It occurred to me that I haven’t been playing nearly enough Funk on the Morning Soundbooth (perfect wakeup music, if you ask me). So I’m hoping to remedy that with a taste of New Orleans this morning, by way of the legendary Ivan Neville and his band Dumpstaphunk, recorded in session at KDHX in St. Louis on February 15, 2007.
KDHX, if you haven’t heard about them, are one of the truly committed stations running live sessions of bands passing through the St. Louis area. They have a ton of stuff up on Soundcloud and I would urge you to search out some of the 300+ sessions they currently have up.
Ivan Neville needs no introduction. Part of the iconic Neville family who are synonymous with New Orleans and the rich musical legacy that literally falls out of the woodwork. Going back to Art Neville in the 1950’s, who was one of the early pioneers of Rock/R&B and recorded a string of hit songs for Specialty Records, the dynasty continues with Ivan.
One critic said, “Dumpstaphunk’s groove is a unique monster. It’s not the minimalist funk of The Meters and it’s not the relentless funk of James Brown, although it has that rhythmic drive. It’s not the psychedelic, over-the-top circus of Parliament Funkadelic, but it often has that political slant. It’s not the party funk of the Ohio Players, but it shares the high vocals that take the pressure off the bottom. Dumpstaphunk is a whole other school of funk. If you’re under 35, you think you’ve seen funk, but you haven’t. You missed the original Meters, James Brown when he wasn’t a parody, Parliament Funkadelic’s landing of the Mothership, Sly and the Family Stone before he went M.I.A and Booker T. and the M.G.s before the demise of Stax. Dumpstaphunk is as good as all that, and they’re in their prime now.”
Hit Play – crank it up – fall out of bed and get groovin’.
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