Part 4: The studio becomes the main source
11 — THE BRIDGE TO HIP-HOP
The connection between Disco, Jazz-Funk and Hip-Hop is impossible to ignore.
Hip-Hop DJs were digging through the same musical history, finding inspiration in classic Disco, Soul, Funk and Jazz records, looking for breaks and discovering the possibilities.
A powerhouse drum break, a bassline that commanded the groove or a percussion section that could be dropped seamlessly into the beat. A few seconds of music that could become the foundation of something new.
Chic's Good Times became one of the most famous examples of Disco crossing directly into Hip-Hop, however what happened next is particularly revealing.
When The Sugarhill Gang recorded Rapper's Delight in 1979, they didn't sample Chic's original backing track. Instead, Sylvia Robinson had musicians from Sugar Hill Records' house band, Positive Force, recreate the groove, including Bernard Edwards' instantly recognisable bassline.
The samplers that would transform Hip-Hop were still several years away, so rather than simply lifting the Chic master recording, the musicians replayed the music and the result was so close to the original that decades later, people assumed it was sampled.
So close, in fact, that Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards recognised their composition immediately and threatened legal action. The dispute was eventually settled, with Rodgers and Edwards receiving songwriting credits.
It is an important moment in the evolution of recorded Hip-Hop.
The technology to sample entire pieces of recorded music had not yet arrived, but the idea of taking an existing groove and building something new around it was already firmly established.
The musicians reconstructed the original groove, the rappers added the lyrics, DJ culture supplied the inspiration and Disco provided the blueprint for one of Hip-Hop's first commercial success stories, which laid the foundations for a global phenomenon.
The age of sampling was coming, but first, Hip-Hop learned how to reinvent the break.
The 12” fuelled the DJ culture & remix mentality, and the sampler would eventually allow DJ’s & producers to reimagine classic cuts and introduce the next generation of collectors, party people and DJ’s to the artists and music that made it all possible.
The crate became the archive and the source meterial.
12 — THE RECORDS THAT CONNECT THE DOTS
This is where digging becomes particularly rewarding.
Take Stevie Wonder's Superstition. It's Funk, but listen to the Clavinet, the drums and the harmonic sophistication.
Or Richie Havens' Going Back to My Roots. A Soul/Funk record that would find another life on the dancefloor.
Indeep's Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life. The title alone tells you how important the DJ had become.
And Rockers Revenge — Walking on Sunshine. A bridge between Disco, Funk and the emerging electronic dance sound.
Gino Soccio — Try It Out.
Julia & Company — Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba).
Young & Company — I Like (What You're Doing to Me).
David Bendeth — Feel the Real.
These records reveal a musical world where genres are constantly overlapping.
Jazz musicians were making Funk.
Funk musicians were making Disco.
Disco producers were embracing electronics.
And DJs were turning everything into raw material.
CONCLUSION — JAZZ FOUND THE DANCEFLOOR
The story of Jazz-Funk and Disco is ultimately a story about musicians refusing to stay in one box.
Jazz musicians heard Funk and responded.
Funk musicians heard Soul and Disco.
Disco producers heard synths and drum machines.
DJs heard possibilities.
And a generation of listeners heard music that could be both sophisticated and physical at the same time.
Herbie Hancock could make Jazz Funk.
Roy Ayers could move between Jazz, Soul and Disco.
George Benson could take Jazz guitar into the Pop charts.
Harvey Mason could move from Jazz to the dancefloor.
Donald Byrd could transform his sound without abandoning his musical identity.
MFSB could turn Philadelphia Soul into a dancefloor anthem.
Chic could make a bassline that would eventually help launch Hip-Hop.
And artists such as Teena Marie, Patrice Rushen, D-Train, Stacy Lattisaw and Evelyn King could take the entire history and push it into the electronic future.
That's what makes this era so exciting to dig through. The records don't exist in isolation. They talk to each other.
A Jazz record leads to a Funk record.
A Funk record leads to Disco.
A Disco record leads to Boogie.
A Boogie record leads to Electro.
And somewhere along the way, a DJ puts the needle down and finds the break.
The technology changed. The formats changed. The clubs changed.
But the groove remained.
Jazz found the Funk, JazzFunk found the dancefloor, and Disco opened the door to the future.
RECORD LABELS TO KNOW
T.K. Disco
Salsoul Records
Philadelphia International Records
Casablanca Records
West End Records
Prelude Records
SAM Records
Cotillion Records
CTI Records
Kudu Records
Westbound Records
Chocolate City Records
Fantasy Records
Atlantic Records
Motown Records
Each label tells part of the story.
Follow the labels and you'll find the connections. Follow the musicians and you'll find the collaborations. Follow the records and you'll find the grooves.
A GOOD PLACE TO START: MUST HAVE RECORDS
TOP 10 Funk Albums
James Brown — Jungle Groove
The Meters — The Meters
Parliament — Funkentelechy Vs. The Placebo Syndrome
Stevie Wonder — Talking Book
Commodores — Commodores
Rufus & Chaka Khan — Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan
Kool & The Gang — Wild And Peaceful
Lakeside — Fantastic Voyage
T-Connection — Magic
Cameo — Cardiac Arrest
TOP 10 Jazz-Funk Albums
Herbie Hancock — Head Hunters
Bob James — Two
Donald Byrd — Places and Spaces
Roy Ayers Ubiquity — Mystic Voyage
Lonnie Liston Smith — Expansions
Grover Washington Jr. — Feels So Good
Ronnie Laws — Always There
Eumir Deodato — Prelude
Idris Muhammad — Turn This Mutha Out
Harvey Mason — Groovin' You
TOP 10 Disco Records
MFSB — Love Is the Message
The Trammps — Disco Inferno
Donna Summer — I Feel Love
Chic — Good Times
Sister Sledge — We Are Family
First Choice — Let No Man Put Asunder
Gino Soccio — Try It Out
The Whispers — And the Beat Goes On
Cheryl Lynn — Got to Be Real
Anita Ward — Ring My Bell
TOP 10 Jazz, Funk & Disco Crossovers Records
George Benson — Give Me the Night
Harvey Mason — Groovin' You
Idris Muhammad — Could Heaven Ever Be Like This
Roy Ayers — Running Away
Donald Byrd — Dominoes
Richie Havens — Going Back to My Roots
Peter Brown — Dance With Me
Gene Chandler — Get Down
Al Hudson & The Partners — You Can Do It
Rick James — Super Freak
TOP 10 Electro Disco Boogie Funk Records
Teena Marie — Behind the Groove
Change — The Glow of Love
D-Train — You're the One for Me
Yarbrough & Peoples — Don't Stop the Music
Skyy — Here's to You
Sharon Redd — Can You Handle It
Raw Silk — Do It to the Music
Rockers Revenge — Walking on Sunshine
Julia & Company — Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba)
Young & Company — I Like (What You're Doing to Me)
KEEP DIGGING
The next time you pull a Jazz-Funk or Disco record from a crate, listen beyond the obvious.
If you dig the beat, who was the drummer?
If the bassline provided a stone cold groove, who was on bass?
If the percussion initiated the boogie, who was pounding on the skins?
If the electric piano or synth hit the spot, who was on keys?
Who arranged the strings and who produced the track?
Then ask yourself, “where did this sound come from”? or, “where did it go next”?
Because that is the real beauty of digging. Sometimes a record isn't just a record, sometimes it's the beginning of a journey that opens the door to a world of music waiting to be discovered, explored and cherished.
Jazz leads to Funk, Funk to Disco, Disco to Boogie and they all eventually lead to Hip-Hop.
The crates aren't divided into genres. We are.
The music has always been connected, if you take the time to look for the connections..
