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By Larry, October 18, 2016 11:12 am

Charles Edward Anderson Berry of St Louis, Missouri…

Listen/Download – Chuck Berry – Back Too Memphis MP3

Greetings all.

I come to you today with a previously unscheduled communique on the occasion of the 90th (holy shit…) birthday of the mighty Chuck Berry.

It is tempting to say – considering what the initial response would be from most people who actually remember who Chuck Berry is – that Mr B has managed to outlive his greatness.

There is little disputing the fact that Chuck Berry hasn’t made a significant recording for more than 40 years. His last chart hit was in 1972, and ironically (considering what many people remember him for today) it was ‘My Ding-a-ling’ (it hurts to type that).

Chuck’s ding-a-ling having been the source of much of his troubles….

That said, it would be downright tragic if those of us that knew better, weren’t continuously engaged in reminding people how monumental and long-lasting Chuck Berry’s musical/cultural footprint was prior to 1972, and raising hell about how that mark has been minimized by an ugly combination of race, cultural appropriation, the simple passage of time (and the death of the American attention span) and decades of gross misunderstandings of rock’n’roll.

Chuck Berry was a goddamn genius.

His numerous peccadilloes aside (and frankly, aside from the demonstrably pervy stuff – and if that’s a sticking point Rock and Roll Penitentiary is going to be a very crowded place…Jimmy Page…COUGH) it would be very difficult for anyone without tin ears to make even a cursory survey of his oeuvre and not come out on the other side hail hail-ing Chuck Berry.

From the intial shot across the bow, ‘Maybelline’ in 1955, Chuck stomped into, and right through America’s consciousness (at least the consciousness of the emerging youth culture and Black America – he rode the R&B charts as aggressively as the Pop charts) laying a granite-strong musical foundation, without which little else of rock consequence would have been built in the rest of the 50s and all through the 60s.

Of course, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, and in a more elemental way (maybe they were in the quarry cutting out the granite in the first place) giants like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, were right there beside him, but Chuck is – at least in my opinion – the most important of all in a purely musical sense.

Though it seems like a painfully obvious thing to say now, Berry was black. He was physically black, which in the 1950s and early 1960s was clearly a huge pain in the ass for the person wearing the skin, especially if he managed to intrude upon the artificial quietude of White America, and it got old Chuck into all kinds of extra trouble he probably would have been spared had he been, say, as white as an Elvis or Jerry Lee, two other rockers with a taste for teenage girls.

The glaring hole in his chart history indicates the period (1960-1963) when Chuck Berry went to prison for violating the Mann Act. The story of how he ended up in prison is a complicated one, and undoubtedly the kind of thing that people before him and after him (mostly, but not exclusively white) walked away from. That Berry didn’t walk, but sat on ice for what should have been three of the most productive years at the peak of his career, and climbed right back onto the charts in 1964 with some of the best stuff he ever did is a testament to his greatness (and also to what might have been).

All of the great early figures of rock were synthesizers, of blues, gospel, jump blues/R&B, and most of them were explosive stylists in both sound and presentation, but Chuck Berry’s stew – even though it appeared seamless to the naked ear – was a much weirder, finer thing altogether.

Berry’s music blended R&B (as well as pure blues, and even jazz) with a huge dose of country (if he was a car he’d be running down rockabilly singers right and left) and it was all assembled with a songwriting talent as big as just about anyone who people take seriously as a songwriter, including everyone from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway or anywhere else.

He was an absolutely brilliant lyricist in a time when anything that appealed to teenagers was immediately dismissed by critics, and was a powerful enough performer, and record-maker (sometimes mutually exclusive pastimes) to drill those lyrics, many of them purely poetic, deep into the brains of a generation of Americans in a way that made them seem like they’d always been there, like the green grass and the blue sky.

It isn’t often that a popular musical figure has an impact like that, but Chuck Berry did.

Bo Diddley and Little Richard were elemental, as was Chuck Berry, but his contributions were further reaching, making their way into the DNA of culture and stringing themselves up on the double helix like a set of Christmas lights.

He was a 30 year old man preaching (and converting) legions of teenagers by speaking to them in their own language and making them dance, which as far as pearl-clutching Middle America was concerned was pure corruption. Cultural miscegenation.

And they were right.

Too bad.

So sad.

Sometimes things have to die for a reason and McCarthyite American needed stake driven through its ugly heart, and Chuck was – along with a bunch of others- right there, hammering away.

If you don’t already, see if you can get your hands on the compilation ‘Chuck Berry – The Anthology’, released in 2000 by Chess/MCA.

Though old Chuck has been anthologized, rehashed and repackaged dozens of times over the years, this 2-CD set (which you can still get in iTunes) is as fine a distillation of his catalog as you’re likely to find.

Clocking in at just over two hours (even if you omit the 4:18 of ‘My Ding-A-Ling’) it manages to present a solid picture of why I said everything I just said about Berry, as well as why he was an idol at his peak, why the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things (among many others) worshiped at his altar, and why you should ignore every stupid thing Chuck Berry has done in his life (or has had done to him) and listen to his music.

Because the music is what’s important here, and it is VERY IMPORTANT.

And for those of you who think all Chuck Berry songs sound the same, you are wrong, because Chuck Berry’s songs don’t sound the same any more than Mozart does, and the only way you’re going to figure it out is to stop treating it all like wallpaper and use your ears like a vault instead of a kitchen junk drawer.

It’s all there.

So go get it – or head to a decent record store, or to Amazon, or anywhere they stock fine Chuck Berry music – and set aside two hours to listen to it. And when you’re done (unless you’re already hip and have been shaking your head in assent the whole time you were reading this) see if you don’t think differently about him.

I think you will.

The song I bring you today isn’t on that comp, because it comes from the chart desert that stretched from the end of 1964 to the arrival of ‘My Ding-A-Ling’ in 1972.

That period, when Chuck was recording for Mercury and Chess alternates between treading water and making some of the most interesting and neglected music of his career.

It would be a lie to say that these years were as significant as 1955-1964, but to hear Chuck whipping a little soul into the mix, and keeping his eyes on the prize, hands on the wheel before colliding with (and climbing onto) the Nostalgia Express is a thing of beauty.

Today’s selection, ‘Back To Memphis’ was recorded in Memphis (on the album, titled, unsurprisingly, ‘Chuck Berry In Memphis) with the American Studios band, and produced by Roy Dea and Boo Frazier.

‘Back To Memphis’ has something unusual in Chuck Berry records, that being a big, fat bottom, with the bass and drums pushing the record along like a kick in the ass, with the horn section and Chuck’s guitar at the wheel. It is a dance floor killer, and a reminder that Berry was a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, nobody was listening here in the US, though ‘Back To Memphis’ was a Top 40 hit on the pirate station Radio London, in the UK (1966’s ‘Club Nitty Gritty’ had also been a hit on the pirates, charting on Radio London, and Radio City, both).

So go home tonight and play some Chuck Berry. Open the windows, turn the speakers toward the street and crank it up until your neighbors start dancing, or hammering on your front door, in which case turn it up more.

Happy Birthday Chuck.

Keep the faith

Larry

*Thank you, Jim Bartlett

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, August 16, 2016 12:36 pm

Bobby Hutcherson

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Ummh MP3

Listen/Download – Bobby Hutcherson feat. Harold Land – Goin’ Down South MP3

Greetings all.

I woke up this morning to the extremely sad news that one of my musical heroes, the mighty vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson had passed away.

I have been a jazz fan my entire life, but there was a period in the late 80s and early 90s, in the years right after I stopped playing in bands and decided to spend my time intently listening, that I bought, studied and listened to almost nothing but jazz.

Though I was digging everything from Bix Beiderbecke to Archie Shepp, the broadest area of my focus was applied to the post-bop/modal/out years from the late 50s to the early 70s, and in large part to the sounds of the Blue Note label.

At the time, Blue Note was engaged in an aggressive CD reissue campaign, part of which was the Connoisseur Series, in which they pressed up some of the more obscure, challenging and interesting titles from their back catalog in limited quantities. I picked up the discs in that series religiously, as well as anything else I could find that I dug, sometimes to the tune of three or four albums a week.

It was during that time that I discovered and fell in love with the music of Bobby Hutcherson.

If you come here on the reg, or dig the podcast, you know that I am a certified vibes nut, and Hutcherson was a master of the instrument (as well as the xylophone and marimba) who played in a wide variety of settings as a leader and a sideman, and in styles ranging from bebop, to modal, to inside/outside to free jazz with just about every great musician associated with Blue Note.

Head on over to Discogs and take a look as his own catalog, as well as his work as a sideman.

I was lucky enough to see him play (and meet him briefly) back in the 90s when he played in New York City.

The tracks I bring you today are from the funkiest date he did, 1971’s ‘San Francisco’, recorded with the giant of the tenor saxophone, Harold Land.

Land, who had been working steadily since the late 40s, and had been a crucial member of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach band, formed a partnership with Hutcherson in the late 60s, with the pair recording a number of albums (trading the leader’s position) over the next decade for a variety of labels.

‘San Francisco’ was a west coast date, featuring Joe Sample (of the Crusaders) on electric and acoustic piano (he also wrote ‘Goin’ Down South’),  Hutcherson and Land stretching out on some more groove-oriented material, and great production by Duke Pearson.

You’ve heard ‘Ummh’ and ‘Goin’ Down South’ in mixes here at Funky16Corners, but neither has been featured on the blog.

Both tunes have been sampled, ‘Goin’ Down South’ by Us3 and ‘Ummh’ by Ice Cube.

I’m also re-posting below, an all-vibes mix I put together in 2010 called ‘Positive Vibrations’, which features Hutcherson, as well as a number of his contemporaries from the 60s and 70s laying down funky and soulful vibes.

Funky16Corners Radio v.79 – Positive Vibrations!

Playlist

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By Larry, August 7, 2016 11:51 am

Junior Parker – Taxman (Capitol)
Jackie Wilson – Eleanor Rigby (Brunswick)
Don Randi Trio – Love You To (Reprise)
Gary McFarland – Here There and Everywhere (Skye)
London Jazz 4 – Yellow Submarine (Polydor)
Don Randi Trio – She Said She Said (Reprise)
Linda Divine – Good Day Sunshine (Columbia)
Maceo and All the Kings Men – For No One (Excello)
Don Randi Trio – I Want To Tell You (Reprise)
Chris Clark – Got To Get You Into My Live (Motown)
Junior Parker – Tomorrow Never Knows (Capitol)

Pictured: Jackie Wilson, Junior Parker, Linda Divine and Maceo Parker

Listen/Download – Funky16Corners Presents: Revolving In Soul 54MB Mixed MP3

NOTE: The always excellent Any Major Dude With Half a Heart blog did a similar (though more stylistically all-encompassing) mix that you should definitely check out. There’s some crossover, but I think you’ll dig both mixes – Larry

Greetings all.

I was puttering around in the Funky16Corners Blogcasting Nerve Center and Record Vault the other day and some friends brought it to my attention that the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles epic ‘Revolver’ LP – one of the most important and paradigm-shifting albums of the 60s – was upon us.

Naturally, having devoted several mixes to the songs of the Beatles (as covered by soul, funk and jazz artists) I had to see if I could put together a mix of covers that approximated the track listing and running order of the original.

I had to cheat a little bit (what you see here matches the track listing of the US issue of the album, i.e. the one I grew up with, but not the longer/more interesting UK issue, which you see on CD reissues of ‘Revolver’) and the running time is almost the same (with the mix running about two minutes over).

That is due to the fact that there aren’t many covers of material from the UK album that fit inside the (admittedly broad) stylistic brackets I mentioned above. There are a grip of soul/funk covers of songs like Eleanor Rigby, but none at all of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ or ‘Doctor Robert’.

That said, I did have bunch of cool things on hand.

The saving grace was Don Randi’s 1966 ‘Revolver Jazz’ LP, contributing no less than three tracks to the mix, the swinging version of ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the London Jazz 4 (good luck finding a version of that song that isn’t meant for kids or played for comedy), and Maceo Parker’s stunning and wholly unexpected version of ‘For No One’.

A couple of the tracks in this mix have appeared here in some form before, but I couldn’t resist the pure novelty and record nerd-ery of recreating Revolver.

So, I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 12, 2016 11:23 am

Sonny Cox

Listen/Download – Sonny Cox – Chocolate Candy MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so is the Funky16Corners Radio Show podcast, which drops each and every Friday with the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, dig it on Mixcloud, or grab an MP3 right here at Funky16Corners.com (and coming soon to Dirty Old Boston Radio).

I have a very groovy one for you today.

I was out scouting the hinterlands of the internet, on the prowl for records (you know, like always) and while perusing a sales list happened upon today’s selection.

Though I knew the name Sonny Cox, what grabbed me was the title ‘Chocolate Candy’.

‘Could this be the same ‘Chocolate Candy’ that the Soulful Strings recorded?’ I asked myself.

A quick enlargement of the label, which revealed the writer as Phil Upchurch confirmed my suspicions, so I grabbed it.

You all know that there probably isn’t a bigger fan of Richard Evans and the Soulful Strings in the world than yours truly, and finding covers of their material is a rare event, indeed.

‘Chocolate Candy’ first appeared on the group’s 1969 ‘String Fever’ album (their best, IMHO). Upchurch was the guitarist in the Chess/Cadet house band, who also recorded a number of excellent records under his own name (though, as far as I can tell he never recorded ‘Chocolate Candy’ on his own).

Sonny Cox was a sax player who formed the Three Souls and recorded with them for the Chess subsidiary Argo, eventually recording a solo album, ‘The Wailer’ for Cadet in 1966, which was arranged and produced by none other than Richard Evans.

Cox recorded ‘Chocolate Candy’, again with Evans producing, for Bell in 1969. He lays down a dark, reverb-filled version of the song on what sounds like a Varitone electric saxophone, with some great guitar, heavy bass and organ and handclaps.

The record didn’t go anywhere (though the flipside, a cover of ‘The Choking Kind’ got some airplay in Washington, DC.

Cox seems to have retired in the early 70s, taking up a new career as a high school basketball coach in the Chicago area.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, May 8, 2016 11:57 am

Mel Brown

Listen/Download – Mel Brown – 18 Pounds of Unclean Chitlings Pt1 MP3

Listen/Download – Mel Brown – 18 Pounds of Unclean Chitlings Pt2 MP3

Greetings all.

I have written about the mighty guitar slinger Mel Brown a couple of times over the years, including (unfortunately)when he passed away in 2009.

Brown made some of the tastiest, funkiest soul jazz albums of the late 60s and early 70s for the Impulse label, and I always grab his stuff when I find it in the field.

So, a little while back my man Tony C drops me a line to say that he saw a copy of today’s selection as a very affordable ‘buy it now’on Ebay, so I jetted over there, dropped a couple of bucks and camped out by the maibox in anticipation of its arrival.

Recorded for his 1970 album ‘I’d Rather Suck My Thumb’, ’18 Pounds of Unclean Chitlings’ is a record as deep and weird as its title.

Featuring Clifford Coulter on the organ, and Brown working his wah-wah pedal to death, ’18 Pounds of Unclean Chitlings’ sounds like the traces of a distant broadcast drifting from your speakers.

Displaying the unmistakable influence of Jimi Hendrix and all of the crackly, hoodoo-soaked 45s that fed into his stewpot, the jam is as tasty, and sinister a 45 as you’re likely to hear today.

The album cut stretches to 11:10, which the 45 breaks down into two parts, edited down to a hair short of 7 minutes.

What Impulse thought they were doing sending this one out on a 45 is beyond me (imagine this oozing out of a jukebox), but I dig it a lot, and thought you might, too.

A couple of his Impulse dates (but not this one) are available on iTunes.

You should check them out.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, March 20, 2016 11:52 am

Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith

Listen/Download – Johnny Hammond – Higher Ground MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d ease ourselves into the week with some long-form, funky Hammond organ from the man who’s name matched the axe, Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith.

Known alternately as Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smith (he attached the Hammond to set himself apart from guitarist Johnny Smith and organ maestro Jimmy Smith) and Johnny Hammond (as he is here, having detached the ‘Smith’ in 1974, JHS was one of the masters of the classic era of organ led soul jazz.

He recorded for Riverside and Prestige from the late 50s into the early 70s, moving on to Kudu in 1971.

Today’s selection, his cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1973 hit Higher Ground’ comes from his (Hammond’s) 1974 LP of the same name.

Here Johnny gets to stretch out (the shortest track on the album is over seven minutes long) with a hot band that included Steve Gadd on drums, Ron Carter on bass, George Benson on guitar and electric piano by the arranger for the date, none other than Bob James.

It is a very groovy session for one relatively late in the game. There’s a little of that Creed Taylor CTI/Kudu polish (always a good thing) but also plenty of head nodding funk (the album also includes the heavily sampled ‘Big Sur Suite’).

All of his Kudu LPs are highly recommended.

I hope you dig the track, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

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By Larry, December 8, 2015 1:50 pm

Listen/Download – Jim Pipkins and the Boss Five – Mr CC MP3

Greetings all.

We’re going to get over the hump this week with a groover, but first, a lesson in why you should always read labels, but then again, not too closely.

‘Mr CC’ by Jim Pipkins and the Boss Five had been on my radar for a long time before I finally scored myself a copy.

It is a fast-moving, mod/jazz dance floor heater, mostly instrumental, save for some shouts outs through the record.

A brief glance at the label reveals that the record company, Emerge (also home to the Northern Soul rarity ‘Every Time’ by Anthony and the Delsonics) had themselves a St Louis, MO address.

Now, St Louis has a long and rich R&B and soul tradition, so if you were to assume that Jim Pipkins and the Boss Five hailed from that great city, you would be forgiven.

Unless that is, you have access to the interwebs and the Googles and such, use of which revealed in short order that the group was a Pacific Northwest conglomeration.

Jim Pipkins had been in a Seattle group called the Gallahads, which evolved into the Boss Five.

The Boss Five were managed by local DJ Chuck Cunningham, aka ‘Mr CC’, and released a couple of 45s, including ‘Mr CC’ in 1965 and ‘Mister Clean ‘67’ on the Norman label.

Apparently Pipkins himself went on to work as a DJ on a number of West Coast stations.

‘Mr CC’ kicks off with a riff that sounds like a fast-moving version of ‘Watermelon Man’ with organ, horns and some groovy, jazzy guitar.

The whole thing’s over in less than two and a half minutes which is a shame because it is very groovy indeed.

I hope you dig it and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, November 8, 2015 10:49 am

Grant Green

Listen/Download – Grant Green – Sookie Sookie (45 Edit) MP3

Greetings all.

If you haven’t yet ingested your morning coffee, I’d hold off until after you’ve given today’s selection a spin.

I issue such a warning, because the record you see before you, Grant Green’s version of Don Covay’s soul classic ‘Sookie Sookie’ is one of the deepest, funkiest, dancingest, soul jazz grooves ever committed to vinyl.

Grant Green was of course one of the greatest jazz/soul jazz axemen of the 50s, 60s and 70s. He made a grip of classics for Blue Note as both a leader and as one of the label’s more flexible sidemen, and was hip enough that when jazzers started to whip a little soul and funk into the mix, he did it extraordinarily well. So much so that he has appeared here at Funky16Corners a number of times over the years.

‘Sookie Sookie’ – a 45 edit of the 11 minute plus track from the ‘Alive!’ LP, which was recorded in Newark, NJ in 1970 – is one of those records, like the Village Callers’ ‘Hector’ that is just about impossible to listen to without moving in some way, shape or form.

Naturally, any sane person would get up and dance, but head-nodding and foot tapping are also acceptable substitutes.

Featuring Ronnie Foster on organ (just listen to him pumping out the bass on his pedals) , Joseph Armstrong on congas and the mighty Idris Muhammad on drums, ‘Sookie Sookie’ is funky right out of the gate, and only gets funkier as it goes on.

Green plays around a little with the verse, but as soon as the chorus comes up, with a wave of Hammond organ, you know what song it is you’re digging.

The transition from the chorus into Green’s guitar solo (with some nice accents in the background by Willie Bivvens on the vibes) is tasty indeed.

Back in the early 90s, Us3 had themselves a hit when they pretty much lifted the whole song (I think would be unfair to call what they used a “sample”) and rebuilt it as ‘Tukka Yoot’s Riddim’ with toasting by Tukka Yoot (naturally…) over the top.

It is a heavy record, indeed. So get up on your desk and dance.

See you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, October 29, 2015 10:38 am

Eumir Deodato & Airto Moreira

Listen/Download – Deodato/Airto – Do It Again MP3

Greetings all.

An important programming note!

The end of the week approacheth, and changes are afoot!

The Funky16Corners Radio Show had a home on Viva Radio for nearly seven years. As of this week, that relationship is coming to an end, I will be leaving Viva, and the show will exist purely as a podcast.

I make this change reluctantly, but due to a string of unfortunate technical difficulties the show did not air in its time slot at least twice in a month, and my requests for explanations or guarantees that these problems would be fixed going forward have gone ignored.

As a result, the Funky16Corners Radio Show will continue to drop every week, on Friday. You can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or click on the link here at the blog and stream or download the episodes.

So stay tuned, keep digging the show, and I will keep you informed of any further developments.

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As a big Steely Dan fan, I can never get enough of cover versions of their songs (a few of which have appeared here before), and the one I bring you today is especially cool.

What you see before you is a 3:30 edit of the original 6:29 track recorded live by Eumir Deodato and Airto Moreira for the 1974 ‘Deodato/Airto In Concert’ LP.

This cut is yet more proof that if you aren’t down with the CTI sound, you are missing out some some of the grooviest, funky (and often smooth) jazz of the early 70s.

The arrangement (aside from its lack of voice) isn’t too far removed from the Steely Dan OG, with an extra layer of Fender Rhodes, plenty of percussion (Rubens Bassini and Gilmore Degap) and nice, heavy horn section.

The hot lead guitar is provided by John Tropea.

Interestingly, though they are billed equally on the cover, Deodato and Airto do not perform together on the record. Airto opened for Deodato at the Felt Forum date from which the performances were taken, and although their tracks are both included on the LP, there is no crossover.

That said, I dig Deodato’s stuff from the period, and this is a great example thereof.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you all next week.

Keep the faith

Larry

____________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 8, 2015 12:43 pm

Dave Pike

Listen/Download – Dave Pike – Sweet Tater Pie MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is nigh, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show,which comes to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t be there at airtime, you can keep up with the show by subscribing to the podcast in iTunes, listening on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grabbing yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

This has been a rough week for music, with the passing of New Orleans drumming giant Smokey Johnson, singer Billy Joe Royal, and then yesterday the news came down that the mighty Dave Pike had slipped the surly bonds of earth.

If you don’t know (though you should) Pike was one of the pioneers of the groovy side of 60s and 70s soul jazz.

He got his start playing straight ahead jazz with Paul Bley in the late 50s, then moving on for an extended period of time playing in the bands of flautist Herbie Mann (who produced today’s selection), an artist that he was similar to in artistic temperament, if not long term commercial success.

Pike was, as a master of the vibes and the marimba, and explorer in musical styles (amplifying his vibes early on in his career), working (like Mann) all manner of world music sounds into his work as well as healthy doses of soul, funk and even pop.

His late 60s/early 70s) work with the Dave Pike Set alongside guitarist Volker Kriegel included groundbreaking soul jazz and rare groove, sought after by DJs and collectors the world over.

The selection I bring you today is a single, which originally appeared on Pike’s 1966 LP ‘Jazz for the Jet Set’, which featured him exclusively on marimba with a group that also included Herbie Hancock making a rare appearance on organ.

Written by Rodgers Grant (who also penned ‘Yeh Yeh’ for Mongo Santamaria, which went on to be a cornerstone of Georgie Fame’s repertoire), ‘Sweet Tater Pie’ (originally waxed by Mongo in ’63)  is a classic bit of hard-charging, dance-floor-ready soul jazz.

Pike manages to rein in the woodier sound of the marimba, and it’s very cool to hear Herbie working it out on the Hammond. Jimmy Lewis’s bass adds a throbbing undercurrent to the proceedings, helping Grady Tate to keep it in the pocket.

If you dig what you hear, I would highly suggest that you head out and find yourselves some of the Dave Pike Set, especially the ‘Infra-Red’ album, the deep track ‘Mathar’, and my personal fave (of which I wish I owned an OG), his 1969 ‘Got the Feelin’ set, which is a classic.

Pike was a master, and continued to play and record until 2010, when ill health forced his retirement.

I hope you dig the sounds, and that you take the opportunity to head out and dig deeper into the music of Dave Pike.

See you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 18, 2015 11:33 am

Brother Jack McDuff and David Newman

Listen/Download – Brother Jack McDuff Quintet feat. David Newman – But It’s Alright MP3

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get over the hump this week with some of that Hammond organ goodness bubbling up from my crates.

Brother Jack McDuff is one of the true greats of the classic era of soul jazz Hammond (mid-50s to early 70s). He is joined on today’s selection by legendary reedman David ‘Fathead’ Newman, with whom he recorded the 1968 LP ‘Double Barrelled Soul’.

Their version of JJ Jackson’s 1966 hit ‘But It’s Alright’ is – if not a complete deconstruction – a slightly avant garde approach to a familiar soul hit, with just enough edge to catch your ear, but not so much as to leave you shaking your head.

Opening with an odd organ fillagree, the fray is soon joined by the horn section, laying down an unusual, Thelonious Monk-esque riff, over which Brother Jack solos with confidence.

When the song starts out, it might take a new listener a second or two to wrap your ears around what’s going on, but once you do, there’s a funky drive shaft that keeps things moving forward.

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this enters Larry Young territory, there is some of that kind of thing at work here, which makes the record work as jazz, as well as a mod jazz groover.

I like it a lot, and I hope you do too.

See you all on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 23, 2015 3:09 pm

Gene Ammons

Listen/Download – Gene Ammons – Chicago Breakdown MP3

Greetings all.

The end of the week is here, and so then is the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which you can dial up each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you cannot be there to dig it at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, listen on your mobile device via the TuneIn app, or grab yourself an MP3 here at the blog.

With the weekend coming up, and the summer heat in the air, what better way to get your groove on than with some sublimely funky soul jazz.

The mighty Gene ‘Jug’ Ammons was not only a master of the genre, but also a second generation legend (his father was the boogie woogie virtuouso Albert Ammons).

Ammons worked as one of the preeminent soul jazz tenor men from 1952 to his untimely death at the age of 49 (from cancer) in 1974.

‘Chicago Breakdown’ was recorded for his 1971 Prestige LP ‘My Way’ with a gang of heavies that included Idris Muhammad on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass, Roland Hanna on electric piano and Ted Dunbar on guitar.

‘Chicago Breakdown’ is credited to the album’s producer/arranger Bill Fischer, and the band lays down a very nice, mid-tempo, but still heavy groove. The bass is especially thick, and Hanna’s keyboard adds flavor all the way through.

I’ll ask you to slap on your headphones and focus in at around :45, where Ammons starts to solo, and Dunbar’s guitar is comping in the deep background (it sounds like he’s across the room) and the interplay between the sax and rhythm guitar is something to behold.

This is as tasty a piece of funky jazz as you’re likely to find on 45, so go out and get you some.

I’ll see you on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.