This is FRESH AIR. In the 1970s, influential musicians such as Ornette Coleman began combining free jazz and electric funk. Three notable vets of free funk bands periodically team up to get ...

“It’s gonna be unapologetic funk. And it’s gonna be energetic. And it’s gonna be a wild ride, lots of high-energy solos and cool ensemble work.” That’s how percussionist Nate Worth describes funk-jazz ...

“We had a lot of fun with our past catalogue with songs about outer space,” singer/guitarist Nick MacDaniels of the band Big Something was saying. “This time, on our new album, the songs are more ...

Big Sam’s Funky Nation will perform Saturday, Sept. 30. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Jazz'SAlive Big Sam’s Funky Nation is bringing its raucous, brass-fueled funk to San Antonio as a headliner for the ...

Guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer G. Calvin Weston give the power trio new meaning with Urban Mythology Volume One. Released under the moniker the Free Form Funk Freqs, the ...

Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and ’70s and beyond with such hits as “Everyday People,” “Stand!” and ...

Albums like To Pimp a Butterfly and 1999 blend jazz harmonies with sharp lyricism, proving the genre’s deep connection. Hip-hop may keep evolving, but funk and jazz remain its heartbeat, fueling its ...

Global music star Chaka Khan chatted about her forthcoming induction into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and her illustrious career in the music industry. Chaka Khan. Photo Credit: ...

A daylong celebration of jazz and wine may not be what you would expect to stumble upon on a Saturday afternoon in Nederland. The eclectic, bohemian mountain town at the top of Boulder Canyon is more ...

Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin. Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. The Funky Freqs came up playing the post-Corea ...