Funk is ending up like the Blues

[Scottgun]

I confess, Joe Dart makes me jealous. I think to myself if only I hadn't gotten married, had kids, and threw myself into the itinerant life of a working bass player, then maybe that could be me playing Madison Square Garden.

Then I get over myself. I admit this kid could teach me a thing or two, I resist the urge to cavil about where he's sitting on on the beat, or complain that he's not old-school Authentic© funk, pick up my bass and use his example to woodshed my butt off.

 

[eJake]

And I drew the opposite conclusion.

Uhhh...?

Funk is being produced by music school “nerds” like Vulfpeck (I love them, but they do come off as music department nerds.)

 

[bearhart74]

Another pretty cool and funky local band.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Brian Setzers big band still pack em in doing big band jump blues.

Like it but does it come off as a bit "sterile"?

 

[murphy]

I'm in the same boat. I follow them just because I like to watch Joe, but they never made it into my regular rotation. I think it's the lack of melody. When I think "funk" I think of a stout front of singers and horns, with lots of melodic interplay. I find Cory Wong's band and Fearless Flyers (Joe's other band) to be more fun to listen to.


All critique aside, I think it's important to note funk has a future! Nice to see young people making this music, and other young people consuming it.

Here's a Seattle funk band, whom I had the pleasure of playing trumpet for in their freshman years. I think they are killing it in the funk revival dept, and sure know how to pack a dance floor:

OMG...That is FUNNNNNNKY

 

[bluesblaster]

Like it but does it come off as a bit "sterile"?

I hear ya, Just a local group like Vulfpeck , there are a few other like them in this area.

I lean more towards the Jazz Crusaders sound like Groove Legacy is doing.

Stuff like Tom Cats by the L.A. Express (1970 something)still put a smile on my face

Brian Augers Closer to it was another I never get tired of hearing

 

[okcrum]

Vulfpeck is the future of Funk. Young Black kids are totally into Hip Hop, frankly most White kids are into Hip Hop too. Even country acts are being heavily influenced by Rap these days. Funk is being produced by music school “nerds” like Vulfpeck (I love them, but they do come off as music department nerds.) Of course, musicianship is very healthy in the Black Church, Black Church bassists can certainly get funky, but Gospel is not Funk, funk is just one of many flavors comprising current Urban Gospel. I am not complaining, I was blessed to have grown up during the heyday of Funk, and just like the Big Band and Jump Blues that my parents grew up listening to gave way to R&B, Funk was not going last forever. It is just a sign of my aging that I am seeing what happened to my parent’s music, happen to my music.

Yep. It's only a matter of time now before we end up with the funk version of this:

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Hambone70]

Great thread! Lots of interesting opinions.

I still keep trying to listen to new genres, new musicians, and those regurgitating older genres and styles. But it just doesn't seem to work for me. I don't think I'll ever find a replacement for dusting off an Isley Brothers/Meters/etc album, throwing it on the turntable, cranking the JBLs through an analog amp, all while sipping a full-fat non-craft beer.

Unlike some others areas of my life, it makes me glad to be old, and to have been around in the 60s-70s when this was all happening, and was so exciting to me. I hope the younger generations are getting the same magic and pleasure from their respective eras.

Now get off of my lawn!

 

[jerry]

Part of it that I see with my friends is that they think their Fusion chops will easily transfer but come to the realization that there's a lot to learn. Gospel kicks a lot of butts... you either pass or hunker down and get it.

Funk is even more interesting. I had a friend who could play Dave Weckl's stuff yet struggled with basic R&B and Funk. It was too simple for him.

Same with some jazz cats trying to play something like ZZ Top, they never listened to it, don't really respect it so can't really play it. I've seen seriously trained cats fail at La'grange

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Yep. It's only a matter of time now before we end up with the funk version of this:

Invalid Link Removed

There already is a Funk Museum in Dayton, Ohio, ground zero of Funk (Ohio Players, Sun, Lakeside, Slave, Zapp, Aurra, Steve Arrington.)

 

[okcrum]

There already is a Funk Museum in Dayton, Ohio, ground zero of Funk (Ohio Players, Sun, Lakeside, Slave, Zapp, Aurra, Steve Arrington.)

Wait'll we have the International Battle of the Funk Bands!

 

[jerry]

One thing I should note is that girls and women of all races are holding up the bass and funk like never before. I just bumped into this cover of a collaboration between a Thundercat and the late Mac Miller.

In my experience, women "get" funk more than men, I'm not just talking musicians but women in general.

 

[jerry]

It depends on how one defines Funk. Eighties Funk was much more synth/drum machine/ midi oriented.

I blame MIDI, I'm not kidding!

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I think in the 70s funk was a rather new and unexplored territory which was also fascinating a lot of great jazz cats .. the evolution and growth of the genre was a collective thrust where formally and informally trained/taught musicians were operating in more or less the same environment and with similar goals, consciously or not ... finding a way to write original stuff today is more difficult but in my opinion we should also look at how many less young people now starts learning and playing instruments if compared to 30/35 years ago ..

 

[okcrum]

In my experience, women "get" funk more than men, I'm not just talking musicians but women in general.

“This isn't right. This isn't even wrong.”
― Wolfgang Pauli

Nothing personal, to be clear. I'm simply astonished.

 

[ElMon]

Great thread! Lots of interesting opinions.

I still keep trying to listen to new genres, new musicians, and those regurgitating older genres and styles. But it just doesn't seem to work for me. I don't think I'll ever find a replacement for dusting off an Isley Brothers/Meters/etc album, throwing it on the turntable, cranking the JBLs through an analog amp, all while sipping a full-fat non-craft beer.

Unlike some others areas of my life, it makes me glad to be old, and to have been around in the 60s-70s when this was all happening, and was so exciting to me. I hope the younger generations are getting the same magic and pleasure from their respective eras.

Now get off of my lawn!

Sometimes I have this feeling:

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

In my experience, women "get" funk more than men, I'm not just talking musicians but women in general.

I’m a funky guy in general but my wife always tells me that she does not understand my music very well ... I can say that women or, maybe, wives can in general be very tolerant towards their men maybe ..

 

[ElMon]

I’m a funky guy in general but my wife always tells me that she does not understand my music ver well ... I can say that women or, maybe, wives can in general be very tolerant towards their men maybe ..

And thank God for that.

 

[Optofonik]

I blame MIDI, I'm not kidding!

Yeah, you nailed it. You can't iterative quantize the funk and I'm not kidding either. Don't get me wrong, MIDI works for a lot of things but MIDI is the anti-funk.

Quite frankly, I would even say that multi-tracking is anti-funk. Funk is meant to be performed live on stage and recorded live in the studio.

 

[Tampabass]

Funk is no longer the major style of music enjoyed by the community that created it. The same thing happened to the Bues two generations ago.

Same thing happened to jazz -- "no longer the major style of music enjoyed by the community that created it."

 

[Chicory Blue]

In my experience, women "get" funk more than men, I'm not just talking musicians but women in general.

Me attempting to explain funk to my brother:

“You hit on the one.”

“What? The rules are clearly so much more complicated than that- the chordal complexity, the rhythmic subtleties... you’re leaving out so many details, I’m sure of it!”

“... You hit on the one.”

--^@