Jul 5, 2014

RhoDeo 1426 Grooves

Hello, as the Worldcup got to the quarter finals today , first past the semi final post was Germany, they are used to that and the French never really threatened them despite being slightly favorite before the match, Germany rules the old continent. Seriously the match never got really going. That said a few hours later Columbia and Brazil only had eyes for eachother 31 fouls by Brazil any other team playing like they did tonight would have had at least two players sent off. Some players looked they were doped, wide eyed David Luiz. was still full of it after the match ended, his goal from 30 meters said it all only a madman would take such on. Just 2 yellows for Brazil says it all The ref was once again 100% in their court and don't think FIFA will do anything about it, corrupt bastards, maybe its time for UEFA to leave the FIFA and start a new clean Federation. Blatter and his african and asian cronies can go fuck themselves. Meanwhile Neymar got a knee in his back during a Brazil break so the ref didn't see that either, it happened in the 87 min and he won't be back, with a fractured backbone he's out for 2 months. Germany should cruise through to the final..deservedly.


These weeks it's all about "Soul Brother Number One," "the Godfather of Soul," "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business," "Mr. Dynamite" -- those are mighty titles, but no one can question that today's artist earned them more than any other performer. James was a guy who had self motivation written all over his back and front. And it came out of every pore of his music. The J.B.'s were the legendary supporting cast of musicians behind James Brown, earning a well-deserved reputation as the tightest, best-drilled instrumental ensemble in all of funk. The name J.B.'s is most often associated with three hornmen in particular -- saxophonists Maceo Parker, Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis, and trombonist Fred Wesley, all of whom originally joined Brown's backing band at various points during the '60s.  trombonist Fred Wesley was the world's most famous sideman, orchestrating the sinuous grooves and contributing the bold, surgically precise solos that defined the language of funk. ......N'joy

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As the longtime musical director for soul legend James Brown's renowned backing unit the J.B.'s, trombonist Fred Wesley was the world's most famous sideman, orchestrating the sinuous grooves and contributing the bold, surgically precise solos that defined the language of funk. Born July 4, 1943, in Columbus, GA, Wesley was raised in Mobile, AL. At age three, he studied classical piano under his grandmother, a music teacher, but much preferred the big-band music played by his father, Fred Wesley, Sr., who also chaired the music department at Mobile Central High School. Wesley, Jr. remained with the piano until middle school, first adopting the trumpet before moving to the trombone. He made his professional debut at age 12 in a big band led by his school's music teacher, E.B. Coleman, and soon was sitting in with local R&B acts as well. While studying music at Alabama State University, Wesley briefly tenured with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue as well as Hank Ballard & the Midnighters before serving in the U.S. Army, playing with the 55th Army Band and graduating from the Armed Forces School of Music. After returning from military duty in 1967, Wesley formed his own project, the Mastersound, fusing R&B with hard bop. The group splintered within a year, however, and when he received a phone call from J.B.'s trumpeter Waymon Reed, who told him Brown was seeking a new trombonist, Wesley accepted the offer.

Brown's infamously dictatorial approach wore greatly on Wesley, and the two men clashed often. After appearing on landmark singles including "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," "Licking Stick," and "Mother Popcorn," the trombonist even quit the J.B.'s in late 1969, briefly gigging with Sam & the Goodtimers before returning to Brown's camp in early 1971 and assuming the role of musical director and arranger. Wesley's contributions to classic funk outings including Black Caesar, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, and The Payback cannot be overstated: alongside bandmates including Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins, he spearheaded Brown's groundbreaking transformation from soul to funk, establishing the template for the R&B of a new decade. "I completed [Brown's] creations, I followed his blueprints," Wesley later said. "He would give me horn things to write, but sometimes maybe it would be incoherent musically and I would have to straighten it out, so to speak. When it came out of my brain, it would be a lot of James Brown's ideas and my organization." Wesley even wrote a handful of Brown hits including "Doin' It to Death" and "Papa Don't Take No Mess," and headlined several J.B.'s records including the classic Damn Right I Am Somebody and Breakin' Bread. But creative and financial differences again forced him to part ways with Brown in 1975, this time for good.

Wesley signed on with George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic in time for their seminal Mothership Connection LP. And unlike Brown, Clinton encouraged his collaborators to pursue their own projects, even co-writing most of the songs comprising the trombonist's 1977 official solo debut, A Blow for Me, a Toot for You, credited to Fred Wesley & the Horny Horns. After a second solo disc, 1979's Say Blow by Blow Backwards, Wesley exited the P-Funk sphere to return to his first love: jazz. He joined the Count Basie Orchestra, and also moonlighted as a producer, helming the self-titled debut LP by R&B group Kameleon. After settling in Hollywood in 1981, Wesley assumed the role of hired gun, playing on studio sessions headlined by Earth, Wind & Fire, Barry White, and the Gap Band, and also arranged records by Curtis Mayfield and Terry Callier. He re-ignited his solo career with 1990's jazz date New Friends, and continued recording straight-ahead jazz LPs throughout the decade to follow. As his unmistakable syncopated style became a crucial component of hip-hop via endless sampling of his vintage James Brown sides, Wesley also toured with fellow Brown alums Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis as the JB Horns before forming his own Fred Wesley Group in 1996. In 2002 he published his memoirs, Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Wesley followed it with a new album, With a Little Help from My Friends, in 2010 from BHM Records. He concurrently served as an adjunct professor of jazz studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

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The JB's were formed in March 1970 after leaving most members of the previous band Brown motivated by a financial dispute (bands Brown during the 50s and 60s became known as "The James Brown Band" and "The James Brown Orchestra "). The initial training of JB's included bassist William "Bootsy" Collins and his brother, guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins, formerly members of obscure funk band The Pacesetters; Bobby Byrd (organ) and John "Jabo" Starks (drums); three inexperienced musicians (Puff), Clayton "Chicken" Gunnells, Darryl "Hasaan" Jamison and Robert McCollough; and conga player Johnny Griggs. This version of JB's played on some of the most intense albums Brown, including "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Fri Machine", "Super Bad", "Soul Power" and "Talkin 'Loud and Sayin' Nothing". They also accompanied Brown during the European tour, which was recorded live album Love Power Peace, are in the recording Fri Machine disk and released two instrumental singles much sampled:. "The Grunt" and "These Are the JB's"



JB's - Food For Thought  (flac 213mb)

01 Pass The Peas 3:32
02 Gimme Some More 3:08
03 To My Brother 2:35
04 Wine Spot 3:33
05 Hot Pants Road 2:45
06 The Grunt 2:49
07 Blessed Blackness 3:48
08 Escape-Ism, Part 1 And 2 7:32
09 Theme From Heroin 3:08
10 These Are The JB's 3:02

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Having been in the employ of James Brown, who gave them a first-class education in funk and soul, Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker were obvious choices to contribute to George Clinton's P-Funk empire (the Godfather of Soul was a major influence on Clinton). In 1977, Clinton and Bootsy Collins produced A Blow for Me, A Toot for You, the debut album by Fred Wesley & the Horny Horns -- a group that boasted Wesley on trombone, Parker on tenor and alto sax, and Rick Gardner and Richard "Kush" Griffith on trumpet. Clinton and Collins did a lot of the writing, and not surprisingly, much of this vinyl LP is pure P-Funk. The album gets off to a gritty start with a remake of Parliament's "Up for the Down Stroke," and the Parliament influence is equally strong on "Between Two Sheets." As for the instrumentals, "Four Play" blends funk and jazz, while Wesley's moody "Peace Fugue" isn't unlike something you would have heard on a CTI recording in the 1970s. "Peace Fugue," in fact, is the least Clinton-sounding thing on the LP. A Blow for Me, A Toot for You may not be in the same class as Parliament's Mothership Connection, Collins' Ahh...The Name is Bootsy, Baby! or Funkadelic's One Nation Under a Groove, but not many LPs were. Overall, it's a likable record that anyone who loves P-Funk should be aware of.



Fred Wesley and; The Horny Horns - A Blow For Me, A Toot To You  (flac 328mb)

01 Up For The Down Stroke 9:10
02 A Blow For Me, A Toot To You 7:20
03 When In Doubt: Vamp 4:21
04 Between Two Sheets 6:50
05 Four Play 8:03
06 Peace Fugue 6:00
07 A Blow For Me, A Toot To You (New Remix) 7:12
08 Four Play (New Remix) 7:07
09 Interview 2:03

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Released in 1979, Say Blow by Blow Backwards is the second of two albums that Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns (which employed Maceo Parker on tenor and alto sax) recorded for Atlantic in the late 1970s. Wesley produced this album with George Clinton and Bootsy Collins and it comes as no surprise that "We Came to Funk Ya" and shadowy "Half a Man" are straight-up p-funk. But some of the time Say Blow by Blow Backwards doesn't sound all that much like a Parliament or Funkadelic project. Wesley's appreciation of jazz comes through on the instrumentals "Mr. Melody Man," "Just Like You," and "Circular Motion." These tracks aren't straightahead jazz -- something that Wesley and Parker are both quite capable of playing -- but they do offer a pleasant, if unremarkable, blend of R&B, jazz, and pop. Like the Horny Horns' first album, A Blow for Me, a Toot for You, this set is uneven, and unlike Parliament's The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein or Funkadelic's Maggot Brain, it isn't an album that's thrilling all the way through. Nonetheless, Say Blow by Blow Backwards has more ups than downs and is worth searching for if you fancy yourself a serious p-funk collector.



Fred Wesley and The Horny Horns - Say Blow By Blow Backwards  (flac 341mb)

01 We Came To Funk Ya 6:55
02 Half A Man 9:32
03 Say Blow By Blow Backwards 5:10
04 Mr. Melody Man 7:04
05 Just Like You 6:47
06 Circular Motion 5:43
07 Half A Man ( New Remix) 5:26
08 Say Blow By Blow Backwards (Remix) 5:26
09 Interview 3:04

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho

I'm not sure if these albums are differentiated enough from the James Brown albums to also request to re-up or not. If they are, can you also re-up these too?

Many thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi Rho

Is it possible to re-up these J.B.'s albums?

Many thanks