Pee Wee Ellis Interview: Feeling the FUNK on UK Tour

Alongside Pee Wee Ellis and China Moses, the band features top UK musicians such as guitarist Tony Remy, a horn section of saxophonist Camilla George and trombonist Dennis Rollins MBE, keyboardist Dan Moore, bassist Neville Malcolm, drummer Daru, as well as rapper Lady Sanity and soul-jazz vocal don Omar MBE. The music gets an added visual dimension with jazz-dance crew The Locksmiths, Ben Ajose and Samantha Haynes, who complete this groove-laden extravaganza.

Jazzwise spoke to Pee Wee Ellis about the tour…
Can you tell us a bit more about the project 'Funk: A Music Revolution' – who’s involved and the inspiration behind it?
Well, the project is curated by myself and China Moses, and I am leading a fantastic band and guests, Omar, China of course, Daru Jones on drums, Dan Moore on keys, the ubiquitous Tony Remy on guitar, Dennis Rollins playing trombone and bright young star of the London jazz scene Camilla George on alto sax, plus dancers and all kinds of funky stuff. This is a project myself and my manager Charlotte have been toying with for a while and first started developing with New York University at their Abu Dhabi campus. When we talked to Polly Eldridge of Sound UK about bringing this to the UK, it just all came together. We feel it’s really important that a wider audience understands the fundamental influence of funk music in the history and development of popular music and what more fun way to show that than with a show chronicling the great music that tells its own story. It's been a huge task to fit so many years of amazing music into a 90-minute show, but Polly and her team have been an inspiration and we’re almost there.

Tell us about your time working with James Brown and co-writing “Say It Loud! I'm Black and I'm Proud…”
It was a very exciting time, a real pleasure. Watching Mr. Brown work every night was a constant lesson in the art of live entertainment. It was hard work and a gruelling schedule, crisscrossing the US on a tour bus, recording, rehearsing every day, playing constantly, even travelling overseas. I had my own seat at the back of the bus where I wrote a lot of music and arrangements. I would rehearse the band on the way to the next gig so they had the next tune ready for Mr Brown when we got to the venue. A lot of iconic songs came out of those times, notably ‘Say It Loud’.

In your opinion, in what way has funk influenced popular music over the past 60 years?
From a technical perspective, you can follow it through the use of rhythmic horn lines, repetitive phrases and bass-led focal points. For most listeners, it’s a feel, an energy, the way that the bass bounce makes you feel like moving. There are the obvious heirs – George Clinton and Parliament, Average White Band, The Ohio Players, Fred Wesley and the New JB’s to name a few – but then its influence has permeated way beyond that. We hear it in Prince, Kool and the Gang, Salt-N-Pepa, Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, Digable Planets, along with so many other hip hop artists of the 1980s and 90s. Sampling of funk riffs became such an intrinsic part of the sound of early hip hop and even pop, and we still hear and feel its presence now with songs like 'Uptown Funk'. But alongside those musical structures that create an identifiable funky feel, it was a music that heralded a new attitude; a new and distinctive black culture, of street culture finding confidence and popularity outside and alongside the establishment. Sweeping into mainstream consciousness during the civil rights movement was unlike anything people had heard and its positive energy united a new generation making them proud of their music, fashion and political tastes

What should audiences expect at the show? What will they hear? How do you want them to feel?
The audience should expect to be reminded of some of their favourite music and will be surprised how present it still is in the music they love today. I want them to go away with a smile and feeling that they’ve had a memorable experience. I hope a lot of folks get a chance to see the show, I think they’ll enjoy it... we enjoyed putting it together.

Tour dates are as follows: Brighton Dome (29 Feb); Alexandra Palace Theatre, London (1 Mar); Butterworth Hall, Coventry (2 Mar); Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham (3 Mar) and The Sage, Gateshead (4 Mar) 

More details at https://www.sounduk.net/events/funk-music-revolution/