Funk | Soul 253 Artikel

As music fans know, James Brown wasn't just the greatest funk and soul singer the world has ever seen - he was also a musical visionary and businessman, who surrounded himself with geniuses who made him better and pushed him further. From horn masters Maceo Parker and Pee Wee Ellis to vocalists Lyn Collins and Bobby Byrd, Brown was a musical A & R master, restless and always looking for the next big thing. Most times, that would manifest in the latest James Brown smash under his own name. But not always. His stable of talent was overflowing in the 60s and 70s, and, thankfully, the tape machine in his studio was always rolling. Originally released in 1988, during the era of hip-hop's golden age of sampling, it's no surprise that just about every note heard in this incredible collection has been used on not one, but multiple rap classics. Which, at the time, was proof of Brown's (and his crew's) staying power. But we are over three decades beyond those days now, and it has lost none of its musical potency. Diving deeper into the vaults than the also-incredible Part 1 of the Funky People series, there is not a weak track in the bunch. Moving beyond well-known JBs cuts, things get interesting from the get-go with Bobby Byrd's monumental groove "I Know You Got Soul". Hank Ballard and Marva Whitney also enter the fray, leading the way to Myra Barnes's emotional and powerful "Message From The Soul Sisters (Parts 1 & 2)" and Lyn Collins's slow, smoldering cover of Isaac Haye's "Do Your Thing." Politics even get the funky soul treatment, with Fred Wesley & The JBs "You Can Have Watergate But Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight" and "I'm Paying Taxes, But What Am I Buying?" And it should not be overlooked that Maceo & The Macks instrumental workout "Soul Power ‘74" even features a proto-sampling snippet from MLK’s I’ve Been To The Mountaintop speech from 1968. This is another amazing collection of James Brown's funky friends, without one second of filler, brought to you as a glorious 2-lp gatefold by your friends at Get On Down.

Zwei Alben mit einer Fülle von großartigen Songs hat Holger Biege innerhalb von 2 Jahren in der DDR komponiert und produziert. Ingeborg Branoner und Fred Gertz haben ihm kongeniale Texte dazu geschrieben, zwei von 23 Texten hat er selbst beigetragen. Die Songs bieten die seltene Symbiose von Kommerzialität und Originalität, zeigen die Erhabenheit von zeitloser Musik, funktionieren in schlanken aber auch mit opulenten Arrangements und selbst als Instrumental-Versionen, wie das in 2022 von Rainer Oleak aufgenommene Album beweist. Aber ihren letzten Glanz erfahren die Songs durch Holgers eindringliche und unverwechselbare Stimme, die Musiker Max Herre berechtigterweise als „deutsche Klangfarbe“ von Stevie Wonder charakterisierte. Seine Sensibilität verleitete ihn (immer wieder) zu instrumentalen Ausschweifungen (besonders auf „Circulus“ zu hören), um zum einen das Publikum herauszufordern und zum Anderen seine Vorliebe für klassische musikalische Strukturen zu demonstrieren, aber auch gespeist aus der Angst nicht ins Triviale, rein Kommerzielle abzugleiten. Aber wie sich Erotik und Intelligenz nicht ausschließen (müssen), verhält es sich ebenso bei Kommerz und Anspruch als zwei Seiten einer Medaille.