Tuesday, July 20, 2010

True Funk: The complete "Contemporary Funk" Liner Notes


True funk can only happen in the Now.

The funk on this compilation is contemporary but the message of funk is as old as humanity itself. Funk as Tramp Records sees it is a vibrant and viable music that was born from a transformative period in American history - the sound of the growing pains of a young country. ‘Contemporary Funk’ gathers inspired bands from today whose hearts still beat for funk’s timeless truth, and connects them with this rich legacy of American music.

The structure of funk reflects the social ideals of those making it. The simple yet disciplined form of funk carries within it a message of freedom, unity, cooperation, and equality. It literally cannot be made without these qualities being present in the hearts and souls of the band members. Playing your part in a way that shows that you are digging your partner’s contribution strengthens the social and musical bond. In this delicate web of intricate rhythms, each musician must subjugate his own ego for the good of the collective. He or she must share and give in equal proportion. The music percolates among the group in the Now and an inner potency is born out of the space. Inside the space lives the full spectrum of human emotion. And in going beyond the space, humans have the potential to reach higher and deeper as a people than with any other art form. Funk transports and transforms us from the inside. Those who partake know that when the groove is right and everyone is riding it out together, we are aligned with something ancient and arcane. The groove is…THERE! The silence between the sound opens up and grows wider. Time and space wobble and blur. They are altered, blasted apart and then reformed into something colorful, wild, and alive, exploded and then reformed again.

When trying to talk about this music, it might serve us to consider funk music as a pure form of folk music. The ascended masters of Soul and Blues, our musical ancestors, introduced most of what we now consider to be elements of funk to popular culture, but it’s legacy as an honest form of music for everyday folks is evident in the sheer volume of influence it has had on music and culture since then. Funk is a people’s music in that one need not be formally educated in music to make it. The necessary instruments and recording equipment can be scavenged or bought on a few days’ pay. In a relatively short time, beginning funk practitioners can invite regular folks into their circle to initiate revelers in the ancient ritual of dancing.

Funk is a pleasure for the ears and hips but it is also a powerful medicine for daily life. As a tool, we use it daily to sweeten the labor and to sweeten the leisure. As a foundational force, enlightened producers today draw upon funk’s unending depth. Funk is strong and forgiving. We sample from it and forget to give thanks. Yet without fail it continues giving and giving.

***
Today, the rhythm and earnestness of true funk can be found in all corners of the world. And this compilation is evidence that the innocence and purity of the original message remains strong. Affectation and phoniness can’t seem to take hold in funk as long as the unenlightened or uninitiated players aren’t trying to wah-wah their way through one-dimensional cartoon-like clichés. Afro wigs and ‘booty’ references only help to reinforce racist stereotypes and obstruct funk from realizing it’s true potential as an uplifting music for all the people of the world.

Funk scholar, Tobias Kirmayer has searched the deepest, darkest and dustiest record bins and studio basements across the globe for a sound and feeling that is almost impossible to write about. For to write about it is to in fact cheapen it and steal away some of its mysterious power.

The forgotten 45s and tapes that Mr. Kirmayer has unearthed for us were often made by people with a dream, but left to languish on shelves when corporations swept in and brutally suffocated the independents with cheap, computer-made music and massive advertising budgets. Just because it is rare, of course doesn’t make it good. In the collector’s circuit, the rarity of a thing sometimes supercedes its actual merit. Fortunately for us, Tobias’s discerning ear, explorer’s mind and tireless searching has shown us that hidden treasure still awaits those worthy of discovering it.

During his quest, he has found musicians and bands still stoking the fire of this real human music, musicians who actually bring their instruments into a room and actually play the music together. It is important to note that these musicians are not trying to emulate or recreate something old. Nor are they deserving of simplistic descriptions like ‘retro’ ‘classic’ or ‘throwback.’ These musicians are simply making music together, today, in the Now, and doing it with dignity, authenticity, and reverence. ‘Contemporary Funk’ is a testament to all of our individual and collective yearning for music that speaks to deep human truths.

We will always find our way back to it, and it will always be here for us when we do.

The Funk Revolution, Izzy Come, Izzy Go/Deal With It ~ Sunstreet SS-1002 (Tramp TRI-1020)


Izzy Come, Izzy Go was written by Lucky Brown as a tribute to friend and comrade Isaac Weiser when he left the Westsound Union to perform and record in Africa. He returned home and is now featured as the rock solid bass-guitar man for these essential "Chez Jojo" sessions!

Deal With It was first recorded by Joel Ricci as a demo in the spring of '07. Ricci took the track to Germany for an audience with one of his contemporary funk heroes: Tobias Kirmayer. The meeting encouraged Ricci to go back to America where he assembled The Funk Revolution and became Lucky Brown. The track is an edit of an 8 minute workout intended to let each of the members of The Funk Revolution "Deal With It" for a little while. notable is Delvon LaMarr's minimalist and soulful Hammond B3 work on this track. Drop this 45 and turn it up loud so your whole neighborhood can "Deal With It!"

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Crawdad Farmers: Redbeard/Jesse's Party ~ LAKE-SIDE, TR-1024


Available on Lake-Side records July 27th 2010
www.tramprecords.com

The two tracks are the first two releases from our legendary Lake-Side session last summer. They are also, in my opinion, the hottest cuts. We recorded in Olli Klomp's (drums) living room in his beautiful cabin on an Island in a lake in Northwest Washington. I remember that it was the hottest day of the year. We would swim in the Lake in between takes to cool off (being careful not to disturb our Crawdads that were contentedly grazing on barbecued chicken bones just beneath the dock). We were in the lake just coolin off when all of a sudden we heard this "CRASH" from out in the woods. Well, Robert Blake's pickup truck that Jon Sherman (Bass) had borrowed to drive to the session had been left without engaging the gear and the parking brake came loose. The thing rolled backward 100 yards down a hill, narrowly slipping between the trunks of two old-growth cedars over the bank and coming to rest squarely in the muddy moat that separated Olli's island from the mainland. Fortunately, The Yogoman Burning Band's schoolbus/tourbus was there and Tommy D (sax) was able to figure out how to connect a rope between the truck and the bus. After about 20 minutes of reefing on the truck with the bus Tommy successfully liberated the pickup truck from the mud. Ben Bloom (guitar) was on hand to cheer Tommy on and to video the whole thing and if I can get a hold of it I will post it here. The story has a happy ending: we applied the parking brake and engaged the gear to the truck, no cats, trees, or people were injured, and we went ahead and recorded some amazingly hard Funk that evening.

Redbeard is a boogaloo popcorn groove in the spirit of the Great James Brown. It was written originally for The Lucky Seven as an experiment to show the contrast between tight and loose grooves while still retaining that boogaloo pulse. I think it is a masterful work in that the hornline head is really only two specifically placed notes! The horns are really drums in this one. The bridge is only three notes and I called the bridge out at first and I liked it so much after the first time I just call it again after turning it back around to the tight top. The band turns on a dime and brings the energy up up up! after the last bridge, instead of going back to the head again, I give it up to Mars (trombone) and he barrels into the groove like a bull in a china shop. I am hangin on for dear life to the tambourine and I think we hold it for as long as we can 'til I bring it back to the super tight top. Listen closely because it is this moment that I ask Olli (drums) to "talk" and that means to say something with the instrument. Man, he just does the sweetest with his snare and hat pattern while taking the whole thing home.

Jesse's Party
is a perfect B-Side and listen closely, because those first moments of the guitar line are actually where the tape begins. It was just lucky that it happened like it did. I remember coming up with the bassline, and putting it up against that "hiccup" drum pattern. I dug the bassline so much that I decided not to write a hornline and just asked the horns to play in unison with the bass. Meanwhile I needed a thing to straighten out the chatter and ease the tension with a nice backbeat. At first, I just have all the instruments split off with Ben doing his "chank chank" soul thing on the ones, an idea we got from Delvon, and Olli droppin that backbeat. Jon continues with the original bassline and doesn't lose it until I ask Ben Bloom ("Horseradish Tree" according to some spanish websites) to do his gritty final overlay part. This part reminds me of the clavinet overlay from Poet's Of Rhythm's genius "Smilin' While Yer Cryin" Both parts seem to change the tonality of the thing and then wrap it back up around when everybody comes back in. We recorded his amp thru an old trucker's C.B. mic that I found for 10 bucks at an antique store. That's how he got that "breaker breaker" sound. I then give it up to Tommy D. and... well..I am just gonna let you check it out and have Tommy D's Saxophone speak for itself, words really cannot do it justice.

Anyway, I have a feeling that Funk freaks and DJ's who like to do beat juggling will have a ball with this one because you can play with so many sections of the tune and build up the tension so high. I am really excited about these tracks. They really represent our finest works so far. Thank you so much for paying attention and supporting The Funk Revolution. In a world of disposable music and disposable ideas, It is really encouraging to meet and communicate with a circle that believes in things that are authentic, natural, real, and original. Thank you all for living, loving, and listening according to your ethics.

Special thanks to Tobias Kirmayer of Tramp Records for supporting independent Funk Artists like me.

Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=17601229&blogId=537158306#ixzz0tngj3kJd

The Port Angels, Angel Food ~ Julie Records, J1010


From Tramp Records:
When reading the band name and title of this song you may guess that it is an obscure combo from way back. And when listening to it you just feel that it MUST have been recorded 35 years ago. Let me tell you that you are totally wrong. Although the number of bands that are playing so-called deep-funk steadily increases, few can match the chemistry, urgency and true funk grit as these brethren. The Port Angels (featuring members of The Funk Revolution) captured this soulful living-room jam on Izzy’s humble two-track tape machine. This particular tune was written on the spot and recorded while the band was on tour on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It is the only existing recording of the session. Julie, the owner of the house was away on business and told the guys to “make themselves at home.” Angel Food is an example of what happens when you let Lucky Brown and his friends crash your pad!

From Lucky Brown:
We all had a big ol' bowl of stew that had been cooking all day. Then we all climbed high on the vapor trail. Horseradish Tree started shouting out the chords and Olli and Izzy just sorta fell in. Lucky and Tommy did their best to keep up on trumpet, sax, and piano. We just vibed together with joy and happiness and felt the feeling of being a band, reunited after I had been released form jail that morning. This was recorded in Julie's living room, out on the Olympic Peninsula on an analogue tape machine. We are happy that it has been discovered and hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it.

TR-1014 Lucky Brown ~ Potatocakes


Just in time for summer, Potatocakes is the versatile track you need to round out your hot-fun-in-the-summertime funk party or lounge sets. Lucky Brown's second Tramp Records release is a two-part meditation and slightly psychedelic instrumental featuring Lucky Brown on the fender rhodes electric piano. Recorded last fall at the same Chez Jojo session as "Don't Go Away," this mysterious groove was lovingly mixed by Joel Ricci and Pat Gay at Sleng Teng in Bellingham, USA.

Potatocakes begins with a naked, moody bassline that is supplemented suddenly by a psychedelic statement by the rhodes and the layering in of bongo, guitar, hammond, and perfectly crispy drums. The spell is broken long enough to give the reverberating horns the moment to state the theme and then get out of the way to allow the groove to take hold again. The bridge gives you the sensation of leaning back into the bucket seat of your 1976 Gran Torino and steadily laying your foot into the gas pedal with the horns and hammond taking over your mind. The next time the theme comes around Lucky is happy to be in the driver's seat-and fasten your seat belts folks. From the moment you hear him yelling "groove it out now" to the band in the background, into part two, the extended bridge, and finally the moment he exclaims "stay right there!" you will be convinced you have taken your summertime dance party on one perfectly irresistible funky ride. Don't be surprised if your dancers holler out for "more potatocakes!"

Lucky Brown: Don't Go Away/The Fresh One ~ Tramp Records, TR-1012


2008 starts with the exciting debut of Lucky Brown & The Funk Revolution, a brand-new unit formed by producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, Joel Ricci. Ricci and his far-reaching collective have been hard at work rocking shows and developing their signature 'west-sound' style for over seven years. Ricci hand-picked the cream of the players, bankrolled a wild, week-long road trip, then crammed the seven piece Funk Revolution into his tiny cabin in northwest Washington affectionately dubbed 'Chez Jojo.' the rhythm section in the living room, horn section in the kitchen, and Ricci in the middle doing his best to capture all the drippings of natural energy and soul on an old tape machine situated on a clean spot on the kitchen counter.

'Don't Go Away' features Lucky on lead vocals and the horn section as background singers. This cut has all you need: powerful vocals, a monstrous horn line reminiscent of the J.B.'s 'The Grunt', and two fly flute/drum breaks for the beatdiggers.

'The Fresh One' is an instrumental track with a rude sound to it, The Funk Revolution lay down a killer groove and after Tommy D has his way with his spooky saxophone, Lucky manhandles the flute once again, then makes way for drummer Olli Klomp to take it on home. 'The Fresh One' is simply a monster b-side, 2 and a half minutes of wild and rough deep funk madness.