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"Let's get funky" : It's by those words, launched to the audience, that this 2001 Live Show of Pee Wee Ellis, one of the masterpiece of the JB'S, the band which largely helped create the legend and the splendour of James Brown…is introducing.
Considering the resume of the man, you can believe him without any doubt… It's gonna be melodious and powerful, and it's not the "Chicken" starting the concert that'll contradict me !
Pee Wee is seducing us with his subtle tenor sax playing and answers to his old accomplice, Fred Wesley, on trombone with this instrumental of 8'25 which is setting the tone of the party.

Next arrives Fred Ross (lead vocal for this US tour who worked with Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin) whose raw and warm voice conveys a touch of blues to the following 2 titles : "How I Depend on You" (rather mid tempo) and "Grandma's Hands", a cover from Bill Withers, soft and subtle which moved me a lot as it took me back to fresh precious souvenirs…
Sudden change of ambience with "Pass the peas" starting as usual by its a capella's intro, and then the horns are taking us back to the good funky rails for the first tribute song to the nice and old times spent next to James.
They lit up the fuse and are visibly happy to play these classics again… The pleasure is ours too ;o) It's with this idea that Pee Wee let Fred maintain the ambience. Same cause, same effects, same punishment… "House Party" is now a standard. The piece of evidence is the frenzy of the audience (observe on any live show…) which is starting irresistibly to dance and sing the chorus altogether and is transcending our old Fred who's forgetting his age... Pay attention to the breaks on this version… All the complicity of this duo is concentrated. They laugh a lot and even make a glance to Dr Funkenstein… I think that's the reason for their longevity… The intact pleasure of playing !!!
"What's up with that" takes us back to a cooler ambience but it's without a doubt for appreciating the coming performance of Pee Wee who's daring to parody the singer Esther Phillips (he started with her) in a tenderness slow ballad : this part of the concert made me laugh out loud at the New Morning's concert in Paris at the beginning of this year (because here you don't have the picture unfortunately…;o)

All this is rather different and original but a JB's education is not so easy to forget and that's why this live CD is ending in a kind of final triumph with consecutively "Cold Sweat/Licking Stick" (renamed a short time "Cd's for Sale" ;o) Everybody needs to earn his living), "I got the feeling" and "I got you (I feel good)".

Frankly, the grandpas are well resisting and they keep on hanging high the colours of Funk… They've been the forerunners in other times. You can consider this Cd rather classical for Funkateers like us…but don't forget the respect due to the olders folks… And that maybe without them, our favorite music will have never reached the top : so don't hesitate, enjoy yourself and you will then offer them the nicest tribute .

Funkygirl (September 2002)

Thanks to Shawn Francis