excerpt taken from: http://www.grammys.com/fe..._blog.aspx




Funk Revival

Earth, Wind & Fire with OutKast
Saints and sinners alike had mutual grooves to move to Friday night at Staples Center as rehearsals got under way for a massive, four-band, all-star tribute to the sound of funk. Bringing together the booty-shaking talents of Earth, Wind & Fire, OutKast’s Big Boi, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and the legendarily funkified George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, the GRAMMY’s "Funk Is Back" segment will be presented as a kind of "Church of Eternal Funk" revue, giving the old faithful (EW&F), the sinful (OutKast), the new disciples (Randolph) and the church elders (Parliament Funkadelic) a chance to raise the roof for the GRAMMY congregation.



During rehearsals, the funk energy stayed high and mighty, beginning with EW&F’s ripping take on their old favorite, “Shining Star.” The trademark triple vocal attack from Maurice White, Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson was in fine form, the band’s horn section was as bright and punchy as ever, and longtime member Verdine White added some particularly wild, thumping bass. As the song came to a close, the EW&F horns and vocalists wandered over to stage left, just in time to add some superb backup to Big Boi’s undeniably funky “The Way You Move.” When Big Boi delivered his tune and he and his dancers finished their moves, action jumped to stage right, where pedal steel phenomenon Randolph led his band through a heated rendition of “I Need More Love.” As the band kicked into high gear, Randolph danced around as wildly as his guitar setup would allow, finishing the song with some soaring solo lines. Yet another groove then kicked in, and center stage was taken by pioneering funk architect George Clinton, with a 16-person Funkadelic lineup that included Bootsy Collins and several other original Parliament Funkadelic members. Clinton beamed like a proud funk-daddy as the band pumped through “Give Up The Funk,” and by the end of the tune, all the assembled funksters had joined together for an onstage funk-jam. Ever mindful of keeping the groove properly unrushed, Clinton offered the mega-group one bit of advice between run-throughs: “Not too fast. Let’s put that thing in the stink.” (2/6)


Big Band
While it might be impossible to say who the biggest talent is on any particular GRAMMY night, the biggest onstage band at this year's GRAMMYs may well belong to André 3000 of OutKast. For a performance of the Record Of The Year-nominated song "Hey Ya!" (from the group's Album Of The Year contender Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), the rapper/singer has recruited not only backup singers and dancers to join him, but also a 40-person strong contingent from the USC Trojan Marching Band. With so many people involved in one performance, it took a while to work out kinks in the choreography during Friday rehearsals. For the first few run-throughs, Andre simply watched as the dancers and marchers walked through their steps to a click track, unaccompanied by the song's backing tracks. Finally, with the music on and the band playing, the infectiously grooving song came together in a big way. Production value will also be particularly big during this GRAMMY performance, with the segment featuring a giant, smoking tepee/spaceship at center stage, and a quirkily intense video introduction from School Of Rock's Jack Black. (2/6)





[This message was edited Sat Feb 7 18:26:45 PST 2004 by PFunkjazz]

INDEED...I am truly looking forward to this!!!

This sounds very promising. It's too bad the Grammy's are not broadcasted in Holland, as far as I know...

fuck prince, i'm lookin forward to ew & f and parliament-funkadelic! my dad called me today and i told him that these guys are gonna be on the show tomorrow...he's gonna be sure to watch it!

that graphic came out lookin pretty cool.
needs a little fix




Ohhh yeah! that is ME! Gotta addit to my signature

Yeah, If P wants to make it memorable he better get in on this. His little act with Beyonce is gonna pale in comparison.

whodknee said:

you ain't never lied!!

prince gonna rockit D-Troit style!!!


with Meg and Jack!!!

Could it be I'm actually looking forward to an AWARDS show?


...and thank the almighty for ProSieben...

Thank you Andre for The Love Below!

BlueNote

i'm so upset that Prince is going to be with Beyonce and not with this set. It doesnt make since.

I hope that its not true.

Rhondab said:

yeah, me too. it is really weired.

BlueNote

Rhondab said:

maybe Prince will surprise everyone and take part...you never know...the funk segment is supposed to be 11 minutes long, and with Prince sitting in the front row, how can he NOT take part in that? I hope at least George calls him up to the stage LOL

Here's what I heard...



GCPF is closing the show, for the finale' We Want The Funk, they will be joined by all other guests including Earth Wind and Fire, Outkast, Prince,etc.

Rhondab said:

May she be overcome by his Princeliness during their performance (if it does happen) and allow him to produce her next record. I might listen to that.

I can't wait to see this!!

AdoreDaBang1 said:

Well my tail is between my legs. I'm glad Prince wasn't in that mess they made. GC sucked with his old ass.

Yeah shit was funky!

some people just don't know real funk.

AdoreDaBang1 said:

Thank you! He needs to get a better grade of crack cause he was dead as shit last night.

Universaluv said:

Or is it because he's off the crack after the arrest?