New Improved Funk

Last updated
New Improved Funk
New Improved Funk.jpg
Studio album by
George Freeman featuring Von Freeman
Released1973
Recorded1973
StudioNew York City, NY
Genre Jazz
Length39:10
Label Groove Merchant
GM 519
Producer Sonny Lester
George Freeman chronology
Franticdiagnosis
(1972)		New Improved Funk
(1973)		 Man & Woman
(1974)

New Improved Funk is an album by American jazz guitarist George Freeman recorded in 1973 and released on the Groove Merchant label. [1] [2] [3]

George Freeman (guitarist) American musician

George Freeman is an American jazz guitarist from Chicago. His brothers Von Freeman and Eldridge Freeman had jazz careers, as does his nephew, Chico Freeman.

Groove Merchant was an American jazz and R&B record label during the 1970s. It was run by producer Sonny Lester and distributed by Pickwick Records. Notable artists included Chick Corea, O'Donel Levy, Buddy Rich, Jimmy McGriff, and Lionel Hampton. Lester would later close Groove Merchant and restructure it as Lester Radio Corporation, or LRC, and have it distributed for a time by TK Records. Lester still retains the rights to the Groove Merchant/LRC back catalog and independently distributes them on compact disc.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Allmusic's Jason Ankeny said: "It's a fun house ride that veers sharply from funk to jazz to soul and back again, its scattershot approach nevertheless proves the best showcase George Freeman's guitar ever had. ... Somehow this mess still comes together, galvanized by Von Freeman's fiery tenor sax and its undeniably impressive gutbucket grooves. Everything that it's advertised to be". [4]

Track listing

All compositions by George Freeman except where noted.

  1. "New Improved Funk" – 2:26
  2. "Daffy" – 3:34
  3. "Happy Fingers" – 4:30
  4. "All in the Game" (Charles G. Dawes, Carl Sigman) – 4:31
  5. "Big Finish" – 6:25
  6. "Guitar Lover Man" – 3:16
  7. "Good Morning Heartache" (Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher) – 5:02
  8. "Some Enchanted Evening" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 5:12
  9. "Confirmed Truth" – 4:14

Personnel

Von Freeman American saxophonist

Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist.

Tenor saxophone type of saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the Alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".

John Merritt Young was an American jazz pianist. Young played with Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dexter Gordon, and many others. He recorded with his own trio in the 1950s and 1960s, and was a sideman for Von Freeman, Gene Ammons and others. He remained active in the Chicago jazz scene until a few years before his death.

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References

  1. ↑ Jazzlists: George Freeman Discography, accessed April 13, 2018
  2. ↑ Jazzlists: Groove Merchant Records 500 Series, accessed April 13, 2018
  3. ↑ Jazzlists: Album details, accessed April 13, 2018
  4. 1 2 Ankeny, Jason. New Improved Funk – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved April 13, 2018.
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