‘Step on Your Watch.’ Poppa Don’t Take no Mess, A Funky Good Time, Cold Sweat, House Party, Doin’ it to Death’. If I sound like James Brown's longtime announcer Danny Ray, rattling off a string of greatest hits prior to the JBs hitting the stage, its because all three of these giants can lay claim, together with James Brown, Sly Stone and George Clinton that they've masterminded and gave birth to Funk. "R&B Soul had a baby and they named it Funk" as Muddy Waters might have said 15 years later. A birthday celebration and reunion at the venerable Town Hall in NYC tonight is to honor saxophonist Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis on his 70th birthday. Cold Sweat is considered by many the Proto-Dog of Funk.
Maceo and the Macks
Fred Wesley and The JBs
The Horny Horns (an off-shoot of P-Funk)
Lincoln Center Out-of-Door producers Jill Sternheimer and Bill Bragin brought the practically fully-activated JBs to Lincoln Center this summer. Bragin, in fact, admirably guested on trumpet and later confided to me that it was his “lifelong dream” to play with the JBs. Only one problem. Maceo Parker had played to a packed dancing crowd across the East River in Brooklyn’s new Brooklyn Bridge Park as the kickoff band to Celebrate Brooklyn concert series this past summer and was then off on tour.
Soul Power documentary (2008) features Messrs. Brown and Wesley and host of Soul / R&B greats. Fred has some great stories about his experience flying in an overcrowded plane to Zaire in his book ‘Hit Me, Fred.’
Pee Wee – Tenor, soprano alto and baritone (sometimes keys and flute) – (Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud; Cold Sweat)
Maceo – Alto Sax, Flute (Lickin Stick, Mo’ Roots, Roots Revisited; he once corrected me on this at a Bottom Line performance of the JBs so its forever engrained in me as well as the Deee-Lite video The Groove is in the Heart featured on Saturday Night Live)
Fred – Trombone (Superbad; the entire perfect sides double ‘Hell’ album; House Party, Breaking Bread); featured in Soul Power documentary with James Brown and the recent Lincoln Center debuted ‘The So-called Movie’ with Abraham, Inc. a collaboration of Hip hop, Funk, Jazz and Klezmer musicians).
A message from Fred to pass along to the funk-a-teers (affectionately coined by either George Clinton or Bootsy Collins – another alum from James Brown):
GREETINGS ALL MY FUNKY PEOPLE!
IF YOU'RE IN NEW YORK CITY OR CAN GET TO NEW YORK CITY, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THE JB HORNS REUNION, WITH OUR ALL-STAR BAND, AT THE TOWN HALL NEXT THURSDAY. VISIT WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM OR WWW.ABSOLUTELYLIVE.NET FOR TICKETS AND DETAILS. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE.
PEACE AND LOVE,
FRED
This reunion does not happen often so I highly recommend it. Happy birthday Pee Wee, from all of us here at examiner.com.
You can hear the JBs with James Brown on a mini radio documentary of James Brown volume on Bob Porter’s, Portraits in Blue (WBGO, Jazz 88) and almost weekly on Felix Hernandez’ Rhythm Revue on WBGO Jazz 88 Saturdays between 10 and 2:00pm and 98.7 Kiss FM Sundays 12-6pm.
Finally, go out and support the performing arts. Vote to keep the budget and funding for arts and music in your community and school district.
This show is scheduled to take place on Thursday Oct. 6 at 8:00pm at The Town Hall located at123 West 43rd Street in the Times Square area of midtown Manhattan, NYC
Phone: 212-840-2824
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