This just in (though I think Sarah told me about it some time ago and today I was reminded of it again): Funk legend Fred Wesley and the New JB’s are playing at Alte Mälzerei in Regensburg on Friday, April 16th. Do you know who this guy is? He was James Brown’s band leader, composer, arranger, etc., and later went on to collaborate with Parliament / Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins. He is working on some neat Klezmer-Funk fusion stuff under the moniker Abraham Inc.
This show promises to be one not to miss. Who’s with me on this one?
Here’s a sampler:
[audio:http://www.regensblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fred.mp3]
Klezmer-Funk… um, I’m all for fusion… but who was sitting around one day and said, “Hey, let’s get some funk beats and horns behind this Klezmer music and see what happens!”?
Sweet No played in a Klezmer band for some time, and I’ve certainly heard my share of the stuff… but I’m having trouble putting that together with funk.
We didn’t know about the Sweet No Klezmer connection!?
Side note: you like Shantel? If you don’t know, you need to.
Check out these videos for some examples of getting the Klezmer sound funkier than you’d think: