> 'perceive' at all. My friend Ashwin will agree that SOME of the dead's
> stuff was funky, but the DEAD as the true innovators? My friend, with that
> comment, you have quite literally erased the whole tradition of gospel,
> blues, jazz, soul, funk. Gilles and the bothers in London were spinning
Innovators, not of "acid-jazz" I agree, but they took one tradition of
music, bluegrass, that was very Black in its origin, and brought it to a
generation of acid dropping kids in the 60s - much the same way Carlos
Santana took Salsa music and fused it with Blues/Rock and was dabomb in
the late 60s San Fransisco underground scene of which the Grateful Dead were
also part of.
> BLACK FUNK, during the whole acid-house thing, becuase they were craving
> for some Black soul again, were they not?!? The 'lighter' side of the 'DEAD'
> groove may have added to the whole funky aura we're experiencing right now,
> but do not ignore the tradition of Black music that the roots of Acid Jazz
> most humbly owes its roots to.
Ask Gerry Garcia or Carlos Santana who their big influences were during the
60s - Miles Davis will be among the list of names. The Grateful Dead's music
draws from many traditions of black music especially bluegrass along with
blues, gospel, folk (which has strong African American roots), and a little
bit o' funk, soul and groove (by groove I mean taking a rhythm and jammming
on it for hours and playing it out to its fullest). Check out songs like
"Turn on your love light", "Little Red Rooster", "Good Morning Little
School Girl", or the last track on their "Anthem of the Sun" LP - On top of the
music, Gerry's got the voice - pure blues - which can be described
familiarly to deadheads as rolling thunder.
The true innovation with the GD, is not so much with their studio
albums, but with their live shows and recordings (which well outnumber their
studio material). To give you an example, one recording I had (which I unfortun-
ately lost :-( ) was with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (an Indian classical singer)
in a jugalbandi (duet) with a percussion symphony by the Grateful Dead. Anthem
of the Sun is a studio album to note - they took a whole bunch of their live
recordings and mixed them, layering them one on top of the other, played them
backwards, chopped up pieces of music, sampled, etc. - something that DJs do
with vinyl.
I wouldn't call the Grateful Dead "acid-jazz". But their music, especially
when they came out of the 60s definitely had the influence of Black music
from an era before the word "Funk" was used to describe the music that this
mailing list is all about. I think it's the same with all American music -
you can't describe it terms of history, tradition, and influence without paying
maximum props and homage to the tradition of Black music.
>
> Huh--- next thing you know, someone's going to tell me that Elvis was the
> Godfather of Soul.....
Elvis was quoted once as saying "The only thing I like black are my shoes."
Along with his racism, he denied the true roots, nay, owners
of his music. He was an epitome of Rock and Roll history.
The Grateful Dead are way on the opposite end of Elvis.
>
> Peace, and remember: "THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF fUNk..."
>
> Hiren Mistry ('The Brown Hornet')
> hmistry@trentu.ca
>
pruthiwai samoodraparyanthaya ekaralliti, tadakshekshash loko bhighato maruthaha
and until then shall the hills always be alive with the sound of funk. Shanti
to the brown hornet, guru, torontojazzheadz, and everyone who is climbing the
hills.
Shanti (peace),
ashwin
ashwin@isgtec.com