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Something Smells Funky at
For some reason, and I’m not sure why, but when I think of Funk music I just don’t think of Japanese guitar players. And especially not ones who are straight from Japan. Of course sometimes you just have to re-align your thinking. If you ever met (or heard) June Yamagichi you’d understand. June, a member of Papa Grows Funk and the Wild Magnolias is one of the most wailing funk guitarists I’ve ever seen and lord knows I’ve seen a few! Recently I had the pleasure of seeing George Porter perform at Mexicali Blues. God bless Eli 'cause I think he just runs these shows so he can see them. This time he had George Porter, the aforementioned June, and Johnny Vidacovich. I’ve seen George there before but the last time seemed more like the Funky Meters. This time was different. Picture going to a P-Funk show and all you heard all night are the most exquisit pieces of 'The Maggot Brain'. Just raw, ripping, funk. There you have it. This was a once in a lifetime show. When I was talking to June he said "That’s the best part. There is no play list. We all just get up there and play!" And he was really excited about it! Play is definitely what these guys do. Johnny Vidacovich plays |
some of the fullest percussion that you’ve ever heard and he does it on a 5 piece trap. Couple of extra cymbals but hey, 5 piece trap. That’s all I got to say. He is all rims, and cymbals, and got that beat going and everybody’s going on doing their own funky thing and then all of a sudden, bang! Johnny brings everybody back together on time, in sync with one drop of the stick. AMAZING. George is a number one player too. Got to be one of the kings of the funky bass. Tonight he sounded different. When I’ve seen him in the past he’s been all popping, and funky and fooling around but tonight he was jazzy George. And it was cool. That’s the only way I can describe the sound. June wailing away on guitar, Johnny doing the drum thing so well, and George. Playing slick and smooth. The second set was equally as much fun with June doing some perfect Hendrix (Purple Haze) and George turning into a cross between Otis Redding and Sly. These were some players who were having a good time. So were we. Personally I don’t get to see a lot of that New Orleans kind of sound around here so when guys like this play I make every effort to go out and see them. This was most certainly worth a trip. by Randy Veraldo | ||||
