On Funk

There was an energy to music back in the seventies, an energy from which issued forth expressions of particular depth of soul in jazz, rock, country, and folk. This energy, in pure form is what funk was in the beginning of the seventies until its execution by music business producers by the short lived disco era. But funk is, and still to this day, a manifestation of the evolution of the primitive urge to creat rhythmic sound, or, music. As a funkiteer, one who was weened off of non self expression through the electric bass in a funk band, I submit this episode of the Gandhiflower blog as a testament to the power of funk. It has been some years since I've committed funk on a stage or street corner. Last I remember, it was in Pahoa on the island hawai'i that I had a bass in my hands. On stage at an open mic with a Seattle MC, we explored total improv funk, which is as real as music can get and the point where jazz became a style of transcendence. Our sets were about 70% successful,in that we would find a groove that would grow and flow freely without having to search of a sound more than half the time. Other times it was be what became of funk, contrived disco like grooves that to the average listener are fine, but to the average soul are less than uplifting. And funk is indeed uplifting in its usage of repetition and heaven rhythm. The effect of free style funk is unparalleled. Jazz is funk but funk is not jazz. Funk is the thing that exists in the space between; beats, dancers, ears, hips. As where jazz is an approach to music, funk is an origin.Funk is not a rehearsal but the meaning of the play, it is live and free. Funk can be played in nearly any genre, but it is an essence of expression like blues or klezmer. Unlike blues, it is not a reaction to oppression, but a free expression of being ness. There is a discussion here, not a decre. Funk is the closest thing to primal music in a sophistocated world there is in the body of music. There is evidence in the effect free funk has on nearly every audience.