This is FRESH AIR. In the 1970s, influential musicians such as Ornette Coleman began combining free jazz and electric funk. Three notable vets of free funk bands periodically team up to get ...

Some time back a student of music, Chris, wrote to me an email, asking a very interesting question: "Why is it that some jazz musicians preferred to adopt funk instead of jazz-rock when the transition ...

“It’s gonna be unapologetic funk. And it’s gonna be energetic. And it’s gonna be a wild ride, lots of high-energy solos and cool ensemble work.” That’s how percussionist Nate Worth describes funk-jazz ...

While it is generally agreed that the birthplace of jazz is New Orleans and that it was first performed there in the early 1900s, it’s not the only music style to come out of the Crescent City.

Albums like To Pimp a Butterfly and 1999 blend jazz harmonies with sharp lyricism, proving the genre’s deep connection. Hip-hop may keep evolving, but funk and jazz remain its heartbeat, fueling its ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s something magical about George Duke’s music that’s hard to put into words—but you feel it. Whether he’s laying down a slick funk groove or caressing a melody on the piano, ...

Corey Paul’s dream of leading a live funky jazz ensemble that nodded to the intergalactic noir-western series “Cowboy Bebop” seemed like a far-out fantasy. Now it’s a reality, and the show’s hitting ...

Ayers’ career spanned nearly six decades, including collaborations with contemporary artists such as Alicia Keys, Thundercat, and Tyler, The Creator. Roy Ayers, the legendary vibraphonist, composer, ...

I stood in a rather warm foyer of a building in Boulder on Thursday night waiting on an elevator ride to the fourth floor to dine at Corrida and listen to live music. About a dozen well-dressed ...

A daylong celebration of jazz and wine may not be what you would expect to stumble upon on a Saturday afternoon in Nederland. The eclectic, bohemian mountain town at the top of Boulder Canyon is more ...

MAKE IT FUNKY!, a history lesson you can dance to, had an ambitious premise in its development -- to tell the story of how Black Music in America became the heartbeat of all American popular music and ...

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