• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Funk Tunes

So I'm playing a gig this Thursday, and the owners of the pub asked to play more funky stuff. I'm looking for some good funk tunes that might be in the Real Books, or Standards that work well as Funks. I'm playing Moose The Mooch as a funk and Take the A-Train. Any Other Ideas?

PS. If anyone cares, the gig is at the Cashmere Cricket in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, if anyone is close. Heres Directions:
http://maps.google.com/maps?sll=37....latlng=37062500,-95677068,6036024983298826923
 
tunes with more angular melodies usually work well as funks, as do modal tunes...
some suggestions:
bemsha swing
evidence (ok, so i'm a monk junkie)
impressions/so what
yes or no (watch out for the 14 bar A section)
inner urge (works really well if you have a horn player that can hang)
nostalgia in times square (think of like a half time shuffle-funk groove)
passion dance
freedom jazz dance

get creative...make sure your drummer has a bunch of pocket!

then there are actual funk tunes/groove oriented tunes:
red clay
tell me a bedtime story (a nice mellow tune with a subtle underlying groove)


best of luck
 
In no particular order:

Summertime
Lonnie's Lament
Chameleon (duh)
Bemsha Swing
Caravan
Footprints
Maiden Voyage
Little Sunflower
God Bless The Child


Those are just a few of the ones I do. Just go through some fake books and try playing some tunes with a backbeat and see which ones work.
 
Farin said:
So I'm playing a gig this Thursday, and the owners of the pub asked to play more funky stuff. I'm looking for some good funk tunes that might be in the Real Books, or Standards that work well as Funks. I'm playing Moose The Mooch as a funk and Take the A-Train. Any Other Ideas?
[/url]

I'm curious, is there a reason that you're limiting yourself to real book tunes?
 
Farin said:
So I'm playing a gig this Thursday, and the owners of the pub asked to play more funky stuff. I'm looking for some good funk tunes that might be in the Real Books, or Standards that work well as Funks. I'm playing Moose The Mooch as a funk and Take the A-Train. Any Other Ideas?

Farin,
Horace Sliver wrote a lot of tunes that can get real funky.

i.e.

The Jody Grind (check out Tyrone Davis on the tenor Sax Solo)
it's easy and it probably defined funk, back in the day

The Preacher (yeah, I know it's a shuffle, but what the heck!)

Gregory Is Here (it's latin but it will adapt to the Funk)

Sack O' Woe by Cannonball Adderley ( just don't swing the bridge)

oh yeah and Listen Here by Eddie Harris

Ric
 
Remembered another one...


Cissy Strut by the Meters is a funk tune that works well, plus it's rediculously easy to learn.

Also, if you're ambitious enough, transcribe some Medeski Martin & Wood or John Scofield (particularly from Uberjam).

Oh yeah! Syeeda's Song Flute and Well You Needn't. They sound good with a backbeat.
 
Ric Vice said:
Farin,
Horace Sliver wrote a lot of tunes that can get real funky.

i.e.

The Jody Grind (check out Tyrone Davis on the tenor Sax Solo)
it's easy and it probably defined funk, back in the day

The Preacher (yeah, I know it's a shuffle, but what the heck!)

Gregory Is Here (it's latin but it will adapt to the Funk)

Sack O' Woe by Cannonball Adderley ( just don't swing the bridge)

oh yeah and Listen Here by Eddie Harris

Ric

....and of course "Opus de Funk"