[Harp-L] Funk and harmonica

["Jonathan R. Ross" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The subject of funk and the harmonica has come up recently.  As I play
harmonica and love funk, I thought I'd add a few thoughts.

Funk harmonica begins with Stevie.  Stevie Wonder is the pre-eminent
funk harmonica player.  He towers over all others like a colossus.  Part
of the reason for that is the nature of Stevie in funk: he is one of the
seminal genii of the medium, and by his stature he automatically dwarfs
most anyone else, certainly other harmonica players.  Stevie is the only
harmonica player in the funk pantheon (Sly doesn't count--both because
of his horrible burn-out and because his harp playing is no better than
his keyboard playing, adequate but not great).  Stevie primarily plays
chromatic harp, but occasionally he lets loose on diatonic.  Either way,
his reedy, somewhat nasal tone is very recognizable.

Now, that having been said there are several others who played harp in
funk settings quite well.  Lee Oskar of War is perhaps the most
prominent harmonica-only player in funk.  War tended to either offset
Oskar against their saxaphonist or in concert with him creating an
unusual sounding horn section.  

Roger Trautman was the genius behind Zapp, Roger and Zapp & Roger (all
the same band, basically Trautman and a few of his friends and
siblings).  A talented multi-instrumentalist he was quite competent on
harmonica, and quite willing to place it at the forefront of a song.
His main sound, though, was singing through the talkbox--he was the
undisputed master of it.  Sadly, he was shot by his brother.  

A recent addition is Thaddeus Hogarth.  Long a Boston stand-out, he has
released a few albums with a heavy Stevie-inspired chromatic harmonica
sound.

Many of Junior Wells' albums from the late 60's on strongly ape the funk
of James Brown.  I'm not really sure if these are funk, per se, but they
certainly come close.

There are others, but those are probably the most prominent.

Now, for funk itself you have to recognize the various times and genres
inside the funk idiom:

James Brown.  While called the "Godfather of Soul" JB is really the
popularizer of funk.  He may not have been the first to put the beat on
the one, the key signature of funk, but he did it harder and louder than
anyone else before.  His best work was in the late 60's and early 70's
with a variety of bands (all led by trombonist Fred Wesley).  While the
musicians changed, Brown and Wesley were able to keep the band extremely
tight as shown on the live albums "Love, Power, Peace" and "Live in
Paris".  JB is the beginning, and you cannot understand funk without
him.

Sly and the Family Stone.  This was the first big, integrated funk band
and it launched the San Francisco funk scene in specific and the
rock/funk mix in general.  Hard hitting but with a more groove oriented
and rock-friendly style with less emphasis on the downbeat, this band
had a brief but brilliant period in the early 70's before Sly flamed out
and the best parts went on to form other groups.  Bassist Larry Graham's
"Graham Central Station" band basically carried on the flame, with Tower
of Power, Little Feet, War and many others working along the lines
formed by Sly.

P-Funk.  Parliament/Funkadelic.  THE BOMB.  This was the ultimate funk
band of the 70's, ruling the decade without equal.  With many members of
James Brown's bands they put the "ONE" even more forward than Brown.
Often silly, very exaggerated lyrics and proto-rapping made them sound
like no-one else (until imitators emerged) and a mob of 40 or more
musicians on stage at once often playing for hours on end made their
shows impossible to match.  The music was complex but most of all
hard-hitting, thus the name "THE BOMB".  Unlike either Brown or Sly they
did not cross-over to a white audience, but their influence amongst
black musicians was huge.  Cameo, the GAP Band, and Zapp (all huge in
the 80's) basically started out as P-Funk cover bands.  Kool & the Gang,
the Ohio Players and others worked in the shadow of the P-Funk with a
similar style but never hitting it quite as hard.

Earth, Wind and Fire.  P-Funk's only real rival for size, extravagance
and popularity.  A much softer sound, often with an emphasis on soul and
smoothness.  EWF paved the way for the smoother rhythms of the Philly
sound, Barry White and others.  They also showed the way to funk's
step-child Disco with their danceable stompers.

Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gay.  The songwriters.  They
took the social commentary and conscience James Brown and Sly hinted at
and ran with it.  All were able to shape the sound and music to their
message, thus they could put out stompers rivaling the P-Funk in
intensity, smooth soul rivaling EWF's disciples or even lush pop
ballads.  

That's the 70's.  In the 80's funk evolved into a few branches.  First
there was the post-70's, paired down sound of bands such as Rick James.
Then there were the heavily synthesized sounds which some of the 70's
bands embraced (GAP Band, Cameo, Zapp/Roger) alongside newcomers such as
the Dax Band.  But, the 80's funk scene was ruled by Prince.  He mixed
genres and styles at will, taking liberally from whoever he felt like.
He was so dominant that nearly everyone else tried desperately to copy
him at one time or another.  P-Funk, jazz fusion, electro-funk,
smooth-funk, Prince did it all.

But, hiding in the wings was the next revolution: hip-hop.  Beginning
with DJs mixing together bits and pieces of records for local big-shots
to rap over, this has evolved massively to cover many types of music and
musical styles.  From Jazz (acid jazz) to pop (just watch MTV) and
everything in-between.  But funk also took a stranger turn at the hands
of DJs: techno.  This began as an outgrowth of post-Disco dance-halls in
Detroit.  It then took over the world, morphing into the many-genred
entity poorly titled "electronica".  Some parts evolved beyond funk
(ambient, industrial), but many new styles keep emerging for the dance
halls and these are often very much funk.

Which brings us to the last category: international funk.  First there
is Reggae.  More than just Bob Marley, reggae is the Jamaican
contribution to funk and its influence can be seen in any band which
breaks the beat down (often in early hip-hop) and sets time off in odd
ways.  Afro-funk.  Inspired by and derived from James Brown, this genre
emerged in the 70's as local musicians mixed their various traditions
with the emerging sound of funk and created something unique to
themselves.  Fela Kuti, Thomas Mapfumo, township jive--the number of
different types and styles of Afro-funk are as many as the number of
different cultures in Africa.  People are still creating new forms all
the time, such as Wasis Diop in Senegal.

OK, so I've rambled well beyond the harmonica, but then the harmonica
really isn't all that important to funk.  Still, if you really want to
play funk (on any instrument) you need to understand the music, where
it's been, where it is and where it's going.  The same is true of blues,
jazz, classical or anything else.  Listen to the music, let it get
inside you, in your head, in your ears.  And then let it out from your
lips.




 oo    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()()   & Snuffy, too:)
`--'