Last summer, the soundtrack that accompanied me on most journeys was The Meters' Greatest Hits. A fantastic collection of songs, which ALL musicians working within popular music should own. If you want to develop skills to do with rhythm - timing, syncopation, pushing & pulling feel and generally developing a kick arse sense of groove, you really can do no better than listening to the fabulous, fabulous funky Meters. In particular...
* Just Kissed My Baby
* Jungle Man
and
I particularly like the break at around 2m57s, where the drummer reverses the pattern of kick and snare for half a bar or so. Magic! This then got me thinking about whether British bands can 'do' funk. And the answer is of course they can.
Ian Dury and the Blockheads immediately sprang to mind. An extraordinary blend between funk and music hall. Norman Watt-Roy is one of my favourite bass players, without a doubt. I'm delighted to see that The Blockheads are still at it and are heading out on the road from June - Dec this year, as part of their 35th anniversary celebrations. Here's a recent track.
a l e x m o k e
No comments:
Post a Comment