Apr 6, 2012

RhoDeo 1214 Grooves

Hello, fridaynight coming up time to chill out from that working week and shake loose those rusty limbs from chairduty, a nice big spliff to free that mind and have that ass follow..

Defunkt is probably the best funk band you never heard in your life. Their message has always been intended to be a “light” for the people in darkness, not a sedative for world sickness. The lyrics have always remained provocative and thought inspiring. Even in the ‘dark ages’ of Defunkt while struggling with drug addiction, lyrics focused on political awareness and issues of human suffering, perhaps making this musical blend unattractive to major record labels.

In Joe Bowie's words
The music of Defunkt is a medicine for the suffering humanity, a pathway for the funky emancipation of your soul, and a mirror to expose your emons of insecurity. Open your eyes and ears and this burning fire of sound will help you get moving on the way to a fulfilling and positive life. Make Humanity a Priority.


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This punk-funk-jazz unit born in 1978 in New York City merged avant-garde with rocking, funky grooves. Over this period the band made 15 recordings on various independent labels and traveled throughout the world sharing the stage with countless numbers of popular artists. Defunkt is the first band to make a real fusion of popular and extreme music styles, also pioneers in early stages of rap music in the early 80’s. The band uncharacteristically has from the beginning performed at Jazz Festivals as well as Rock & Soul venues throughout the world, gaining cult like respect from musicians and underground music aficionados worldwide. Defunkt has never gained huge commercial success due to unwillingness to compromise creativity and musical uniqueness and integrity for popular acclaim.

Led by trumpet player Joseph Bowie -- the son of a St. Louis-based music teacher, the brother of big band arranger Byron Bowie, and late trumpet player of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Lester Bowie -- Defunkt created some of the most adventurous sounds of the last quarter of the 20th century. Formed in 1978, Defunkt initially took a danceable approach to jazz. Although their first three albums -- Defunkt, Razor's Edge, and Thermonuclear Sweat -- made them leaders of New York's radical underground music scene, their inability to achieve commercial expectations led them to disband in 1983, with Bowie retreating to the island of St. Croix. Reorganized after Bowie's return to New York in 1986, Defunkt recorded an additional six albums, including A Blues Tribute: Jimi Hendrix & Muddy Waters and In America, between 1988-1993. Beginning in 1996, Bowie sought a way to combine the big band jazz of the 1930s and '40s and the dance rhythms and grooves of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Expanding Defunkt with the addition of more horn players and background vocalists, Bowie introduced the Defunkt Big Band with a six-week stint at the Knitting Factory in New York.

In 1999 Joe’s brother, Byron arranged big band charts from a selection of classic Defunkt songs and the Defunkt Big Band was born. In the band was a “Who’s Who” of New York’s finest jazz musicians. The Debut concert was the Texaco Jazz Festival at the Knitting Factory in NYC. Following the Defunkt Big Band did a European tour playing festivals in Finland, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. The sound is absolutely “awesome”, the groove and power undeniable. There is no big band sound comparable...truly the sound of Defunkt merged into big band sensibility.

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Trombonist Joe Bowie's free-wheeling outfit Defunkt avoids categorization. They rip through soul, funk, free jazz, rock, and blues, and stretch the limits of each one. The atmosphere on their records is feverish; they don't do anything in an easy or simple manner. The grooves are deep, tight, and supple (brilliant bassist Kim Clarke doesn't play repetitive patterns over and over again), the lyrics aren't your run-of-the-mill party stuff. Not everything they try works, but no Defunkt album is ever dull.


Defunkt - Defunkt (flac 265mb)

01 Make Them Dance 7:57
02 Strangling Me With Your Love 4:05
03 In The Good Times 4:26
04 Blues 3:03
05 Defunkt 6:21
06 Thermonuclear Sweat 3:43
07 Melvin's Tune 2:37
08 We All Dance Together 5:40

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Another in their series of rampaging, outlandish Defunkt sessions with trombonist Joseph Bowie and his comrades ripping through funk, R&B, jazz, blues, rock, and many other things. Sometimes they aim too high or try something that flops, but they keep right on experimenting and eventually create something no other band would even attempt.


Defunkt - Thermonuclear Sweat (flac 231mb)

01 Illusion 5:32
02 I Tried To Live Alone 5:06
03 Cocktail Hour (Blue Bossa) 3:27
04 Ooh Baby 6:05
05 Avoid The Funk 4:26
06 Big Bird (Au Private) 2:07
07 For The Love Of Money 5:52
08 Believing In Love 7:12

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elsewhere (Wavetrain Jumboday) NOW in flac

Defunkt - Avoid The Funk (82 ^321mb)

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many thanks!

Raul said...

Any chance of reupping these? May the funk be with you!

Anonymous said...

Can you please upload these again? I would love to hear them again! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Any chance of a reup please? thanks.