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ROADMAP Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Randy Crawfo
rd, Cameo, Van Morrison, De La Soul, this guy has played his trombone with all of these legends and many more but it’s as a pivotal member of the Godfather of Funk James Brown’s band that Fred Wesley has scratched out a place in music’s hall of fame. Complementing saxophonist Maceo Parker’s riffs and solos, Wesley undoubtedly gave Brown’s tunes their instrumental punch. A co-writer of many of Brown’s hits, Wesley became band leader and musical director of The JB’s in the 70’s before joining George Clinton in his Parliament-Funkadelic projects. Wesleys biggest solo hit, Houseparty, is still an instant floor filler, its infectious 80’s groove timeless and impermeable to trends. As he gets ready to come to Dublin to play The Grand Social on March 27th with his Generations Trio, Fred took some time out to shoot the breeze with us and tell us his secret to a longer life. Can I ask you about your early years? You started out on the piano and then in your teens moved to trombone. Who were your musical heroes when you were young? Was it jazz or more chart based sounds that inspired you? It was jazz, my first idols were J. J. Johnson and Curtis Fuller, playing jazz on the trombone, I got stuck on bebop. You made the unusual move of switching from funk and soul into jazz later in your career. Milt Jackson and Count Basie must have been a very different world to Parliament and Funkadelic! Was playing with such veteran jazz artists a big musical challenge? It was what I had always wanted to do but never got the opportunity to do . I had played with James Brown, Parliament and Funkadelic but I got the chance to play with Count Basie and I jumped at it, because you know, it was something I always wanted to do. James Brown was regarded as perhaps the greatest live performer in his time who influenced a generation of front men. How did you prepare the musicians for these legendary shows as a band leader? Did you all have to work as hard as Mr Brown?! We did! James was the hardest working man in show business and we were the hardest working band in show business. We used to rehearse all day long and all night long, to get it exactly right. He was a master showman, so we had to be master showmen too. We did our parts and we did our dances and acted things out before we did them. We worked real good together but we had to rehearse and rehearse we did. As a teacher and educator, do you see renewed interest in jazz and funk amongst younger musicians? Artists like Kamasi Washington are certainly reaching beyond the traditional jazz community. Does the next generation of musicians hold promise for you in Fred Wesley WORDS Brendan White continuing the musical tradition you and your generation laid down? The new generation, Kasami Washington is one of them – I could name some other names if I could remember them – he is taking it further, it’s almost into hip hop. The music has changed a bit, it’s not bebop anymore. It’s a bebop, hip hop and soul all mixed together. Some of them are taking it even further, the musicians are more educated these days. The young people are more into whatever you can come up with in music and they’re coming up with some very initiative things. The young people have left me behind but if anyone can come to me to get advice on basics. Music has changed, yes. You have played with an extraordinary number of artists on record from Terry Callier to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. As a session player, do you find it easy to just play the charts you’ve been given or do you prefer to arrange and collaborate with the artists? I like to do both, I pride myself on being able to play other people’s music but I also pride myself in creating music too, I’ll do either or, I enjoy both. Finally, you are in your 80s and finished off 2024 with three dates in Ronnie Scotts in London after a year of touring around the globe. What is the magic secret to your strength and vitality? Is there something in the water in Georgia and Alabama? The water is definitely one of the things that makes me strong, not only in Alabama. You know, I have been taken by the whole food movement, my daughter, Joya, is an advocate of whole food and she has gotten me into eating plant based food and I’ve done very well with that. I feel like I have more energy, I feel like I’ve extended my life, so much of the food we eat today is processed, fast food is killing us. I think I’ll live longer and I’ll live happier if I stick to the whole food diet. It’s in the water but it’s in the food too. Fred Wesley plays The Grand Social on the 27th of March. thegrandsocial.ie 12