Get Down Get Funky : Funk music
If you watched this week's episode of Glee, as I did, then you were likely dancing in your living room to the funky beat. According to Will Schuester, Glee Club teacher/coach, "Funk is soul meets Anger".
There are many definitions of Funk including:
Aretha Franklin put it more eloquently when she said "Let's call this song exactly what it is "Funk is a feeling".
And who wouldn't be feeling Aretha Franklin singing Rock Steady and seeing it danced to on Soul Train .
Who also wouldn't feel the joy and rhythms of Sly and the Family Stone on the Ed Sullivan Show .
No discussion of Funk would be complete without mentioning James Brown and his iconic 1970 "Get Up (I feel like being a) Sex Machine" in various versions over his long career and his many classic dance moves. And don't get James Brown mixed up with Rick James, one of the other key later Funk musicians and his classic Super Freak.
Many artists contributed to funk music and if you are interested in playing this kind of music then you might want to look at some of the score books that are available.
There have been a number of books written on Funk Music mainly from an American point of view but Funk had international impact and you might want to look at or listen to some of these titles:
- Nigeria Rock Special (psychedelic afro-rock & fuzz funk in 1970s Nigeria
- Jamaica to Toronto : soul, funk and reggae 1967-1974
- The rough guide to Latin Funk
- Polish Funk 3 the unique selection of rare grooves from Poland of the 70s
- Les musique soul et funk : la France qui groove des annees 1960 a nos jours
My own personal funk favourite is a bit esoteric – Patti Jo's "Make me Believe in You" .
If you have a personal funk favourite why not write us a comment and let us know.
Comments