Summertime madness kool and the gang plus#

Kool & The Gang always had a strong message up in their music. In fact a cut like вЂњWhoвЂ™s Gonna Take The Weight?вЂќ makes judgment day sound positively the bomb!ДЄs is the case with any powerful expression, music can be used and abused for nefarious purposes, but the music (dance) itself is not intrinsically evil-indeed, I would argue that nothing is inherently evil, itвЂ™s all a question of context and use. Taliban (& hardcore Bible thumpers) take note. Although IвЂ™ve been a born again pagan since the age of 15 when I left my grandfatherвЂ™s Baptist church, you can imagine my delight when I found out that the bandвЂ™s leader, bassist Robert вЂњKoolвЂќ Bell, at that time was a Black Muslim. I remember back in the seventies, interviewing Kool & The Gang for The Black Collegian Magazine where I worked as the editor and chief music writer. Now, thereвЂ™s also a back story, an interesting underside whose implications are both deep and far reaching. Check out some of the album titles from that period: Light of Worlds, Wild and Peaceful, Love and Understanding, Music Is The Message. вЂњWhoвЂ™s Going To Take The Weight?вЂќ is about as serious as you can get on that score. Third, the merger of message music with butt-shaking funk. No, this is in the moment, in the zone, doing it all together, all live and direct, right here in front of you! The cherry on the top is that this is a live recording, not a studio-engineered, over dubbed, twenty-takes-to-get-it-all-just-right paste job.

Summertime madness kool and the gang plus#

(Hey, as a momentary digression apropos of luxuriating, y'all remember the sudsy bathtub lovemaking scene in Superfly?) Anyway, вЂњSummer MadnessвЂќ got that kind of flow plus features some early use of synthesizer as a solo instrument in a popular funk context, a context Herbie (Hancock) was later to claim. I always liked вЂњSummer MadnessвЂќ and I luxuriate in the glow of the live version taken from the Love & Understanding album. I include вЂњLadies NightвЂќ (actually from the beginning of the eighties disco/pop/crossover era) because it was a вЂњSummer MadnessвЂќ sequel.

Second, the merger of jazz and soft funk, precursor of that detestable pap now called smooth jazz. Two classics: вЂњHollywood SwingingвЂќ and вЂњJungle Boogie,вЂќ plus two early ought-to-be considered classics: вЂњThe GangвЂ™s Back AgainвЂќ and вЂњLet The Music Take Your Mind.вЂќ So thatвЂ™s the core, the kernel, the what the band is known for kind of grooves. The вЂњHollywood SwingingвЂќ and the вЂњSummer Madness.вЂќДЇirst, the straight up funk. So this weekвЂ™s write up gives you both the funk and silky flow. They not only got the dance floor groove in spades but they also pointed the way ahead for what became known as smooth jazz and the UK-based acid jazz scene (listen to the live Summer MadnessвЂќ track and you will hear where Incognito is partially coming from. (Can you say Ohio Players, Lakeside, Con Funk Shun, Zapp?) But you know what? While not as memorable off the peak of oneвЂ™s dome as the aforementioned, Kool & The Band were actually trail blazers. Of course you had many others: P-Funk preeminent among them, and I must make mention of the Godfather, JB, and then there was damn near the whole state of Ohio. Whatever you call it, this was black dance music of the early seventies. Huge slabs of outright frantic dance floor fervor: fatback drums humongous bass lines stabbing, red hot horn licks catchy, hummable chorus hooks. Nothing against JT in particular but I generally donвЂ™t listen to the second incarnation (even though I, as well as millions of other people, can hum/chant 'Joanna.' I go straight for the funk.Д«ut itвЂ™s a complex funk or better yet a funky complex.

Kool & The Gang, depending on whom you talk to, is either a mostly instrumental funk band or a cross-over pop band featuring the vocals of James вЂњJTвЂќ Taylor.

KOOL & THE GANG / вЂњSummer Madness (Live)вЂќ