The Fred Wesley Interview

Free your mind and your ass will follow so says the parliamentary head of funk while my guest is creating funk for your ass....

That southern fried home cookin....that homemade bread and biscuits and gravy and cobbler with a side of Harvey Mason or Jimmy Madison or Clyde Stubblefield going across 110th street and catching a big payback of marching bands and the gulf coast sound coming from the Crimson Tide and the southern home fried gumbo marinating inside my guests jukebox memories....

Of listening to Horace Silver and Curtis Fuller, getting on stage with the God Father of Soul at night and listening to Tyree Glenn and Count Basie- a self proclaimed jazz snob my guest was gonna be a milk man until he found out that Damn Right He Wanted To Be Somebody- rock in' Funky Water Gate with a date on Soul Train and knowing that George Bohanon had locked down all the studio work in Southern California.

My guest is one of the most gifted bone players of his generation- similar to Wayne Henderson he took that southern grit and boogie Woogie and combined them With his jazz sensibilities that he learned growing up watching big band after big band in his fathers living room. Seeing how these cats handled themselves and gaining a trust in his own individual sound - passing the peas with Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis and Van Morrison.

He's kept his lips in good shape and now carries the torch with the new JBs fostering the legacy of the hottest back up band and promoting the magic gumbo that when stirred correctly can elicit the sounds of the church, the wards, the nightclub and the love.

Hit it Fred Wesley, welcome to the JFS....