George Clinton: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music

Last night in Boston, Berklee College of Music awarded funk icon George Clinton an honorary doctor of music degree and celebrated his music with a performance from the college's P-Funk Ensemble. After the presentation, Clinton traded his doctoral robes for a silver suit to perform with student musicians on "Testify," "Give Up the Funk," and "One Nation Under a Groove," among other P-Funk hits. Clinton's longtime horn players Bennie Cowan and Greg Thomas, and many other members of his current band, joined him on stage for the career-spanning, sold-out show. The concert was the culmination of Clinton's four-day residency at Berklee this week.



Links:
George Clinton

Abraham Inc. Combine Klezmer with Funk // Debut CD "Tweet Tweet" Released Earlier This Year

STREAM: Abraham Inc - NPR's "All Things Considered"

01 Tweet-Tweet by Abraham Inc.

Abraham Inc.'s disc Tweet Tweet was released earlier this year but I had a friend who just turned me on to the band.

With Abraham Inc., klezmer clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer collaborates with one of the great masters of funk, trombonist Fred Wesley (known for his work with James Brown, Bootsy Collins and Parliament Funkadelic), and beat architect SoCalled. Add a three-piece horn section led by Wesley and members of Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness! band and the result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party! A sold out concert at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in December 2006 marked the first step in this collaborative venture which was also a hit at Transmusical de Rennes – one of the largest rock festivals in Europe, where it met with a resounding response from the crowds and a rave review in Le Monde. Abraham Inc. then brought down the house at the historic Apollo Theater in May 2008 with a performance that had the crowd dancing in the aisles.



While I don't want to mentally acknowledge just yet that the madness of another holiday season is almost on us (I've heard the Xmas trees have already been set up in Rockefeller Plaza), Tweet Tweet is already on the holiday gift list for a few music-lover friends. I don't think that I've heard any band connect such seemingly disparate styles into such a cohesive unit since the days of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

Links:
Abraham Inc.

Rock/Funk Band KiNDERGARTEN Play Rockwood Music Hall on March 4th

DOWNLOAD: KiNDERGARTEN - "Man on the Stairs"
DOWNLOAD: KiNDERGARTEN - "Just a Little (Shook)"

Earlier this month, rock/funk band KiNDERGARTEN released their second disc, Small (click the band's photo to go to iTunes). The band is playing a free show next Thursday night, March 4th, at Rockwood Music Hall. The show is 21+ and KiNDERGARTEN go on at 10PM.

Small, which is the follow-up to KiNDERGARTEN’s debut album River of Slime (2007), is a collection of 12 hook-heavy songs that the band has been performing live for at about a year prior their recording. The lyrics focus on dark themes relating to the end of the world, the growing role of machines in our society, and the recession. This isn't as dark as it sounds though as KiNDERGARTEN mixes ‘70s funk and ‘80s rock with influences that range from Lou Reed and David Bowie to Earth Wind and Fire and Michael Jackson. There is a review of the new disc posted to iTunes where the reviewer says "This album is going to be classic...I've danced, smiled, cried and at least once got pretty scared while listening".

Links:
KiNDERGARTEN