Sound Check's Blog Posts Tagged 'Ra' (2)

Funk is not a genre known for restraint or minimalism. It's generally at its best when it goes as far over the top as possible. So it's no surprise that the most exciting new project in funk is the 100+ member Big Ol' Nasty Getdown. Born out of a jam between members of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band in 2007, bassist John Heintz, joined forces with guitarist John-Paul Miller and trombonist Derrick Johnson to form a studio project they called The Big…

Nearly 40 years before George Clinton claimed his cosmic heritage and before Crass declared that if no-one else would release their anarchic noise then they'd just do it themselves, a pianist from Birmingham (or Saturn, depending on who you ask) named Herman Poole Blount (again, depending on who you ask) set out to redefine the possibilities of music on his own terms. Although there are many many origin stories out there for the great Sun Ra, here's the version of the story that…