GREG TATE TALKS FUNK AND FUN

Plus a tribute concert to the writer bandleader in Harlem tomorrow

My long time Village Voice colleague Greg Tate passed away in 2021. Tomorrow the band he founded Burnt Sugar Arkestra is performing a free show in Harlem dedicated to his writings with Carl Hancock Rux, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs and myself readings selections from Greg’s book Fly Boy in the Buttermilk.

I’d interviewed Greg for the doc Finding the Funk, but it never made the final cut. I recently found footage from my B roll camera that’s never been seen before. It’s in three sections with one and two out on YouTube today and the last section premiering tomorrow. The first clip deals with funk’s demise as a black band music and the second looks at various records that impacted funk. If you can’t make it to Harlem tomorrow (or it gets rained out), you now have access to a great musical theorist who went from critic to creator in his career. Plus, if you haven’t read Fly Boy in the Butter Milk, its a must for any serious fan of musical culture and black excellence.

LOCATION CHANGED DUE TO RAIN. IF YOU’RE COMING CHECK THE NEW ADDRESS — 240 East 123rd Street.