Avant-funk (also called mutant disco in the early 1980s ) is a music style in which artists combine funk or disco rhythms with an avant-garde or art rock mentality. Its most prominent era occurred in the late 1970s and 1980s among post-punk and no wave acts who embraced black dance music .
76-612: The Winstons were an American funk and soul music group based in Washington, D.C. They are known for their 1969 recording featuring a song entitled " Color Him Father " on the A-side , and "Amen, Brother" on the B-side . Halfway into "Amen, Brother", there is a drum solo (performed by Gregory C. Coleman) which would cause the release to become the most widely sampled record in the history of electronic music . Sampled audio clips of
152-459: A Dorian or Mixolydian mode , as opposed to the major or natural minor tonalities of most popular music. Melodic content was derived by mixing these modes with the blues scale . In the 1970s, jazz music drew upon funk to create a new subgenre of jazz-funk , which can be heard in recordings by Miles Davis ( Live-Evil , On the Corner ), and Herbie Hancock ( Head Hunters ). Funk continues
228-433: A " call-and-response , intertwined pocket." If a band only has one guitarist, this effect may be recreated by overdubbing in the studio, or, in a live show, by having a single guitarist play both parts, to the degree that this is possible. In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a percussive style, using a style of picking called the "chank" or "chicken scratch", in which the guitar strings are pressed lightly against
304-547: A "black aesthetic" to perform that made use of "colorful and lively exchange of gestures, facial expressions, body posture, and vocal phrases" to create an engaging performance. The lyrics in funk music addressed issues faced by the African American community in the United States during the 1970s, which arose due to the move away from an industrial, working-class economy to an information economy, which harmed
380-451: A "gooey, slurpy, quacky, and syrupy" sound) and imitate keyboard synthesizer bass tones (e.g., the Mutron envelope filter) and overdriven fuzz bass effects, which are used to create the "classic fuzz tone that sounds like old school Funk records". Other effects that are used include the flanger and bass chorus . Collins also used a Mu-Tron Octave Divider , an octave pedal that, like
456-467: A Black President be considered in the future. The political themes of funk songs and the aiming of the messages to a Black audience echoed the new image of Blacks that was created in Blaxploitation films, which depicted "African-American men and women standing their ground and fighting for what was right". Both funk and Blaxploitation films addressed issues faced by Blacks and told stories from
532-555: A Black perspective. Another link between 1970s funk and Blaxploitation films is that many of these films used funk soundtracks (e.g., Curtis Mayfield for Superfly ; James Brown and Fred Wesley for Black Caesar and War for Youngblood ). Funk songs included metaphorical language that was understood best by listeners who were "familiar with the black aesthetic and [black] vernacular". For example, funk songs included expressions such as "shake your money maker", "funk yourself right out" and "move your boogie body". Another example
608-719: A Little Bit of Bitch in Him"); clavinet ("Joyful Process", "Up for the Down Stroke", "Red Hot Mama"); Minimoog synthesizer ("Atmosphere", " Flash Light ", "Aqua Boogie", "Knee Deep", "Let's Take It to the Stage"); and ARP string ensemble synth (" Chocolate City ", " Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) ", "Undisco Kidd"). Synthesizers were used in funk both to add to the deep sound of
684-622: A baritone sax. Horn sections played "rhythmic and syncopated" parts, often with "offbeat phrases" that emphasize "rhythmic displacement". Funk song introductions are an important place for horn arrangements. Funk horn sections performed in a "rhythmic percussive style" that mimicked the approach used by funk rhythm guitarists. Horn sections would "punctuate" the lyrics by playing in the spaces between vocals, using "short staccato rhythmic blast[s]". Notable funk horn players included Alfred "PeeWee" Ellis , trombonist Fred Wesley , and alto sax player Maceo Parker . Notable funk horn sections including
760-417: A clean sound, and given the importance of a crisp, high sound, Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters were widely used for their cutting treble tone. The mids are often cut by guitarists to help the guitar sound different from the horn section , keyboards and other instruments. Given the focus on providing a rhythmic groove, and the lack of emphasis on instrumental guitar melodies and guitar solos , sustain
836-411: A complex, driving rhythmic feel. Even though some funk songs are mainly one-chord vamps, the rhythm section musicians may embellish this chord by moving it up or down a semitone or a tone to create chromatic passing chords. For example, the verse section of " Play That Funky Music " (by Wild Cherry ) mainly uses an E ninth chord, but it also uses F#9 and F9. The chords used in funk songs typically imply
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#1732793354505912-592: A constant haze of marijuana smoke", such as Parliament's " Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop) ", which includes words such as "bioaquadooloop". The mainstream white listener base was often not able to understand funk's lyrical messages, which contributed to funk's lack of popular music chart success with white audiences during the 1970s. Horn section arrangements with groups of brass instruments are often used in funk songs. Funk horn sections could include saxophone (often tenor sax), trumpet, trombone, and for larger horn sections, such as quintets and sextets,
988-418: A half-swung feel), and less use of fills (as they can lessen the groove). Drum fills are "few and economical", to ensure that the drumming stays "in the pocket", with a steady tempo and groove. These playing techniques are supplemented by a set-up for the drum kit that often includes muffled bass drums and toms and tightly tuned snare drums. Double bass drumming sounds are often done by funk drummers with
1064-409: A horn section is not feasible, a keyboardist can play the horn parts on a synthesizer with brass patches; however, choosing an authentic-sounding synthesizer and brass patch is important. In the 2010s, with micro-MIDI synths, it may even have been possible to have another instrumentalist play the keyboard brass parts, thus enabling the keyboardist to continue to comp throughout the song. Funk bands in
1140-399: A hybrid of electronic music and funk; funk metal ; G-funk , a mix of gangsta rap and psychedelic funk ; Timba , a form of funky Cuban dance music; and funk jam. It is also the main influence of Washington go-go , a funk subgenre. Funk samples and breakbeats have been used extensively in hip hop and electronic dance music . The word funk initially referred (and still refers) to
1216-501: A mixture of thumb-slapped low notes (also called "thumped") and finger "popped" (or plucked) high notes, allowing the bass to have a drum-like rhythmic role, which became a distinctive element of funk. Notable slap and funky players include Bernard Edwards ( Chic ), Robert "Kool" Bell , Mark Adams ( Slave ), Johnny Flippin ( Fatback ) and Bootsy Collins . While slap and funky is important, some influential bassists who play funk, such as Rocco Prestia (from Tower of Power ), did not use
1292-460: A part of the UK's first wave of house music , including Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H. Kirk and Graham Massey of Biting Tongues (and later of 808 State ). Reynolds compared the UK's rave music and jungle scenes of the early 1990s to a "reactivation" of avant-funk, calling it "a populist vanguard, a lumpen bohemia that weirdly mashed together the bad-trippy sounds of art school funk-mutation with
1368-413: A short duration (nicknamed "stabs") with faster rhythms and riffs. Guitarists playing rhythmic parts often play sixteenth notes, including with percussive ghost notes. Chord extensions are favored, such as ninth chords. Typically, funk uses "two interlocking [electric] guitar parts", with a rhythm guitarist and a "tenor guitarist" who plays single notes. The two guitarists trade off their lines to create
1444-591: A single pedal, an approach which "accents the second note... [and] deadens the drumhead's resonance", which gives a short, muffled bass drum sound. James Brown used two drummers such as Clyde Stubblefield and John 'Jabo' Starks in recording and soul shows. By using two drummers, the JB band was able to maintain a "solid syncopated" rhythmic sound, which contributed to the band's distinctive "Funky Drummer" rhythm. In Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi 's playing, there are many ghost notes and rim shots . A key part of
1520-462: A strong odor. It is originally derived from Latin fumigare (which means "to smoke") via Old French fungiere and, in this sense, it was first documented in English in 1620. In 1784, funky meaning "musty" was first documented, which, in turn, led to a sense of "earthy" that was taken up around 1900 in early jazz slang for something "deeply or strongly felt". Even though in white culture,
1596-513: A suspended fourth (e.g., C7 (#9) sus 4); dominant ninth chords (e.g., F9); and minor sixth chords (e.g., C minor 6). The six-ninth chord is used in funk (e.g., F 6/9); it is a major chord with an added sixth and ninth. In funk, minor seventh chords are more common than minor triads because minor triads were found to be too thin-sounding. Some of the best known and most skillful soloists in funk have jazz backgrounds. Trombonist Fred Wesley and saxophonists Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker are among
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#17327933545051672-420: Is an unrecorded number by Buddy Bolden , remembered as either "Funky Butt" or "Buddy Bolden's Blues", with improvised lyrics that were, according to Donald M. Marquis, either "comical and light" or "crude and downright obscene" but, in one way or another, referring to the sweaty atmosphere at dances where Bolden's band played. As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when funk and funky were used increasingly in
1748-415: Is not sought out by funk rhythm guitarists. Funk rhythm guitarists use compressor volume-control effects to enhance the sound of muted notes, which boosts the "clucking" sound and adds "percussive excitement to funk rhythms" (an approach used by Nile Rodgers ). Guitarist Eddie Hazel from Funkadelic is notable for his solo improvisation (particularly for the solo on " Maggot Brain ") and guitar riffs,
1824-527: Is the use of "bad" in the song "Super Bad" (1970), which black listeners knew meant "good" or "great". In the 1970s, to get around radio obscenity restrictions, funk artists would use words that sounded like non-allowed words and double entendres to get around these restrictions. For example, The Ohio Players had a song entitled "Fopp" which referred to "Fopp me right, don't you fopp me wrong/We'll be foppin' all night long...". Some funk songs used made-up words which suggested that they were "writing lyrics in
1900-650: Is used in funk, in songs such as "Cissy Strut" by The Meters and "Love the One You're With" (with Aretha Franklin singing and Billy Preston on keyboards). Bernie Worrell 's range of keyboards from his recordings with Parliament Funkadelic demonstrate the wide range of keyboards used in funk, as they include the Hammond organ ("Funky Woman", "Hit It and Quit It", "Wars of Armageddon"); RMI electric piano ("I Wanna Know If It's Good to You?", " Free Your Mind ", "Loose Booty"); acoustic piano ("Funky Dollar Bill", "Jimmy's Got
1976-529: Is used in funk, including in "September" by Earth Wind & Fire and " Will It Go Round in Circles " by Billy Preston . The electric piano is used on songs such as Herbie Hancock 's "Chameleon" (a Fender Rhodes ) and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" by Joe Zawinul (a Wurlitzer ). The clavinet is used for its percussive tone, and it can be heard in songs such as Stevie Wonder 's " Superstition " and " Higher Ground " and Bill Withers' " Use Me ". The Hammond B-3 organ
2052-562: The Civil Rights Movement . Gerhard Kubik notes that with the exception of New Orleans , early blues lacked complex polyrhythms , and there was a "very specific absence of asymmetric time-line patterns ( key patterns ) in virtually all early twentieth century African-American music ... only in some New Orleans genres does a hint of simple time line patterns occasionally appear in the form of transient so-called 'stomp' patterns or stop-time chorus. These do not function in
2128-426: The backbeat that typified African-American music. Brown often cued his band with the command "On the one!," changing the percussion emphasis/accent from the one- two -three- four backbeat of traditional soul music to the one -two-three-four downbeat – but with an even-note syncopated guitar rhythm (on quarter notes two and four) featuring a hard-driving, repetitive brassy swing . This one-three beat launched
2204-448: The clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as "Carnival Day" (Bartholomew 1949) and "Mardi Gras In New Orleans" (Longhair 1949). Robert Palmer reports that, in the 1940s, Professor Longhair listened to and played with musicians from the islands and "fell under the spell of Perez Prado 's mambo records." Professor Longhair's particular style was known locally as rumba-boogie . One of Longhair's great contributions
2280-481: The fingerboard and then quickly released just enough to get a muted "scratching" sound that is produced by rapid rhythmic strumming of the opposite hand near the bridge . Earliest examples of that technic used on rhythm and blues is listened on Johnny Otis song " Willie and the Hand Jive " in 1957, with the future James Brown band guitar player Jimmy Nolen . The technique can be broken down into three approaches:
2356-542: The technocracy of Western modernity . The all-female avant-funk group ESG formed in The Bronx during this era. The artists of the late 1970s New York no wave scene, including James Chance, explored avant-funk influenced by Ornette Coleman. The 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne was described as a masterpiece of avant-funk by Paste . The New York label ZE Records released
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2432-400: The "chika", the "chank" and the "choke". With the "chika" comes a muted sound of strings being hit against the fingerboard; "chank" is a staccato attack done by releasing the chord with the fretting hand after strumming it; and "choking" generally uses all the strings being strummed and heavily muted. The result of these factors was a rhythm guitar sound that seemed to float somewhere between
2508-585: The "mesmerizing" nature of funk. Payne states that funk can be thought of as "rock played in a more syncopated manner", particularly with the bass drum, which plays syncopated eighth-note and sixteenth-note patterns that were innovated by drummer Clive Williams (with Joe Tex ); George Brown (with Kool & the Gang ) and James "Diamond" Williams (with The Ohio Players ). As with rock, the snare provides backbeats in most funk (albeit with additional soft ghost notes). In funk, guitarists often mix playing chords of
2584-439: The "spaces between the notes" as the notes that are played; as such, rests between notes are important. While there are rhythmic similarities between funk and disco , funk has a "central dance beat that's slower, sexier and more syncopated than disco", and funk rhythm section musicians add more "subtextures", complexity and "personality" onto the main beat than a programmed synth-based disco ensemble. Before funk, most pop music
2660-583: The 1970s adopted Afro-American fashion and style, including " Bell-bottom pants , platform shoes, hoop earring[s], Afros [hairstyles], leather vests,... beaded necklaces", dashiki shirts, jumpsuits and boots. In contrast to earlier bands such as The Temptations , which wore "matching suits" and "neat haircuts" to appeal to white mainstream audiences, funk bands adopted an "African spirit" in their outfits and style. George Clinton and Parliament are known for their imaginative costumes and "freedom of dress", which included bedsheets acting as robes and capes. Funk
2736-471: The 1970s to capitalize on the new "social and political opportunities" that had become available in the 1970s. The Isley Brothers song "Fight the Power" (1975) has a political message. Parliament's song "Chocolate City" (1975) metaphorically refers to Washington, D.C., and other US cities that have a mainly Black population, and it draws attention to the potential power that Black voters wield and suggests that
2812-472: The African musical tradition of improvisation , in that in a funk band, the group would typically "feel" when to change, by "jamming" and "grooving", even in the studio recording stage, which might only be based on the skeleton framework for each song. Funk uses "collective improvisation", in which musicians at rehearsals would have what was metaphorically a musical "conversation", an approach which extended to
2888-621: The African oral tradition approach). The call and response in funk can be between the lead singer and the band members who act as backup vocalists . As funk emerged from soul, the vocals in funk share soul's approach; however, funk vocals tend to be "more punctuated, energetic, rhythmically percussive[,] and less embellished" with ornaments, and the vocal lines tend to resemble horn parts and have "pushed" rhythms. Funk bands such as Earth, Wind & Fire have harmony vocal parts. Songs like " Super Bad " by James Brown included "double-voice" along with "yells, shouts and screams". Funk singers used
2964-576: The Afro-Cuban mambo and conga in the late 1940s, and made it its own. New Orleans funk, as it was called, gained international acclaim largely because James Brown's rhythm section used it to great effect. Funk uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths. Some examples of chords used in funk are minor eleventh chords (e.g., F minor 11th); dominant seventh with added sharp ninth and
3040-713: The Best Rhythm and Blues Song (1969). The Winstons struggled to secure gigs in the South with their multiracial composition and disbanded in 1970. The Winstons toured as a backup band for the Impressions . Funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic , danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in
3116-500: The Black working class. Funk songs by The Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, and James Brown raised issues faced by lower-income Blacks in their song lyrics, such as poor "economic conditions and themes of poor inner-city life in the black communities". The Funkadelic song " One Nation Under A Groove " (1978) is about the challenges that Blacks overcame during the 1960s civil rights movement, and it includes an exhortation for Blacks in
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3192-494: The Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black Sexual Cultures explores these multiple meanings of funk as a way to theorize sexuality, culture, and western hegemony within the many locations of funk : "street parties, drama/theater, strippers and strip clubs, pornography, and self-published fiction." Like soul, funk is based on dance music , so it has a strong "rhythmic role". The sound of funk is as much based on
3268-638: The Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic fostered more eclectic examples of the genre beginning in the late 1960s. Other musical groups developed Brown's innovations during the 1970s and the 1980s, including Kool and the Gang , Ohio Players , Fatback Band , Jimmy Castor Bunch, Earth, Wind & Fire , B.T. Express , Shalamar , One Way, Lakeside , Dazz Band , The Gap Band , Slave , Aurra , Roger Troutman & Zapp , Con Funk Shun , Cameo , Bar-Kays and Chic . Funk derivatives include avant-funk , an avant-garde strain of funk; boogie ,
3344-459: The Octavia pedal popularized by Hendrix , can double a note an octave above and below to create a "futuristic and fat low-end sound". Funk drumming creates a groove by emphasizing the drummer's "feel and emotion", which including "occasional tempo fluctuations", the use of swing feel in some songs (e.g., "Cissy Strut" by The Meters and "I'll Take You There" by The Staple Singers , which have
3420-681: The Phoenix Horns (with Earth, Wind & Fire), the Horny Horns (with Parliament), the Memphis Horns (with Isaac Hayes ), and MFSB (with Curtis Mayfield ). The instruments in funk horn sections varied. If there were two horn players, it could be trumpet and sax, trumpet and trombone, or two saxes. A standard horn trio would consist of trumpet, sax, and trombone, but trios of one trumpet with two saxes, or two trumpets with one sax, were also fairly common. A quartet would be set up
3496-491: The addition of more of a "driving feel" than in New Orleans funk, and they used blues scale notes along with the major third above the root. Later funk basslines use sixteenth note syncopation, blues scales, and repetitive patterns, often with leaps of an octave or a larger interval. Funk basslines emphasize repetitive patterns, locked-in grooves, continuous playing, and slap and popping bass. Slapping and popping uses
3572-482: The approach, and instead used a typical fingerstyle method based on James Jamerson 's Motown playing style. Larry Graham from Sly and the Family Stone is an influential bassist. Funk bass has an "earthy, percussive kind of feel", in part due to the use of muted, rhythmic ghost notes (also called "dead notes"). Some funk bass players use electronic effects units to alter the tone of their instrument, such as "envelope filters" (an auto-wah effect that creates
3648-820: The avant-funk band Prime Time in the 1970s and 1980s. Guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer , who performed with Coleman in the 1970s, was described by The New Yorker as "one of avant-funk's masters." According to Reynolds, a pioneering wave of avant-funk artists came in the late 1970s, when post-punk artists (including A Certain Ratio , the Pop Group , Gang of Four , Bush Tetras , Defunkt , Public Image Ltd , Liquid Liquid , and James Chance , as well as Arthur Russell , Cabaret Voltaire , Talking Heads , DAF , and 23 Skidoo ) embraced black dance music styles such as funk and disco . Reynolds noted these artists' preoccupations with issues such as alienation , repression and
3724-439: The context of jazz music , the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company. According to one source, New Orleans -born drummer Earl Palmer "was the first to use the word 'funky' to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated and danceable." The style later evolved into a rather hard-driving, insistent rhythm, implying a more carnal quality . This early form of
3800-538: The drum solo became known as the Amen break , which has been used in thousands of tracks in many musical genres, including breakcore , drum and bass , hip hop , jungle , big beat and industrial . The "Color Him Father" record sold over one million copies, and received a gold record awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America on 24 July 1969. It also won a Grammy Award for
3876-435: The drummers and arrangers he employed. Brown's early repertoire had used mostly shuffle rhythms, and some of his most successful songs were 12/8 ballads (e.g. "Please, Please, Please" (1956), "Bewildered" (1961), "I Don't Mind" (1961)). Brown's change to a funkier brand of soul required 4/4 metre and a different style of drumming." Stewart makes the point: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in
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#17327933545053952-683: The electric bass, or even to replace the electric bass altogether in some songs. Funk synthesizer bass, most often a Minimoog , was used because it could create layered sounds and new electronic tones that were not feasible on electric bass. In the 1970s, funk used many of the same vocal styles that were used in African-American music in the 1960s, including singing influences from blues, gospel, jazz and doo-wop. Like these other African-American styles, funk used "[y]ells, shouts, hollers, moans, humming, and melodic riffs", along with styles such as call and response and narration of stories (like
4028-480: The funk drumming style is using the hi-hat, with opening and closing the hi-hats during playing (to create "splash" accent effects) being an important approach. Two-handed sixteenth notes on the hi-hats, sometimes with a degree of swing feel, is used in funk. Jim Payne states that funk drumming uses a "wide-open" approach to improvisation around rhythmic ideas from Latin music, ostinatos , that are repeated "with only slight variations", an approach which he says causes
4104-512: The funk into the rhythm" of rock and roll . Following his temporary exit from secular music to become an evangelist in 1957, some of Little Richard's band members joined Brown and the Famous Flames , beginning a long string of hits for them in 1958. By the mid-1960s, James Brown had developed his signature groove that emphasized the downbeat —with heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure to etch his distinctive sound, rather than
4180-483: The influential compilation Mutant Disco: A Subtle Dislocation of the Norm in 1981, coining a new label for this style of hybridized dance music blending punk and disco. Later groups such as Skinny Puppy , Chakk , and 400 Blows represented later waves of the style. By the mid-1980s, avant-funk had dissipated as white alternative groups turned away from the dancefloor. Many of its original practitioners instead became
4256-412: The low-end thump of the electric bass and the cutting tone of the snare and hi-hats , with a rhythmically melodic feel that fell deep in the pocket. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen , longtime guitarist for James Brown, developed this technique. On Brown's " Give It Up or Turnit a Loose " (1969), however, Jimmy Nolen's guitar part has a bare bones tonal structure. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not
4332-421: The mid-20th century. It deemphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist , often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. It uses
4408-407: The most notable musicians in the funk music genre, having worked with James Brown , George Clinton and Prince . Unlike bebop jazz, with its complex, rapid-fire chord changes, funk often uses a static single-chord or two-chord vamp (often alternating a minor seventh chord and a related dominant seventh chord, such as A minor to D7) during all or part of a song, with melodo-harmonic movement and
4484-438: The movement was animated by the notion that "rock's hopes of enjoying a future beyond mere antiquarianism depends on assimilating the latest rhythmic innovations from black dance music." Musicologist Simon Frith described avant-funk as an application of progressive rock mentality to rhythm rather than melody and harmony. Reynolds described avant-funk as "difficult dance music " and a kind of psychedelia in which "oblivion
4560-399: The music set the pattern for later musicians. The music was identified as slow, sexy, loose, riff -oriented and danceable. The meaning of funk continues to captivate the genre of black music, feeling, and knowledge. Recent scholarship in black studies has taken the term funk in its many iterations to consider the range of black movement and culture. In particular, L.H. Stallings's Funk
4636-549: The notes to create a percussive sound for their guitar riffs. The phaser effect is often used in funk and R&B guitar playing for its filter sweeping sound effect, an example being the Isley Brothers ' song " Who's That Lady ". Michael Hampton , another P-Funk guitarist, was able to play Hazel's virtuosic solo on "Maggot Brain", using a solo approach that added in string bends and Hendrix-style feedback . A range of keyboard instruments are used in funk. Acoustic piano
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#17327933545054712-438: The onstage performances. Funk creates an intense groove by using strong guitar riffs and basslines played on electric bass . Like Motown recordings, funk songs use basslines as the centerpiece of songs. Indeed, funk has been called the style in which the bassline is most prominent in the songs, with the bass playing the "hook" of the song. Early funk basslines used syncopation (typically syncopated eighth notes), but with
4788-426: The opportunity for the other instruments to play "more syncopated, broken-up style", which facilitated a move to more "liberated" basslines. Together, these "interlocking parts" created a "hypnotic" and "danceable feel". A great deal of funk is rhythmically based on a two- celled onbeat/offbeat structure, which originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions . New Orleans appropriated the bifurcated structure from
4864-460: The pattern of pitches. The guitar is used the way that an African drum, or idiophone would be used. Nolen created a "clean, trebly tone" by using "hollow-body jazz guitars with single-coil P-90 pickups" plugged into a Fender Twin Reverb amp with the mid turned down low and the treble turned up high. Funk guitarists playing rhythm guitar generally avoid distortion effects and amp overdrive to get
4940-561: The pianist employs the 2-3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif in a rumba-boogie " guajeo ". The syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions) took root in New Orleans R&;B during this time. Alexander Stewart states: "Eventually, musicians from outside of New Orleans began to learn some of the rhythmic practices [of the Crescent City]. Most important of these were James Brown and
5016-471: The same as a standard horn trio, but with an extra trumpet, sax, or (less frequently) trombone player. Quintets would either be a trio of saxes (typically alto/tenor/baritone, or tenor/tenor/baritone) with a trumpet and a trombone, or a pair each of trumpets and saxes with one trombone. With six instruments, the horn section would usually be two trumpets, three saxes, and a trombone. Notable songs with funk horn sections include: In bands or shows where hiring
5092-550: The same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, and dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths. Funk originated in the mid-1960s, with James Brown 's development of a signature groove that emphasized the downbeat —with a heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure ("The One"), and the application of swung 16th notes and syncopation on all basslines, drum patterns, and guitar riffs. Rock- and psychedelia -influenced musicians Sly and
5168-400: The same way as African time lines." In the late 1940s this changed somewhat when the two-celled time line structure was brought into New Orleans blues . New Orleans musicians were especially receptive to Afro-Cuban influences precisely at the time when R&B was first forming. Dave Bartholomew and Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd) incorporated Afro-Cuban instruments, as well as
5244-746: The shift in Brown's signature music style, starting with his 1964 hit single, " Out of Sight " and his 1965 hits, " Papa's Got a Brand New Bag " and " I Got You (I Feel Good) ". Avant-funk Artists described as "avant-funk" or "mutant disco" have blended elements from styles such as funk , punk , disco , freeform jazz and dub . Some motifs of the style in the 1970s and 1980s included "neurotic slap-bass " and "guttural pseudo-sinister vocals," as well as " Eurodisco rhythms; synthesizers used to generate not pristine, hygienic textures, but poisonous, noisome filth; Burroughs ’ cut-up technique applied to found voices ." According to critic Simon Reynolds ,
5320-562: The term funk can have negative connotations of odor or being in a bad mood ( in a funk ), in African communities, the term funk , while still linked to body odor, had the positive sense that a musician's hard-working, honest effort led to sweat, and from their "physical exertion" came an "exquisite" and "superlative" performance. In early jam sessions , musicians would encourage one another to " get down " by telling one another, "Now, put some stank on it!" At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Funky . The first example
5396-544: The tone of which was shaped by a Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal. Hazel, along with guitarist Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers , was influenced by Jimi Hendrix 's improvised, wah-wah infused solos. Ernie Isley was tutored at an early age by Hendrix, when Hendrix was a part of the Isley Brothers backing band and temporarily lived in the Isleys' household. Funk guitarists use the wah-wah sound effect along with muting
5472-404: The years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes." James Brown credited Little Richard 's 1950s R&B road band, The Upsetters from New Orleans, as "the first to put
5548-452: Was based on sequences of eighth notes, because the fast tempos made further subdivisions of the beat infeasible. The innovation of funk was that by using slower tempos (surely influenced by the revival of blues at early 60s), funk "created space for further rhythmic subdivision, so a bar of 4/4 could now accommodate possible 16 note placements." Specifically, by having the guitar and drums play in "motoring" sixteenth-note rhythms, it created
5624-847: Was formed through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid-20th century. Musicologist Anne Danielsen wrote that funk might be placed in the lineage of rhythm and blues, jazz, and soul. Sociologist Darby E. Southgate wrote that funk is "an amalgam of gospel, soul, jazz fusion, rhythm and blues, and black rock." The distinctive characteristics of African-American musical expression are rooted in sub-Saharan African music traditions , and find their earliest expression in spirituals, work chants/songs, praise shouts, gospel, blues, and "body rhythms" ( hambone , patting juba , and ring shout clapping and stomping patterns). Like other styles of African-American musical expression including jazz, soul music and R&B, funk music accompanied many protest movements during and after
5700-492: Was his particular approach of adopting two-celled, clave-based patterns into New Orleans rhythm and blues (R&B). Longhair's rhythmic approach became a basic template of funk. According to Dr. John (Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack Jr.), the Professor "put funk into music ... Longhair's thing had a direct bearing I'd say on a large portion of the funk music that evolved in New Orleans." In his "Mardi Gras in New Orleans",
5776-477: Was to be attained not through rising above the body, rather through immersion in the physical, self loss through animalism." Early acts who have retrospectively been described with the term include German krautrock band Can , American funk artists Sly Stone and George Clinton , and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis . Herbie Hancock 's 1973 album Sextant was called an "uncompromising avant-funk masterpiece" by Paste . Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman led
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