Although I’ve been a born again pagan since the age of 15 when I left my grandfather’s Baptist church, you can imagine my delight when I found out that the band’s leader, bassist Robert “Kool” Bell, at that time was a Black Muslim. I remember back in the seventies, interviewing Kool & The Gang for The Black Collegian Magazine where I worked as the editor and chief music writer. Now, there’s also a back story, an interesting underside whose implications are both deep and far reaching. Check out some of the album titles from that period: Light of Worlds, Wild and Peaceful, Love and Understanding, Music Is The Message. “Who’s Going To Take The Weight?” is about as serious as you can get on that score. Third, the merger of message music with butt-shaking funk. No, this is in the moment, in the zone, doing it all together, all live and direct, right here in front of you! The cherry on the top is that this is a live recording, not a studio-engineered, over dubbed, twenty-takes-to-get-it-all-just-right paste job.

(Hey, as a momentary digression apropos of luxuriating, y'all remember the sudsy bathtub lovemaking scene in Superfly?) Anyway, “Summer Madness” got that kind of flow plus features some early use of synthesizer as a solo instrument in a popular funk context, a context Herbie (Hancock) was later to claim. I always liked “Summer Madness” and I luxuriate in the glow of the live version taken from the Love & Understanding album. I include “Ladies Night” (actually from the beginning of the eighties disco/pop/crossover era) because it was a “Summer Madness” sequel. Second, the merger of jazz and soft funk, precursor of that detestable pap now called smooth jazz. Two classics: “Hollywood Swinging” and “Jungle Boogie,” plus two early ought-to-be considered classics: “The Gang’s Back Again” and “Let The Music Take Your Mind.” So that’s the core, the kernel, the what the band is known for kind of grooves. The “Hollywood Swinging” and the “Summer Madness.”įirst, the straight up funk. So this week’s write up gives you both the funk and silky flow. They not only got the dance floor groove in spades but they also pointed the way ahead for what became known as smooth jazz and the UK-based acid jazz scene (listen to the live Summer Madness” track and you will hear where Incognito is partially coming from. (Can you say Ohio Players, Lakeside, Con Funk Shun, Zapp?) But you know what? While not as memorable off the peak of one’s dome as the aforementioned, Kool & The Band were actually trail blazers. Of course you had many others: P-Funk preeminent among them, and I must make mention of the Godfather, JB, and then there was damn near the whole state of Ohio. Whatever you call it, this was black dance music of the early seventies. Huge slabs of outright frantic dance floor fervor: fatback drums humongous bass lines stabbing, red hot horn licks catchy, hummable chorus hooks. Nothing against JT in particular but I generally don’t listen to the second incarnation (even though I, as well as millions of other people, can hum/chant 'Joanna.' I go straight for the funk.īut it’s a complex funk or better yet a funky complex. Kool & The Gang, depending on whom you talk to, is either a mostly instrumental funk band or a cross-over pop band featuring the vocals of James “JT” Taylor. It does not store any personal data.KOOL & THE GANG / “Summer Madness (Live)” The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

Kool gang. summertime madness