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AND I AINT TALKIN' PRIMUS. THAT JUST AINT FUNK.

Make sure your speakers are up ALL the way for these clips and PLAY THE VIDEOS ALL THE WAY THRU and hold onto to your hats.

enjoy,

jason


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5mKFnc8X04
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... 1574028321
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0eZtYNzHkM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj8ZTdZiUtY
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 2371&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4608&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2yNhekVweI

I didn't play the videos but I must say I love James Brown!

Tell u what les claypool is ten times the bass player that the guy in the first video is. I do recognize the distinction between the two music styles, claypool is a weird guy and is def not funk but I could see how ppul make that mistake given the style of bass playing he presents. Vic Wooten is another one that comes to mind, his some of his solo stuff def could be called funk but his best work with bella fleck is def jazz and not funk.

The group on the first vid is not bad. Overall , they have some def timing skills, some nice horn players, some nice hooks, singers are mediocre, lyrics are quite simplistic, very much a groove oriented song.

Third song is quite nice. Again another bass player comes to mind... John Lieberman. JL is quite possibly one of the best studio calibur funk bass guitar players. Def hear some James Brown influence on this third songs vocals. This bass players timing is really nice.

Les Claypool isn't a funk player, he's just funk-influenced.

but he could do straight up funk if he wanted to... he's just too different to do anything the standard way

I agree. Pretty much any slap player is influenced by funk... but then again I'm not sure if I'd call "sly and the fam stone" funk... but every funk musician playing slap bass is def influenced by that bass player graham. Many credit him as the father of slap. If you haven't listened to "every day ppul" in a while do yourself a fav and hear one of the best bass players ever!

I have one word... or two.. depends on the era

prince / the symbol whatever. the guy had soul and 'tude all in one.

http://www.livelocals.net

Mr. Maceo Parker is the inventor of FUNK!!!! He is the man responsible for the sound known as JAMES BROWN. He was band director for James for 10years at the height of JB's career. After that Maceo became the band director for an up and coming funk group in the 70's - you may have heard of him - George Clinton and the P Funks.

Gee - I didn't notice that any of the songs had lyrics. Too busy listening to the music.

Just remember - there are only a handful of musicians that create an entire genre of music - Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis are responsible for JB's sound, responsible for funk.

Without those videos Prince might not have been. (BTW I love Prince - well in a musical sense).

Prince has said that Tower of Power has had a HUGE impact on his life and Sting has said he had a Tower of Power cloan band prior to forming the Police just to mention a few. Only So Much Oil In The Ground is still Stings favorite all time song. The band has been together for 40 years and tours 175 days a year in the US, Japan, Europe, Mexico, South America, Canada, Africa, etc. Usually a modest 1,000-3,000 people per night. Not a bad day job.

Here is some funk/soul without slapping - just two fingers - hope you enjoy it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop- ... 78-0954260
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop- ... 78-0954260
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop- ... 78-0954260
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop- ... 78-0954260


I also do not recall Claypool ever being invited to Bass Day. Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power) is refered to by John Pattatucci (one of the best bass players in the world - def better than Claypool) as the "funkiest man alive". Here is his video from Bass Day. You can also go onto Stanley Clarkes website and ask him what he thinks of Rocco. Victor Wooten pays tribute to Rocco in a number of songs from his solo work.

http://www.hudsonmusic.com/products/prestia.html

Hope you like what you hear. Funk/Soul is a very fun genre of music all the way around. Danceable but takes talent to play.

jason

hmm... some good info on maceo. thanks for that.
afa 'bass day' - stu hamm, graham, john leibman, claypool and a thousand other greats haven't been there either.
perhaps I have understimated your roco tho... but I would stand by my statement based on that one performance... it's good but there is no real 'blow my mind with bass' happenin' there.
AND don't underestimate the les - he certainly belongs at bass day.

He is not my Rocco.

Based on over 5000 shows with the same band everyone realizes that the clips above are mind blowing.

What Is Hip - which is the clip above with Sanatana sitting in is hailed as one of the most creative and mind blowing bass lines ever. Jaco P. said "The first time I heard the 18 year old Rocco it blew my mind". I will try to dig up the rest of the article.

If you are a bass player or you can read music here is the link for the What Is Hip. Good luck trying to play it. Don't forget - MUTE THE NOTES that need to be muted - don't cheat:

http://www.lucaspickford.com/tranship.htm


Listen to the second clip on my last post above. It is called the Oakland Stroke. Try and follow the drums and bass. If you can tell me where the 1 is. A lot of people still can't figure it out. Mind blowing for a lot of pros.

jason

David Garibaldi is one of the badest drummers around. Not in the Dave Weckl sense but more in the Bernard Purdie sense (please tell me you know who Bernard "Pretty" Purdie is).

Here is a great article. Dave was with Tower from 1969-1975 and returned in 1998 and has been back for almost ten years. What other band can say their drummer left for over 20 years and has been back for 10?

Here is the article:

http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001273

just thought I'd mention that if you like the above, you might really enjoy checking out john leibman... he has a few books out but the one I like is 'funk bass'. The prologue is written by John Pattatucci.

when I said your rocco... I didn't mean it offensively... you are the guy introducing me to him so for now -he's your rocco- that's all. I don't doubt his talent... he just hasn't blown my mind on the three recordings I heard of him -and that doesn't mean that I think he sucks... he may not have 'grown on me' yet or he may just not be my type of player. (I don't really care for jaco either and tons of ppul love him - I bought a chic corea album with him on it and it was good - just not for me.)

that is a pretty cool bassline on what is hip... much more like what I like... I know where I hear the one... perhaps it is deceptively simple tho.

Yes I'm a bass player, yes I can read, and yes I could play this sequence of notes(at approx 75bpm)... but to play it with this guys rythm and punctual timing would be beyond my ability... that's part of why I like it... the notes are 'so what' but the feel is really nice... I think you alluded to this by pointing out the 'muted notes' on the staff - but as I'm sure you -know the staff doesn't document the 'feel'.

As far as hearing the drums... these drums remind me of a fish song 'beneath the rim'. Very hard to determine the one on that song. If I haven't overstayed my welcome with you - check it out sometime and see if you can figure out what time signature it is in.

Again, try not to take my comments as 'personal'... a great many ppul have even 'changed my mind' about a performer based on a friendly debate about what it is that one likes or dislikes about that performer. If I was dead set in my conviction that 'I don't like this guy' I wouldn't be wasting my time 'hearing you out' on him or listening to three of the recordings you pointed me too. Will you return the favor and listen to recordings I point you to? I only hope I can potentially influence you the way you have potentially influenced me...
thanks
mv

No offense was taken at all. Also, I will gladly listen to the music you suggest.

Just a correction - What is Hip is not the song I was refering to when finding the one. Here is the song I was refering to:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop- ... 78-0954260


Actually the muting of notes is what makes the feel in this case and this case only. I did not realize this until Victor Wooten refered to Rocco's muting in a clinic. The funny thing is most top pros refer to what Rocco does as "mind blowing".

Also, the horn section for Tower is the best in the business. Here is a little list of the albumns this PHAT horn section has played on. Notice how many "Graham Central Station" albumns Larry Graham had them play on:

http://www.soulmusiconline.com/bumpcity ... index.html

If you give me your address I have a great boot legged copy of a concert that Tower did in 73' that really takes the bass/drummer approach to a whole new level. I could send it to you. Interesting thing is, clips like the one in this post, were written when the average age in this 10 piece band was 22. Send it to jason_bbi@yahoo.com

Prior to seeing Tower in Dec 94' I had seen everything from George Benson to Van Halen - well over 200 different concerts. My friend who is 15 years my elder, kept telling me about this kick ass band from the 70's. My wife bought us tickets in 94'. Since I was born in 72' all I kept picturing was 10 guys on stage standing in glitter suites, all washed up trying to relive the glory days. Plus like you, it was NOT my type of music. We stood for four hours through two opening acts before Tower went on. I was ready to call it quits.
BUT, then it happened. Ten guys started to file out on stage, the crowd was the most deafening crowd I had ever heard and then they hit the first couple of notes to Soul Vaccination. I was blown COMPLETELY out of the room!!! I had never and I mean never heard a tighter band in my life. It was SOOOOO complex but still was danceable. Since then I have seen 64 shows and I have brought over 300 different friends to see them live. EVERY single person is now a convert. Here is a great article that might get you to catch them if they come to your town:

http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?bandI ... isplay=bio

As far as the Phish song I believe Tower played on that as well. You may want to check the credits.

Hope some of this helps. Please feel free to stop by the Tower board. There are over 1800 reg. users with over 4M hits.
www.bumpcity.net

jason

a. thanks for helping me remember what larrys first name was! couldn't for the life of me remember
b. song is limb by limb (not beneath the rim - I was way off)
Trey Anastasio: guitar, vocals
Jon Fishman: drums, vocals
Mike Gordon: bass, pedal steel, vocals
Page McConnell: keyboards, vocals

c. saw vic wooten at the black orchid club in milw... I'm a big fan of his thumb technique and have been working to get it out to three fingers on my own playing. Now there's a guy I can dig. Love his stuff with bella, love his stuff with scott henderson adn tribal tech, love his solo stuff... kinda a prick in person tho.

d. that is the song I heard but mustv got the nm wrong.

e. afa address you can try MrMikeV at sbcglobal dot net
-there's a gig limit on that one...
or just put it on www dot dropboks dot com and give me a uname and pwd and I'll go download it. (that way it's secure and no one w/o pwrd can get to it)

f. you can dump that staff into cakewalk or other midi staff progs and hear it with mutes on various notes... but the 'feel' in terms of swing -doesn't come across. you could probably mute all the notes there and it would still be a difficult riff to play 'just like rocco'. but then that's the truth about any really good musician and/or riff...

http://www.last.fm/music/Phish/_/Limb+by+Limb
outta b enough to give an idea here... anyway.

Rocco and Les are on the same CD. Gov't Mules Deep End Vol. 2.

Warren Haynes brought Rocco in for What Is Hip.

Just curious - in relation to the two down beats on the hi-hat where is the one in Oakland Stroke?

jason