BERNIE ON KEYS, STEREOPHONIC ON B'WAY
An interview with a synth wizard and a '70s rock quasi-musical
After much digging through old hard drives I’ve found the A camera footage of my talk with Bernie Worrell at an outdoor New Jersey music event in 2012. Though lauded for his contributions to Parliament-Funkadelic and the Talking Heads, most people don’t know that Worrell spent much of the ‘00s toiling in the world of jam bands. Before I was able to arrange an interview, I went to see him at the Brooklyn Bowl backed an all white, very young ensemble playing to a equally young, mostly white crowd. As funk has receded from black popular culture, and with it black band culture, Worrell had found a home on a musical scene more Phish than Funkadelic. At the show where I was finally were able to sit down with him, his band was composed of young white musicians that Worrell was mentoring.
As a musician Bernie remained Bernie even as the cultural context around him shifted. He wasn’t a very verbal person, but I was fortunate to get a sold half hour of time with him. His wife didn’t like George Clinton. Worrell was less confrontational about it, yet it’s clear in our talk he didn’t feel his contributions to P-Funk was probably compensated. To say his keyboard style, particularly on the Mini-Moog were influential is to understate how much hip-hop of the ‘90s owed to his pioneering experiments. On my bucket list of interviews this was a huge check mark for me. RIP Bernie Worrell.
For more of Bernie Worrell and other funk pioneers (George Clinton, Mtume, Steve Arrington) go to the The Legacy playlist on my YouTube channel.
CURTAIN CALL FOR ‘STEREOPHONIC’ AT THE GOLDEN THEATER
I’d been reluctant to go see the play Stereophronic, even after it got nominated for a slew of Tony awards. Most music biz based narratives tend to hit the same notes (corrupt music deals, drug derailed lives.) But a good friend raved about it recently so I shelled out Broadway dollars and left mightily impressed with the writing and performances. David Adjmi’s three hour play is a deep dive into the challenges of collective creativity. This could have been a writer’s room, a movie set, a dance studio or an Silicon Valley start up in terms of the power dynamics. But the juice in Stereophronic is that its an successful mid-70s band who’s line up and romantic entanglements echo Fleetwood Mac’s during the making of its iconic ‘Rumours’ album. If you know the back drop of the Stevie Nicks-Lindsay Buckingham and Christy McVie-John McVie relationship meltdowns, Stereophronic has a little extra kick. Even without that knowledge the drama still works. Moreover the depiction of the limitations of a mid-70s recording studio are spot on as are the clothes, production design, and the intricate sound design.
My only caveat is about the music composed by ex Arcade Fire member Will Butler. It’s very well crafted (though we rarely hear whole songs all the way through) and the cast do a remarkable job sounding like a real band. Still that mid-70s soft rock sound, a genre with touches of folk and soul to solidify its pop melodies, is a very specific thing. I was on the fence about how authentic the tunes were. Moreover I questioned whether these were songs that would make the unnamed band the big deal the play says they are. That said, I would recommend Adjmi’s text and the actor’s performances (particularly Will Brill’s coked up bassist Reg) as worth braving a weeknight in the Times Square theater district. Or you could wait - surely this production will end up touring the U.S. and eventually end up in London’s West End.
