Customer Reviews

Blue Funk

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Listen to those sound samples! If this music is for you, it'll hit you right away.

Blue Note's "Blue Funk" is absolutely chock-full of soul/jazz/funk magic. Don't come looking for any lightweight stuff, 'cause this 2001 release is no joke...this is the real spirit of funk; down, dirty, and transcendent. If you prefer your funk on the more jazzy tip, as opposed to a more "rock" or "pop" style, then this may be your new favorite compilation. "Blue Funk" is all about swirling b3 organ, greasy, TIGHT horn lines, shifting rhythmic funk patterns, flying bongos, tight, tight, TIGHT rhythm guitar, and the ALL-MIGHTY drum & bass GROOVE. Tightness really is key here, as it's the tightness that keeps things fresh and prevents the whole excursion from being weighed down by repetition and sloppiness, which is the downfall of some funk music. The funky format here also prevents too much decadent, ponderous soloing (while there is a place for such exploration, this is not it). The music on "Blue Funk" is about the beat, the forward-motion of the rhythm, and the sustained buoyancy of the groove. The groove here, by the way, achieves the enormous feat of being heavy and deep, as well as clean and crisp...simultaniously.

I've enjoyed several of the Blue Note "blue" compilations, notably the "Blue N' Groovy," "Blue Breakbeats," and "So Blue, So Funky" sets, and as great as they are, they CAN be a little uneven. "Blue Funk," on the other hand, is so rhythmically engaging, so absolutely cohesive and refreshing that it never, EVER gets old. The choice of tunes here is phenomenal. Some of these grooves, such as the friendly old-school shuffle of "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" may be permanently etched into your DNA, and you'll be a better person for it. In the end, there is so much flawless music out there to be grooved to, that the eclectic listener has precious little time for anything but the cream, and the CREAM is what's delivered here. "Blue Funk" is the best of the best of the best. For me, there is no better single-disc, various artist collection of jazzy instrumental funk, period.

Like I said, listen to the sound samples. Sometimes sound samples can be misleading, but the ones presented here are very representative of the magic within this disc.

What a great collection!

Blue Note, WHERE IS VOLUME TWO??!!

I don't know very much about jazz, but something I know is that the blue series from blue note has some great compilations (I also have blue brazil which is an excelent CD). Blue Funk is great jazz funk, not the more comercial funk we are used to, but very good (and jazzy) funk from the late '60 and early '70 made by very good and creative musicians. I specially like "Down Home Funk" by Richard Holmes and the cover of Sly Stone's Family Affair.

...a trunk of funk, a chunk of funk and it stunks of junky funk...

This CD with Blue Note urban jazz masters like Jack McDuff, Groove Holmes, Grant Green and Lou Donaldson. Fabulous renditions of "Don't Knock My Love" and "If There's a Hell Below" and the slow cookin' "Cissy Strut". For funk fans and Dirty Loungers, it doesn't get too much better than this.

There are few if any "sterling" cuts on this album. Mostly a collection of regional Funk/Soul acts that never made it to the big time. In the end you find out why too as none of these tunes make you wanna shout and shing a ling. As you'd expect, production values range from the passable to the criminal and everything in between. Not the worst album I've ever bought but most compilations usually contain ONE nugget worth its purchase price. Truth be told, this one did not. Only buy it if you've nothing else to spend your money on.

Worf