Funk forever with Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, & The JBs. Two concerts thirty years apart, same classic music: Joan Armatrading at her best. We close with 15 versions of "Feeling Good" featuring Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters, Gene Ammons, Oleta Adams, Stanley Turretine, Nina Simone, Lynne Arriale, Billy Paul, John Coltrane, Meklit Hadero, Sammy Davis Jr., Dorothy Ashby, Joanne Griffith, Randy Crawford & Joe Sample, Joe Claussell, and Shaun Escoffery.
Funk is the further evolution of rhythm and blues to an ecstatic apogee of harmony and melody in the service of the beat—a pledge of allegiance to the groove. James Brown is the godfather of funk, the maestro and chief innovator but he didn’t create funk by himself. He had help. Plenty help, expert help from a band that eventually became known as The JBs, led by trombonist Fred Westley and saxophonist Maceo Parker.
—kalamu ya salaam