The Band: Ivan Bodley and Jazz/Funk Unit
The Cats: Ivan Bodley-Electric & Acoustic Bass, Julian Coryell-guitar, Adrian Harpham-drums, Deji Coker, Jr.
-Alto Saxophone, Peter Adams-Keyboards.
The
Guests: Corey Glover-vocals (on "Nature Boy"). Platinum and Grammy
award winning singer from the band Living Colour. Raphael
Cruz-Percussion (tracks 1-6). Percussionist extraordinaire, Grammy
nominee, alumnus to stars like Dr. John, McCoy Tyner, and George Benson.
The
Music: Bebop with Bump! Jazz standards redefined with modern funk,
Latin, and swing beats: Nefertiti (by Wayne Shorter), Nardis (Miles
Davis), Nature Boy (Eden Ahbez), Fee Fi Fo Fum (Wayne Shorter), Stella
by Starlight (Victor Young), Anthropology (Charlie Parker, Walter
Bishop, Jr.
, Dizzy Gillespie), Just Blues (Kenwood Denard), Blue in Green (Miles Davis).
The
Project: Recorded "live in the studio" (mostly), June, 1994 at Loho
Studios, NYC. Produced and arranged by Ivan Bodley. Recorded by Victor
and Ed Luke. Mastered by Tony Dawsey.
The Deal: In the
Swing Era, jazz was to popular culture what Saturday Night Fever was to
the 1970s. It was a wild dance craze, outrageous fashion statement and
the popular music of the 1920s and 30s. Neo-traditionalist automatons
are now regurgitating the rhetoric of fossils and charlatans, claiming
that the only true jazz is that played to a swing beat with certain
traditional instruments, denying most rhythmic innovations since about
the late 1950s. It's time we all got on with our lives! And who said
serious music can't be fun?
The Jazz/Funk Unit are educated
musicians, disproportionately talented, who play like all hell. The
melodies and harmonies navigated here are largely post bebop, beyond the
scope of what Bird and Dizzy were dealing with at the time. And the
rhythms? Well, suffice to say this music is designed to vigorously
stimulate any part of your body that you care to wave at it.
These
cats are the new breed, the young lions, Berklee College of Music
graduates with a plethora of professional credits ranging from Larry
Coryell and The Osmond Brothers to The Blue Note Club House Band, Harry
Connick, Jr.
, and The Shirelles. They know the score.
Reviews of Ivan Bodley and Jazz/Funk Unit:
With
Jazz/Funk Unit: "Bassist/bandleader Ivan Bodley lives up to the
description of his sound: bebop with bump. He gives backbeat to modern
standards." -Billboard
"Bassist/producer Ivan Bodley gets to make
syncopated groove music out of jazz standards. It's feisty and fun."
-Nelson George, Playboy
Jazz Jackpot! Review: "Impassioned and
equally intelligent, featuring Bodley's buzz-like bass work. Hats off
to the Jazz/Funk Unit." -CMJ
"**** [four stars]. Jazz/Funk Unit tight and swinging, delightfully different." -The Music Paper
"Ivan Bodley, producer, arranger, and bassist!.
I'm happy to inform you the record is at least twice as interesting as the accompanying story." -Jazziz
Ivan Bodley Biography
Bassist
Ivan Bodley is a Magna Cum Laude Berklee College of Music graduate with
diverse music industry experience. Specializing in acoustic, electric,
fretted, fretless, four-string, five-string, eight-string, and piccolo
basses, Ivan is a creative and versatile bassist, performer, producer,
musical director, composer, arranger, vocalist, and instructor. He has
solid professional experience in diverse musical genres from hip-hop to
bebop.
Originally from Chattanooga, TN, Ivan has resided
and worked in: New Orleans, Los Angeles, London, Boston, and is now
based in New York City.
Ivan has performed in 23 countries to
audiences of up to 30,000 people. He has toured and recorded with
diverse artists such as (alphabetically): Solomon Burke, The Chiffons,
The Coasters, The Crystals, Spencer Davis, Bo Diddley, The Drifters,
Gloria Gaynor, Ben E. King, The Marvelettes, Sam Moore (Sam & Dave),
The Platters, Buster Poindexter, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas,
Santana, The Shangri-Las, The Shirelles, Percy Sledge, Rufus & Carla
Thomas, The Tokens, The Uptown Horns, and Peter Wolf.
Ivan has a
BA in Psychology from Tulane University, where he was Musical Director
of college radio station WTUL, New Orleans. He was also a publicist
with Epic Records/Sony Music.
Ivan endorses and uses
Warrior basses, Hartke amplification, Dean Markley strings, Digitech and
Line 6 signal processors exclusively. Ivan eats only Little Debbie
snack cakes.
Track listing:
1 Nefertiti
2 Nardis
3 Nature Boy
4 Stella by Starlight
5 Fee Fi Fo Fum
6 Anthropology
7 Just Blues
8 Blue in Green
Personnel:
Julian Coryell - Guitar
Deji Coker - Sax (Alto)
Adrian Harpham - Drums
Ivan Bodley - Arranger, Bass (Electric), Bass (Acoustic), Producer
Peter Adams - Keyboards
Raphael Cruz - Percussion
Corey Glover - Vocals
The choice of tracks draws my attention, and the presence of this unknown alto player excites my curiosity too. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken it. Thanks a lot, CrimHead, for which is a novelty for me.
ReplyDeleteDear CrimHead, that cover of the dreamy, obsesive Nefertiti excites my curiosity, but zippyshare doesn't work any longer. Would you be so kind to post it via workupload? Thenks a lot!
ReplyDeleteNew link!
Deletehttps://workupload.com/file/Q3TExT9Qzew
ReplyDelete