Funk You

Galactic Announces Late Summer Dates

Galactic, the New Orleans-based progressive funk group has just announced some late summer tour dates. You can check this link to find the exact dates. If you haven't seen this band live you should make it a point to do so if they come to your area as they put on a really good show. You can visit their official site and listen to all sorts of streaming video clips and song tracks. Enjoy!

George Clinton on Crack?

According to E! Online George Clinton, frontman to Parliment and commander of the mothership plead "no contest" to two misdemeanor drug-paraphernalia charges. He was dinged 200 hours of community service and two years of probation. He was also docked $372 in court fees. He was orginally arrested in December while sitting in a car in Tallahassee, Florida. Police said when they approached, he volunteered that he had cocaine in his pocket. He was found with a bag of crack cocaine and a glass pipe, police said.

Funk Legend Rick James Dies

Today was a sad day for fellow funkateers as Rick James, best known for songs like "Give it to Me Baby" and "Super Freak", died at the age of 56. This comes of the heels of a rumor that Dave Chappelle was in talks with Rick to possibly play him in a film based on the funk musician's upcoming memoirs, "Memoirs of a Super Freak". It will be interesting to see what transpires because of this unfortunate turn of events.

Ricks life was one of ups and downs. Recently he had started to come back into the limelight again with Chappelle's impersonation of him on his show. You can read a short exposé on his life over at Yahoo.

James Brown - Soul On Top

Today July 20th, Verve Records will issue for the first time on CD James Brown's 35-year-old jazz album, "Soul On Top." This CD has a big band jazzy type presentation but with James Brown on the wheel the funk still shines through.

According to the liner notes, Brown commented, "At heart I've always been a jazz man. When I was just a kid in Macon, Ga., during amateur shows, I went up onstage with some of those name bands that passed through town. I've never forgotten the impression those big-band sounds made on me."

Lastly, you've just got to love the album cover. A classic! James Brown is and forever will be the "Godfather of Soul". Tell me what you think by clicking on the "comments" link.

Hustle & Flow Featuring Isaac Hayes

You know him as the voice of Chef in South Park, you know him for creating the theme song to Shaft, now Isaac is to star as a local club owner in a new indie film called Hustle & Flow. John Singleton will produce this film, which is set take place in the current day hip hop world. John most recently directed 2 Fast 2 Furious and earlier on the 2000 remake of Shaft. You can read more about this film at Reuters.

Dave Chappelle to Play Rick James???

According to Billboard, Rick James is speaking with Dave Chappelle about possibly playing him in a film based on the funk musician's upcoming memoirs, "Memoirs of a Super Freak." Having watched the "Chappelle's Show" many times I have to say that this film could turn out to be quite a gem. Post your comments below.

Update: Rick James dies at age of 56. See the following post for more information.

Soul Legend Ray Charles Dies

It was a sad day for music today with the death of Ray Charles. His passionate vocals and singing style were as identifiable as any of the greats (i.e. Willie Nelson, B.B. King, etc.). Since his first hit song in 1951, "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand," Ray has been a tour de force in the music community. With close to 60+ albums released, his body of work is vast. Even bigger is his influence on many of the artists that came after him. Lastly, his focus was not just R&B as his love of jazz, country, and pop standards was evident on many of the albums he produced.

There is a good article over at Wikipedia (online encyclopedia) that highlights the life of this great musician.

"Baadasssss" In Theaters Near You!

The inspiration for this film, "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song" was, directed, written, produced, edited, scored and acted in by Melvin Van Peebles, who is the father of Mario Van Peebles, the director of "Baadasssss". Mario put together this film to show the behind-the-scenes struggles Melvin went through to make "Sweetback." This film was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics and is currently playing at select theaters around the country. Click here to get showtimes.

His fathers film was originally released in 1971 by Cinemation Industries, a low-budget distributor. In doing so they consequently launched the first Blaxpoitation movie. The movie was so provocative...

Stevie Wonder's New Album

Soul & Funk guru Stevie Wonder is working towards releasing his first new studio album, "A Time 2 Love" since 1995. I haven't been able to find any details on related to it other than he'll be showing up on Oprah (June 8th), The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Larry King Live, BET's Blueprint, ABC's Primetime Live and the Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote the CD before it hits the stores on July 27 via Motown/Universal.

Update 7/28: It seems as though the album release date will be pushed out again. I checked Motown's message board and Stevie's Official site and there is no word as to when this album will "really" be released. The only thing I found was a bunch of upset people who are wondering when it's going to come out

Marvin Gaye Book Released

Marvin Gaye's contribution to music was cut short 20 years ago when his father shot him on April Fools' Day. A recently released book, "Mercy, Mercey Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye" was recently released. This book takes a look at the complex life of this man and trys to provide insight into his musical brilliance and the tumultuous life he led. See USA Today for more info on this book.