Tower Of Power– their use of 16th notes vs the rest of funk and soul world

I returned to listening to Tower last night. Then I listened to soul singer Tyrone Davis (kinda like Motown) a little later. What struck me is the huge contrast in the way the 2 approaches to Soul they have.

First some background. All Soul and Funk has an underlying pulse based on 16th notes. This is generally much finer grained than most music. (This is also one the ingredients making it such fine dance music) . Most rock grooves are more casual with eighth or even quarter note feels. (In all fairness, all rock has 16th note stuff in them but usually it is limited to anticipating downbeats.) Funk and Soul make greater use of 16ths through syncopations, short rests, use of “off” notes on weak beats and as passing notes.


Now back to the body of the story. Unsophisticated use of 16ths can make the music sound “nervous”. This was what made what we used to call “fusion” so aggravating to listen to. Fusion was too busy, too many notes. It came off as overblown, egotistical, and busy. Good use of 16ths though, accents and rests used sparingly, and with melodic purpose makes for great Soul and Funk. Tyrone Davis is the example here. Everything serves the song but the use of 16ths makes the song so attractive and strong. The rhythym section doesn’t just support the vocal, it makes a statement with the main statement that is powerful, fun to hear and to play, and has a life of its own – but still serving the ultimate masters – the song, the melody, the vocal.


What makes Tower different is that the 16ths are again present but very upfront in the rhythm section. Rather that bury the presentation; the drums and bass joyfully bring them to the front. Their artistry is making the 16th notes subtle enough that they do not overwhelm the song. They do this through a lot of technical tricks like muting notes, implication of notes, and in the bass players case, use of a muted tone so that the pulses are more felt than heard. The effect is that the music doesn’t come off with fusion’s 16th note frenzy, but rather with a busy but smooth carpet of sound for their very full vocal and horn work.

jazz is

++++++ Jazz is ++++
Jazz is our profit
We learn from it all
Ignore the rest,
Bird stands tall.
And sonny he’s still with us
I saw Stanley just before he died. His solos played it all
He told his life story
In every solo he took.
He sweated so much
He must have known he didn’t have much time left.
But Miles played like that all the time he knew - he knew
Life for the moment
But I don’t know
What else he knew/

hmmmmm

It’s not possible to offend me now,” he said. “I won’t give people the power to do it anymore. My problem was born of immaturity and my childhood desire for acceptance. I learned in drug rehab that this was stunting and unrealistic. I was seeking acceptance from the wrong people.” - Rush Limbaugh

new site for Knuckleheads band

I created a new site for the Knuckleheads band. Check it out at http://www.last.fm/music/knuckleheads+Boston

just plain news

Lisa and I are just back from a week in Jamaica. Nice time, and swimming 5 times a day. You get a lot of third world stuff - people hustling you all of the time but its no big deal really. It's just one big service industry - anything you want! We met lots of nice people and the renewal was especially good health wise. I hate exercise but love swimming, so I got noticeably healthier while I was away. I am keeping up with it a bit with long daily walks in the woods, but its not as good.

Lisa and i are getting along pretty well. Jesse is good, but distant the way 17 year olds tend to be. Sometimes heartbreaking, but then he returns to the fold, touches down, and goes again. I try to not get too philosophical about it - and let it go!

Julia has successfully transitioned to the work world. She has a job working for a leading landscape architect firm (Balmori in NYC). She is building models as well as doing research. She loves it and now for the first time in her life she is working and I am not. So she busts my balls over that... it didn't take long for her to pick up on that opportunity. Her boyfriend Adam is super busy with Columbia law. They live together in Columbia housing.

car pictures

Here are some car pictures i took in the summer in Sayville NY, mostly hot rods and old American cars.

cheeky joke for bass players