George Clinton & The P-Funk All-Stars

On a too typically cold and windy December night, the staff of B.B. King's cleared the dinner tables to prepare for the landing of George Clinton's latest edition of the P-Funk All-Stars. At approximately 8:15pm, Clinton touched down with some twenty-five passengers, departing almost four hours later with another mission accomplished.

A George Clinton performance is a history lesson in funk. As old as the blues, gospel, and jazz, funk made its way up the Mississippi from New Orleans, into Memphis, and into the 1950s pop charts with at least touches from Fats Domino, Little Richard, and the recordings of Cosimo Matassa. No one, however, with the possible exception of James Brown or Sly Stone has done more to bring funk into the mainstream of American musical consciousness, and no one, without exception, has expanded the definition of the genre, musically and lyrically, more than George Clinton.

At B.B. King's and as expected, Clinton and his P-Funk All-Stars delivered an evening of George Clinton funk: slapping and pulsating bass lines, infectious and grooving guitar riffs, swirling and eerie keyboards, spicy and jazzy horns, and anthemic choruses, with, of course, Clinton's now especially rough and gritty vocals. Clinton's funk is a richly layered and nuanced sound that, as Clinton proclaims, strives for liberation: "Free your ass ... and your mind will follow." Drawing on the effective out-of-space metaphor, Clinton wants to take us out of ourselves and to another place, before landing us back home refreshed and more politically and humanly conscious - a point sometimes lost in the fun and flamboyance of the performance.

But inescapable songs, like "Maggot Brain," the late guitarist Eddie Hazel's finest moment and the title track on Funkadelic's 1971 release, offered both audience and players a hauntingly introspective and ethereal experience, one more spiritual than sci-fi, and, which at B.B.'s featured the guitar virtuoso Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton, who through the years has made the song his own.

Inevitably, given Clinton's rich catalogue from Parliament and Funkadelic and the musicianship of the All-Stars, there were many high points during the evening. Renditions of "Flashlight," "Bop Gun," and "Atomic Dog" were as energetic and hypnotic as ever. "Flashlight" featured both a stellar trumpet solo from Bennie Cowan, which sputtered before soaring into the stratosphere, and the arrival of the always welcome Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk (played by Carlos McMurray), who, dressed in his usual blinding white fur-trimmed trousers, long jacket, and floppy hat and with his exposed chest draped in bling, danced erotically after finding his funk grove.

Throughout the evening, Clinton showcased several other artists, including his rapper grandchildren; singer Belita Woods; Steve Boyd, whose rendition of the 1979 R& B/ disco hit "Why Leave Us Alone" began the night; and Kendra Foster, whose lusty and engaging "Bounce 2 This" helped bring the evening to a close. But none of the secondary performers were as electrifying as blues singer Sue Ann Carwell, who demonstrated a powerful and sometimes funky blues voice in songs like "Big Boss Lady" and "Hold Me Tonight" off her recent release, Blues in My Sunshine.

For the most part, however, Clinton proved a bit too indulgent of these artists, as he remained off staged for long stretches and thus slowed the momentum of the show. After all, it was the legendary and magnetic George Clinton the audience craved to see. But the lengthy set did give him and the All-Stars time to deliver his inspirational funk credo. Completely satisfying were "Ain't No Party like a P-Funk Party, Cause a P-Funk Party Don't Stop," "Get Down like James Brown," "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off)," and "Up for the Downstroke." He may be nearing 70, but Clinton still believes and preaches the gospel of funk - and he does so mesmerizingly.