News & Updates — soul/funk

An unsung name in the world of soul music, Homer Banks was a singer, songwriter and producer who wrote a lot of great tunes for the Stax stable of artists. His twin brother James Banks is also a songwriter. Memphis-born, he started touring in a gospel group in the late '50s and cut some soul records for the Genie label starting in '64. It was working there that he met future Stax chums Isaac Hayes and David Porter. He cut "A Lot Of Love" (later stolen by Spencer Davis Group for "Gimme Some Lovin"), one of five singles he did for...

Bop drummer Roy Porter was a heavy cat on the West Coast scene of the late '40s, famously recording with Charlie Parker and leading an forward-pointing big band that featured young musicians such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Art Farmer and others. Drugs destroyed his career but his '70s mini-comeback material remains sought after by funk collectors. A Colorado native, he went to college with Kenny Dorham in Texas. He was touring with Milt Larkin in '43 and landed in Los Angeles. His first recordings were with Howard McGhee in '45. In '46 he recorded with Bird for Dial (among...

Happy birthday to one of my very favorites, the soulful saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, an exile from apartheid South Africa and a major contributor to the '70s creative jazz landscape. He started playing professionally in the '50s with Kippie Moeketsi and Nik Moyake. Pukwana and Moyake became members (along with Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza and Louis Moholo) of the Blue Notes, a group led nominally by white pianist Chris McGregor, but were essentially a collective. They became a sensation for both the quality of their music as well as the fact that they were a mixed-race band, something that was illegal...

Happy birthday to the great left-handed conguero Louis "Sabu" Martinez, a star who burned out way too quick, much of it due to heroin addiction. NYC-born, he started playing professionally at the age of 11 after learning rhythm by playing tin cans. After a stint in Puerto Rico he was back in NYC, replacing the Cu-bop OG Chano Pozo in the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra in '48 (he got his "Sabu" nickname from Diz) and joining the Benny Goodman band the following year. He worked with Art Blakey off-and-on from 1946-59, appearing on his ground-breaking Afro-percussion records and several Jazz Messengers...

Here's a birthday nod to the Hammond B-3 groovemaster John Patton, a key member of the '60s soul-jazz scene following Jimmy Smith. He said his approach was trying to emulate the style of trumpeters and trombonists on the organ. Out of Kansas City, he was pianist and bandleader with Lloyd Price in the mid to late '50s. After leaving Price in '59 he moved to NYC and started gigging with the Hammond, playing groovy hard bop with the likes of Ike Quebec, Lou Donaldson, Johnny Griffin and Grant Green. He signed to Blue Note and released several records for the label...