FUNKWAYS and LARRY YES, THE GET DOWN, PDX 6/17/22!
A soulful, spiritual and healing event tailor-made with love for the good people of Portland, Oregon.
Port Angeles, Washington based recording artist Joel Ricci’s mission to restore “primitive funk” to the city.
“We are all suffering from some kind of trauma” says trumpet player, composer and band-leader Joel Ricci, “our society traumatizes us, our ancestors, and our children, and I believe I was put on this planet to help people face their trauma collectively and participate in the ancient healing ritual of dance - effectively metabolizing the trauma that’s been held in different parts of the body.” Ricci hands me his business card that reads, “Got something to celebrate? call Lucky Brown, Dancing Guaranteed.” Lucky Brown is Joel’s stage and production alias, having released many singles under this alter ego. “Lucky Brown represents the earth, the body, and the rhythmic music of the earth: funk, Lucky is the embodiment of peoples' striving for higher purpose, goodness, and meaning”
For the past two decades, Joel has been working with European vinyl reissue labels who repress long-lost funk, soul and jazz gems on 45RPM vinyl, as well as reissuing LPs and compilations. Joel has worked closely with the labels and has released countless of his own music on 45s, as well as 3 LPs, a couple EPs, and his music has appeared on many compilations. For the label he has worked the most with, Tramp Records out of Germany, he copy edits all the liner notes for the compilations and often writes the press releases. This charge has given him an intimate relationship with the artists who are being brought back into the light, with Joel often contacting them or their descendents directly to confirm biographical information.
Joel gets many of his song ideas while dreaming or doing chores. His 4-track cassette machine is always ready for everything from sketches to final pieces. During lockdown, Joel went into his studio, “the scavenge lab” and cleaned up demo tapes he had been making for his band. The resulting deep funk material was ideal for a private-press imprint with Detroit’s Funk Night Records named Wildcards Records. Four of the six Wildcards 45s have just been released this year and an LP of all the material is on the way. Portland musician and friend of Joel’s, Nate Lumbard plays sax and clarinet on a couple of the tunes, but Joel played everything else. Joel has released more than 20 original deep funk and jazz 45s, "I've lost count", he says.
This brings us to Joel’s concept of “primitive funk”. “Primitive funk is the birthright of American communities and neighborhoods.” Says Ricci, “It is a distinctly rhythmic and trance-oriented type of complex, dynamic music, made from simple, minimal, even mundane repetitive parts which all come together to create undeniable dancing music - for the people of the neighborhood.” He goes on to explain how he sees the horizontally organized relationships of the players as a metaphor for a functional, democratic society. “Everyone is important, and everyone has a role to play”.
Joel’s new 7-piece group, Funkways (an obvious nod to firebrand Folkways Records) is made up of the rhythm section from Seattle's psych-funk octet Polyrhythmics with an added guitar, and explores the nexus of primitive funk and vernacular jazz at new club, The Get Down, on June 17th with Portland’s beloved psychedelic folk pop rainbow maker Larry Yes and his group, The Optimist Club.
The Get Down, 615 SE Alder St, Portland, OR, 94214
Doors: 8:00PM | Show: 9:00PM
https://www.seetickets.us/event/Funkways-andLarryYes/482711
Ticket Link:
https://wl.seetickets.us/event/Funkaways/482711?afflky=TheGetDown
