Funky Fred. An insight into the famous funk trombone playing. In taking a closer look at Fred Wesley's trombone playing we see that he has two distinctive and very different styles. Firstly his funk, for which he has attained the title, bestowed by the great James Brown, as the funkiest trombone player, and his pure jabs playing. The former, coupled with his arranging abilities has gained him session work with a huge variety of artists. The latter earned him a valued place in the Count Basie Big band and is displayed with some finesse in his albums. He is best known for his 'funky licks' and it is that style I shall examine first. Fred Wesley first became apparent on the world stage during his period with James Brown as band leader and then as front man for the J.B.'s. He and alto saxophonist Maceo Parker were the principal soloists and they had completely different and contrasting styles that complimented each other perfectly. Fred Wesley's funk playing is highly syncopated and particularly in the early days was full of variations on a number of established sixteenth note patterns. Appendices 1, 2 and 3 are transcription of funk solos spanning his career to date. Damn Right I am Somebody from the album of the same name was recorded in 1974 in the same session as James Brown's album 'The Payback'. 'D-Cup & Up' was recorded in 1990 on Wesley's first solo album 'New Friends' The solo in Cold Sweat was recorded by myself at a gig that Wesley did at the 'Roadhouse' in Covent Garden, London. This was the last date in a European tour that he did to promote his latest album 'Full Circle - From Be Bop To Hip Hop...' If one listens to these three solos, the advances in his playing style and technique become apparent. Certainly if you compare the solo in D - Cup & Up to the one in Damn Right / Am Somebody it easy to hear that his playing in D - Cup & U'is more polished with more ideas both rhythmically and harmonically. Figs. 2.1 and 2.2 are rhythmic examples of two sixteenth note patterns that, with variations, occur all the tinge during his straight eight funk solo playing. The same patterns can also be found when he is playing over swung sections of a track.
The pattern in Fig 2.1 occurs in its various forms in bars 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14 and 86 in the solo from Damn Right I Am Somebody. In bars 25, 26 and 27 in the funk section and 57 and 59 of the swung section of the solo in D-Cup & Up. The same pattern can be found in bars 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22 and 24. Fig 2.2 is more like an ending phrase and appears with less regularity. In Damn Right I Am Somebody it appears in bar 12. In D - Cup & Up in bars 22, 32 and 64 and in bar 20 of the solo in Cold Sweat. A closer look, rhythmically, at the three solos in their entirety shows that each solo is generally made up of one bar phrases. One can see that they do not start on the first beat of the bar and end on the up beat of beat 4 of that bar. This may be due to him giving space for the 'one' which is so prevalent in funk music and in particular black funk music. I would argue that there is a world of difference between 'White' and 'Black' funk. 'White' funk, I feel, tends to be very complex and syncopated in terms of arrangements almost to the point of being jagged. The soloing though tends to be more jazz-like consisting of longer, more flowing phrases, whereas 'Black' funk is much more simple and solid in terms of feel, concentrating more on a steady groove. The syncopation here comes in the horn arrangements and the soloing. There is a heavy emphasis, generally with bass and bass drum, on the first beat of the bar that establishes the pulse of the music. This provides an anchor from which the rest of the music flows. This is known as the 'one'. The space that Wesley leaves at the beginning of each phrase and the fact that these phrases end on an off beat at the end of the bar could be in sympathy with the 'one'. It may also allow him to respond in a sort of antiphonal style. Also note that in the three transcribed solos there is only one triplet. This is very characteristic of most of his funk solos In comparison, Maceo Parker's soloing technique is just as funky but his phrases tend to be more flowing and start on or before the first beat of the bar or the'one'. Fig 2.3 is a transcription of the first six bars of Fred Wesley's solo in Damn Right I Am Somebody . Fig. 2.4 is the first six bars of Maceo Parker's Solo.
Obviously, when comparing the two styles of playing, one has to take into account the instrumental differences of the two players. This brings up an interesting point. According to Fred, saxophone playing was an influence on his playing style. "I'm self taught and I was trying to emulate a lot of saxophone players and trumpet players playing licks and funk players and even guitar players. So my style kinda developed out of the things that I was playing. I was playing in a lot of blues bands and a lot of R'n'B bands and a lot of jazz bands and a lot of times I had to play the parts of the vocals. i played in a band were we used to play a tune called 'Stop In The Name Of Love' and I played the background vocal parts So my style kinds developed out of playing things that needed to be played in whatever situation I was in." Repetition in successive bars with variation is another feature of Wesley's funk playing. Examples of this can be found in bars 5, 6 & 7; 13, 14 & 15 and in 29, 30 & 31 of the solo in Cold Sweat and, to a lesser degree, in bars 13 and 14 in Damn Right I Am Somebody . Far from being boring, I think this actually adds to the energy. Some may say that this suggests limited ideas but I feel it is used judiciously to add a tension to the solo.Harmonically, his funk playing is very simple relying almost exclusively on the Blues scale. However, in the context of the music and the rhythmical complexity of his soloing, it is all that is required. Especially as that music is renowned for its one or two chord vamps. Most of the James Brown and a lot of the Parliament tunes were essentially one chord vamps. "You have to take it rhythmically. The harmonic is basically the same. It's more difficult to make it sound interesting. That's why my style gets to be more rhythmical when there's just the one chord vamp." It is only when you listen and compare to other trombone players on funk tracks that Wesley's individual style becomes apparent. His playing has an energy and urgency that I have not heard elsewhere. For example, if you compare Wesley's playing with that of Dennis Rollins and in particular his solo on the funky track I Got It Goin' On, , you will see a major difference. Rollins' style is more laid back with more flowing runs starting on and before the first beat of the bar. There are some similarities, however. Rollins' solo is also based on the blues scale with successive bar repetition in bars 5, 6 and 7; 24 and 25. Notice that the pattern in bar 21 is pure Fred Wesley.
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