Funk Filharmonik | |
---|---|
Origin | Huntington, New York, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–present |
Labels | 31220 Music |
Funk Filharmonik is a long-running a funk and soul outfit from Astoria, New York which has been together since the mid-1980s. The group contains former Tower of Power members. Individually and collectively the group has performed and recorded with major artists.
The group was formed in Huntington in 1985. [1] The original name for the group was Funk Philharmonia. Their first show was on November 21, 1985. They are one of the longest-running groups from Long Island. [2] In the late 1990s, there were two former Tower of Power members in its lineup. [3] Two of the founding members were drummer Lee Finkelstein and trombonist and singer, Ozzie Melendez. [4] [5] Melendez has recorded with Celine Dion, Billy Joel, Jennifer Lopez and Lita Ford. [6] Finkelstein has worked with Ben E. King, Donna Summer, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and the Tower of Power. [7] Members of the group have worked with and recorded with artists such as Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Freddie Hubbard, Jonathan Butler, Marc Anthony, Lionel Hampton, and the Brecker Brothers. [8]
In 2008, they released their album Everybody Get Down. [9] Guest musicians on the album included Barry Danielian, Carl Fischer, Jillian Armsbury, Tim Lawless and Ted Kumpel. [10]
In April 2015, the group was appearing with Troy Ramey at K.J. Farrells in Nassau County. [11] In late November 2015, the group was appearing at The Rockville Centre in New York. [12]
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mid-20th century. It deemphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. It uses the same richly colored extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, and dominant seventh chords with altered ninths and thirteenths.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz.
A session musician is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band.
Flashpoint is one of South Florida's most popular jazz bands. Based out of Miami, Flashpoint was band formed in 1991 by two firefighters, Paul Messina and George Schoendorfer. Described as "a six piece contemporary instrumental jazz fusion group, with a delightful latin flavor", Flashpoint's instrumentality includes: Flute/Saxophone (Messina), Guitar (Schoendorfer), Keyboards, Bass, Drums, and Percussion (Nuñez). Its music may be classified as sizzling jazz, Brazilian jazz, contemporary jazz, smooth jazz, jazz funk, and jazz fusion. Flashpoint released its debut album, "Cool Heat", in 2001 and is currently working on its second. Flashpoint's music is produced by Gary Vandy Audio Productions.
The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" in 1967, "Son of Shaft" in 1972, and "Boogie Body Land" in 1980.
Sex Machine is a 1970 double album by James Brown. It showcases the playing of the original J.B.'s lineup featuring Bootsy and Catfish Collins, and includes an 11-minute rendition of the album's title song, different from the original recording of the title song which was released as a two-part single in 1970.
The Electric Flag was an American blues/rock/soul band from Chicago, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint with the Butterfield Blues Band. The band reached its peak with the 1968 release, A Long Time Comin', a fusion of rock, jazz, and R&B styles that charted well in the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Their initial recording was a soundtrack for The Trip, a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman.
Alfred James Rogers, known as Pee Wee Ellis due to his diminutive stature, was an American saxophonist, composer, and arranger. With a background in jazz, he was a member of James Brown's band in the 1960s, appearing on many of Brown's recordings and co-writing hits like "Cold Sweat" and "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". He also worked with Van Morrison. Ellis resided in England for the last 30 years of his life.
Here Come the Mummies (HCTM) is an American funk rock band best known for its live performances and anonymous band members.
Joseph Bowie is an American jazz trombonist and vocalist. The brother of trumpeter Lester Bowie, Joseph is known for leading the jazz-punk group Defunkt and for membership in the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble.
Troy Andrews, also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop.
"My Thang" is a funk song written and recorded by James Brown. Unlike most of his songs, this song was released not as a two-part single, but instead issued with three different B-sides. It spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart - Brown's second #1 in a row, following "The Payback" - and reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1974. The song also appeared on Brown's 1974 double album Hell.
Amy London is a jazz singer and educator who has appeared on Broadway and in the vocal group The Royal Bopsters. London grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She moved to Manhattan in 1980 and began teaching jazz vocals in 1984.
Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans. Although they originated as a trio, the band has worked extensively with different horn sections, which have included Sam Kininger (saxophone) from 2000 to 2003, Rashawn Ross (trumpet), and Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) from 2003 to 2006. The band also worked with vocalist Toussaint Yeshua from 2006 to 2007. Soulive has toured in the original trio lineup of Eric Krasno, Alan Evans, and Neal Evans.
A Place Called Love is the sixth studio album by Canadian country music artist Johnny Reid. It was released on August 31, 2010 by EMI Records.
Nick Pride and the Pimptones are a funk/jazz/soul band based in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Pimptones were formed in 2007 by guitarist, composer, and arranger Nick Pride. Their record label Record Kicks describes them as "a deep funk/jazz-dance outfit playing original music in the style of The Meters, JTQ, and Charlie Hunter. "
Rhyze was an American R&B and funk band. They are probably best known for their song "Just How Sweet Is Your Love" which was an R&B and dance hit. Much of their output was material written by Paul Kyser and Leon Stuckey.
Souled Out is a 1995 album by Tower of Power on Epic Records. It marked the debut of lead vocalist Brent Carter and drummer Herman Matthews, who, coincidentally, is a distant cousin of former TOP vocalist Rick Stevens. Founding member, baritone saxophone player Stephen "Doc" Kupka graces the front cover of the album. Jeff Lorber co-produced this album with band leader Emilio Castillo.
Lettuce is a funk band originating from Boston, Massachusetts in 1992. Its members include guitarist Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff, Nigel Hall, Adam Deitch (drums/percussion), Erick "Jesus" Coomes (bass), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone) and Eric "Benny" Bloom (trumpet).
Jillian Armsbury was a singer, performer, songwriter and occasional activist, originally from Washington state. She was a pioneer in the Charanga R&B music genre. She was the lead singer of the Latin group Los Jovenes del Barrio. She had worked with the latin jazz percussionist, Mongo Santamaria, singing on an album of his which was released in the late 1980s. She was the co-composer of "Do You Want My Love" which was a hit for CoCo Lee, which appeared on Lee's album Just No Other Way. She was married to bandleader Johnny Almendra and then later session musician Leon Pendarvis.