Deep funk and saxophones
When last I blogged I was trying to decide what to do next from among three choices; I have decided to knock out two of them in this post and save the third for its own, as it is a rarity that I don't want to bury. So continuing the Deep Funk Around the World thread, we come to Poland, where my friend Jeff has been sent to teach the locals how to program. Today's deep funk track is by Big Band Katowice, comprised of student musicians from the State Higher School of Music in Katowice. Their special feature: they are from the 70s! Their sole album, Music for My Friends, was recorded in 1977, so they are interpreting deep funk from a geographical rather than a chronological distance. Here is "Sorcery," which also happens to be the leadoff track on the newish Polish Funk compilation album from Polskie Nagrania:
Sounds like real funk to me! Now the song that the Bamboos reminded me of, it turns out they didn't remind me of it, the Apples did. The way the baritone sax lays down the groove and the other horns play their thing over it made me remember "Hattie Wall" by the World Saxophone Quartet: Julius Hemphill (d. 1995), Oliver Lake, Hamiett Bluiett, and David Murray. In 1987 WEA was trying to build up Elektra Nonesuch as a boutique label, or "special music" as they called it, i.e. music that critics praised but no one bought. They put out a label sampler called Late in the 20th Century (which I think I got at the Record World manager's convention in glamorous Lancaster, PA) that was actually quite good, featuring the Kronos Quartet, John Adams, John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and others. "Hattie Wall" was included to promote the Quartet's album Dances and Ballads, and while I never did get that album (yet another one to look for), I always loved the song:
"Hattie Wall" really opened my eyes (or ears) to how much you could do with rhythm without using any drums. Other bands have shown me that you can use drums and still have no rhythm, but they are better forgotten.
Two down, that leaves the band-with-a-self-titled-theme-song thread to follow up on, which I may do tomorrow, but probably later.
