By Walter Price

The jazz world is "d'void of funk" or at least devoid of an appreciation of the genre of funk. When you think of funk music one immediately thinks of the "Godfather of Soul", finally recognized in the past 10 years George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and the P-Funk Crew have for their totally down in your gut, spine ripping, "uncut" funk. Well they are the masters, but please, people must recognize such "funkateers" as the Ohio Players, Curtis Mayfield, early Cameo, Bar-Kays, Con Funk Shun, Slave, Mass Production to name a few. What usually drove this sound was a hard thumping bass layered over some high powered soul.

Funky jazz is the bastardized genre of the music. Basterdized and dismissed by jazz hacks, rats who generally have a background in jazz, rock, and "surface level funk!" "Surface level funk" is recognizing James Brown, Clinton but have never heard of "Firecracker", "Slide", or "The Sun is Here."

These hacks always used the standard critical cliches on Grant Green abount his forays into the funk music. "GRANT GREEN WAS A SERIOUS ARTIST UNTIL HE WATERED DOWN HIS MUSIC PLAYING MOSTLY FUNK LICKS!" So it looks like the jazz is superior to anything that would be funky even though Grant and Idris Muhammed just tore it up on "Sookie Sookie." It is dismissed as sell out music, and not "SERIOUS" jazz. Well I love Grant Green's music in his later years just as much as his early Blue Note years. Oh boy, I just went against the now accepted truth that Grant's later music was inferior to his "SERIOUS" jazz acoustic music. I love hacks with their critical cliches!

And for once for all you jazz artists who criticize any other jazz artist who crosses over to any genre or musical category and sell more than 1,000 albums a year answer yourself this question-"If you play jazz music and nobody is listening, ARE YOU PLAYING JAZZ?" The only so called "serious" living jazz artist 2 out of 10 people can name is Wynton Marsalis. Remember that!

Most hacks and sometimes rightfully so will dismiss much of the smooth pop jazz. In doing so though, many times they will miss the point on any type of funky, hip sounding jazz. The first mistake they make is calling something they finally like in contemporary jazz-funky. BEWARE, their idea of funky is "surface level funk." Here are the clues that will give it away in their reviews-they will use phrases like "a funky good time CD", "funk party", and "funky jazz grooves" or hip at the moment phrases like "this album is the bomb." I go out and buy these discs and to paraphrase George Clinton "it always sounds like a three to me, can you imagine Frisell in your funk."

The second mistake they make is dismissing many of the real funky CDs for "not serious jazz" or "crossover attempts." Artists like Stanley Clarke is constantly reminded in every review that his early work was better, his bass playing is showing off, slap happy licks improvisation that goes no where. So that's why the theme from Passenger 57 is never considered a funk jazz explosion. Marcus Miller gets more credit but is also dismissed in the same way because remember Marcus writes and produces for most of Sanborn's "sell out-pop jazz" albums, even though his album "Tales" is just a FUNK CLASSIC. "Tales" was overlooked and underappreciated by the hacks. Oh and just dismiss all those funk grooves on the Hip Bop record label as "pop jazz" even though Tom Browne's version of "Bluesnaova" just yanks out your funk bone. I know Victor Wooten get his TDWR props from the Downbeat hacks and his funky bass playing is just beyond god like, BUT I gurantee you jazz fan if his next solo attempt is a straight out less arty jazz funk CD he will be scorched and dismissed and hacks will continually pencil in Steve Swallow as the "serious jazz bass player."

If hacks don't understand the funk, well the industry rats particularly in radio don't touch it with a 50 foot pole. One will hear the "surface level jazz funk" like your classic acceptables like "Always There", "Cantaloupe Island", "Sun Goddess" but you want hear the driving thumping bass grooves of a Miller, Wooten, or Clarke. John Scofield and Medeski, Martin, & Wood can't even get their funkiest cuts played on the radio.

Well let me just go off and get depressed and pick up the next disappointing jazz CD called a "funky jazz party!" and hope that Herbie Hancock makes "Gershin's World" every year in order to prevent him from being labeled the demonic electrical funky jazz sellout crossover non serious artist that used to make good jazz fusion! Hmmmmmm! I bet many jazz artists intentionally tone down their funk grooves because 1) they know it will be dismissed by the the "d'void of funk" hacks 2) it certainly will not be played on the radio 3) the jazz audience is hospitable and ignorant to funk in jazz music and 4) thus it will not be taken seriously or recognized as jazz soul at its BEST!

For other AAJ reader's favorite funk/groove picks, go here.

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