statement: TRUE FUNK
True funk can only happen in the Now.
The message of funk is as old as humanity itself. Funk is a vibrant and viable music that was born from a transformative period in American history - the sound of the growing pains of a young country. Today, funk music is still being made by folks whose hearts still beat for funk’s timeless truth, and connects them with this rich legacy of American music.
The structure of funk reflects the social ideals of those making it. The simple yet disciplined form of funk carries within it a message of freedom, unity, cooperation, and equality. It literally cannot be made without these qualities being present in the hearts and souls of the band members. Playing your part in a way that shows that you are digging your partner’s contribution strengthens the social and musical bond. In this delicate web of intricate rhythms, each musician must subjugate his own ego for the good of the collective. He or she must share and give in equal proportion. The music percolates among the group in the Now and an inner potency is born out of the space. Inside the space lives the full spectrum of human emotion. And in going beyond the space, humans have the potential to reach higher and deeper as a people than with any other art form. Funk transports and transforms us from the inside. Those who partake know that when the groove is right and everyone is riding it out together, we are aligned with something ancient and arcane. The groove is…THERE! The silence between the sound opens up and grows wider. Time and space wobble and blur. Reality is altered, blasted apart and then reformed into something colorful, wild, and alive, then it explodes and is reformed again.
When trying to talk about this music, it might serve us to consider funk music as a pure form of folk music. The ascended masters of Soul and Blues, our musical ancestors, introduced most of what we now consider to be elements of funk to popular culture, but it’s legacy as an honest form of music for everyday folks is evident in the sheer volume of influence it has had on music and culture since then. Funk is a people’s music in that one need not be formally educated in music to make it. The necessary instruments and recording equipment can be scavenged or bought on a few days’ pay. In a relatively short time, beginning funk practitioners can invite regular folks into their circle to initiate revelers in this ancient ritual of dancing to community-made rhythms.
Funk is a pleasure for the ears and hips but it is also a powerful medicine for daily life. As a tool, we use it daily to lighten the labor and to sweeten the leisure. As a foundational force, enlightened producers today draw upon funk’s unending depth. Funk is strong and forgiving. We sample from it and forget to give thanks. Yet, like nature herself, without fail she continues giving and giving.
Today, the rhythm and earnestness of true funk can be found in all corners of the world. And this is evidence that the innocence and purity of the original message remains strong. Affectation and phoniness can’t seem to take hold in funk as long as the unenlightened or uninitiated players aren’t trying to wah-wah their way through one-dimensional cartoon-like clichés. Afro wigs and ‘booty’ references only help to reinforce racist stereotypes and obstruct funk from realizing it’s true potential as an uplifting music for all the people of the world.
Funk scholars and ethnomusicologists (read, DJ’s) have searched the deepest, darkest and dustiest record bins, moldy basements, and stuffy attics across the globe for a sound and feeling that is almost impossible to write about. For to write about it is to in fact cheapen it and enshroud some of its mysterious power.
The forgotten 45s and tapes that DJs have unearthed for us were often made by people with a dream, but left to languish on shelves when corporations swept in and brutally suffocated the independents with cheap, computer-made music and massive advertising budgets. Just because it is rare, of course doesn’t make it good. In the collector’s circuit, the rarity of a thing sometimes supercedes its actual merit. Fortunately for us, there will always be a DJ with a discerning ear, an explorer’s curiosity, and a tireless searching that will show us that hidden treasure still awaits those worthy of discovering it.
During the Quest for True Funk, you will find musicians and bands still stoking the fire of this real human music, musicians who actually bring their instruments into a room and actually play the music together. It is important to note that these musicians are not trying to emulate or recreate something old. Nor are they deserving of simplistic descriptions like ‘retro’ ‘classic’ or ‘throwback.’ These musicians are simply making music together, today, in the Now, and doing it with dignity, authenticity, and reverence. We are currently living in a ‘diamond age’ of Funk and this is a testament to all of our individual and collective yearning for music that speaks to deep human truths.
We will always find our way back to it, and it will always be here for us when we do.
