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Hit Me, Fred

 

In 2001 I was contacted by one of my Super Funky Heroes, FRED WESLEY!  Bandleader for James Brown and arranger for the great Parliament albums Mothership Connection and Clones of Dr. Funkenstein.  Fred told me that he was writing a book of his life, and he wanted me to write the foreword to the book!  It was an honor I will never forget!  Hit Me Fred: Recollections of a Sideman was published by Duke University Press in 2002 and is brilliant! Fred Wesley has some rare insights into making the music we love.   Every funk fan shoud read this book!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Funk Era and Beyond

 

In 2007 I was invited by Tony Bolden to participate in a "Funk Conference" at the University of Alabama.  The conference was very in depth, and we all contributed our works for a publication, that later became The Funk Era And Beyond: New Perspectives on Black Popular Culture (Signs of Race).  I am proud to contribute to some of the academic discourse on The Funk.  There have been others, but this was a groundbreaking work, foregrounding The Funk as an essential element of Black culture.  Much respect to Tony Bolden!