a half minute running time. Absolutely blistering old school insanity and as hard as anything coming out today.

Steady released two more albums after this before fading into obscurity in the early nineties. Unfortunately his return to the public eye was in the worst possible manner and it's highly unlikely that he'll turn up on any future versions of Nas's Where Are They Now. He was just 26 at the time.

However, separating the artist from the music, this album should be played at very high volume, preferably in a residential area and reintroduced as part of the late eighties collection of classic rap albums. Oh yeah, a reissue wouldn't go amiss either ya know?

Sweet Funky Machine: 14" of funk both old and new.

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag - Sweet Vandals
from 7" (with "Charlie Love") on Unique Records (2007).

I Can't Help Myself - Funky Music Machine
from 7" on Black Top Records (196?/7?) re-released on Truth & Soul Records (2006).

Two funky covers up today for your pleasure and through provocation. The first is from one of the latest entries into the retro-soul/retro-funk world, namely The Sweet Vandals. After the pioneering work of Poets of Rhythm and the recent success of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators, this subgenre is starting to get populated with releases. Populated but far from crowded. I am loving this infusion of funky good tunes with a stridently old style and sound. It is almost unfortunate hubris to cover such a well-known James Brown track for your first single and album. I say almost because despite the faithfulness of the cover and the unapproachable nature of the original, vocalist Mayka Edjo twists things up just enough to give everything her own spin. Additionally, drummer Javier Gomez channels Bernard Purdie and really shines. The rest of the band is Carlos Coupe on Hammond organ, Santi Martin on bass, and Jose Angel Herranz on guitar and they form a very tight and promising combo (see cartoon rendition of them above). Their self-titled album isn't available in the states yet, but if you're feeling the single I'd recommend it as a decently priced import

Conversely to the tight, in the pocket quality of the Vandals, is the delightfully sloppy cover of the Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by Funky Music Machine. Tyrone Ashley is the vocalist here with his band FMM, but Ashley is (only slightly) better known as Sammy Campbell (pictured above right) who lead the Del Larks in the 50s-60s. He also released at least one record as Black Velvet before officially recording as the FMM. Truth and Soul has uncovered his old recordings (many never released) and have started to get these out over three decades later. In Ashley/Campbell's hands and voice the cutesy baked-goods selling "I Can't Help Myself" gets a great big bottom end and a lot more vocal edge. It still makes me want some Duncan Hines brownies, but now I will boogie to the kitchen for them.

PS...Sweet Vandals reminds me that I had at one point decided that if I ever got a Puff Daddy complex and had to start a girl pop-vocal group I'd name them The Pretty Thieves and their first album would be Pretty Larceny.

Floating Anarchy

Gong: Sold to the Highest Buddha & Castle in the Clouds

From: Angel's Egg [Blue Plate, 1973]

Gong: Master Builder

From: You [Virgin, 1974]

The back cover on my Decal CD reissues say "File Under Psychedelia."

Gong is a band that is a bit tricky to introduce to people; pick the wrong album or the wrong song and the music might not take. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the band operated more as a collective than a proper band. The constant lineup changes produced such dramatic differences in their sound from song to song that it's difficult to pin-point those pivotal moments in their discography that will draw a listener in and give him/her an entry point into the band's universe.

These 3 songs are from what many consider to be Gong's creative peak (1973-1974) and their most succesful albums: The Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy. The Radio Gnome song cycle, which unfolds over the course of 3 diverse albums [Flying Teapot, Angel's, You], is based around the band's founder and chief songwriter Daevid Allen's Gong mythology. Legend has it, the kernel for this mythology was born out of a very impressionable acid trip. I won't get too deep into the specifics of the story and its philosophies here, I only mention this because it's an interesting aspect of the band to explore should you enjoy these songs.

Sold to the Highest Buddha is as close as Gong comes to a pop song. It's a concise arrangement that is sonically dense and practically overflows with tasty, unselfish playing by a handful of space jazz rock pioneers: Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlen, Tim Blake, Mike Howlett, Didiere Malherbe. Together this lineup had amazing chemistry as showcased in the smooth transition from the tightly-wound Buddha to the spacious, deceptively rocking Castle in the Clouds. In a way, this song to song transition mirrors the transition from Angel's Egg to You. If Angel's Egg is a pop album, then You is the space rock jam fest. Master Builder will give you a sense of how the 1974 era collective liked to play: heavy/funky rhythm section, spacey synth backdrops, a few chants here and there, and some nice soloing from Malherbe (sax) and Hillage (guitar).

Metal on Metal - Music Mix Magnificently for the Attention Diordered

Metal On Metal Snippet - Michna vs. Woodman
from the Metal on Metal Mix CD (2005).

Lots going on currently keeping me off the blog world. Some of it music, lots of it nanophotonics and getting married. But that is neither here nor there. What is here is a short post to get me back in the groove again. I am not ashamed to state clearly and concisely that turntable lab makes me life twice as nice. Maybe its hip to keep my fandom on the mello, but I'd rather give up ice cream than TTL. Anyways, Michna and Woodman are two lab affiliates who created this Metal On Metal mix CD, which is complete genius. Take a listen to the snippet up above and see if you can count how many different elements and songs are seamlessly put together here. Pop, rock, rap, dance, it is all here in one goofy/deep blend with pans and madness. And the whole disc is like that. Perfect for our attention deficit times.