We Got Tha Funk

It’s difficult to put a finger on the funk. It’s kind of what happens when someone takes the Blues and flips it from sorrow to sex. It’s the return of the feel good factor that reaches deeper than the soul and it’s the cornerstone of great music from Hip-hop to House. It has been transformed into many guises and this month at CAI we have something of a celebration for all that is funky.

Back in the 70s, before Hip-hop existed in it’s recorded form, DJs such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaata and Grandmaster Flash would take the ‘breakbeat’ from heavy funk tracks by the likes of James Brown and The Meters and mix them back to back to create a drum loop for the Rappers to rap over and the B Boys to get down on the floor and Breakdance to. Since then funk has been a big part of the B Boy scene, even after the average Hip-hop listener forgot the roots of the music. So it’s only right that for the ‘Ya Don’t Stop’ After Party taking place on Saturday 5th June, we have one of the country’s best Funk bands Cantaloop to come down and play a set.

I remember the band well from the early Toucan days. Back then you never knew what band was going to turn up on any given Saturday but it was always a pleasure when Cantaloop rocked up and it’s a privilege to be able to bring them down and carry on the tradition. They’ve been doing well since those days working with the likes of the Fun Loving Criminals and I really look forwards to catching them again.

Saturday June 5th: Cantaloop – Psycho Stalker by cardiffartsinstitute

Also on that Saturday we have two guest DJs. One of them is Welsh Hip-hop Pioneer and all round legend DJ Jaffa and the other is a fellow veteran and compiler of some classic Breaks and Electro (the 80s kind not the newer incarnation) albums, before he moved over to China and helped to set up and facilitate both the China Breakdance Championships and the Chinese DMC Championships, DJ DSK. I can think of no better soundtrack for the herd of Breakdancers set to join us from the Ya Don’t Stop event. On a different tip though, as the sun has beating down recently, here’s a mix from DJ Jaffa that suits the weather just perfectly.

Dj Jaffa – Here Come’s The Sun Mix by Cardiff Arts Institute on Mixcloud

I admit when Pascal from Péchés Mignons first approached me about Benin City I hadn’t actually heard of them before, but it only took a quick video to convince me. Since then I’ve seen their name pop up all over the place. From tracks with Hyperdub dons LV to live performances on E4’s Uderbelly. Plus they have high praise from the likes of Craig Charles (“I love this band!…They’re tearing the roof off!”) and Mark Lamarr (“Woah nelly…incredible!…they make me want to be young again!”), two DJs who are well know for bringing the funk to a wider audience with their BBC Radio 2 shows. I’m looking forwards to working with the Jekajo Sessions guys on our regular Saturday night slots and I think they’ve definitely struck gold with their first booking.

Benin City, “Snakepit” by Benin City

Saturday June 12th: Benin City – Boogieman by cardiffartsinstitute
From Benin City the band to Benin the place, which is where many of the tracks in this next mix have been picked from. But first a little explanation. Now I’ve been a fan of Afrobeat and African music in general for many years. I used to stay up late to listen to Andy Kershaw’s show, mainly because he used to play some great dub and reggae but I would often hear the likes of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, or the West Coast Mbalax singers such Youssou N’Dour. Years later when I would by their records, I was fascinated by the way that Fela Kuti’s records would last up to half and hour long and the whole side of an album. Some might feel that at jut two songs a record that they were getting a raw deal but you only had to listen to the raw and flowing Funk that shone from that 12” piece of vinyl, to know that you had got the greatest deal on earth. Artists such as Fela and Tony Allen are fairly staple names over here now, as are other African artists such as Baaba Maal and Salif Keita but if you look at the sheer size of the continent and the wealth of talent there you realise that you could never get to hear even a small percentage of the African music that is released.

One man who has gone some way to correcting this is DJ Frank Grossner, who has wandered from country to country scouring for the long lost records that never made their way further than the state’s (often ever changing) boundaries. He has amassed an incredible collection and his Voodoo Funk blog is a true goldmine for fans of African music. It suprises me that CAI is the only stop on his European Tour (on Saturday 26th June with the Ba Ba Boom guys and a live performance from The Cougar) , but I’m certainly not complaining, everyone elses loss is undoubtebly our gain. Here’s one of his many mixes, this time shocasing tracks from Ghana and Nigeria.

Frank Gossner – Ghana Nigeria Connection by Cardiff Arts Institute on Mixcloud