Charlie Funk
Give Me A Groove
(True Groove)

Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton’s wailing electric guitar opens “Lunch In Babylon,” a dark, plodding tune on Charlie Funk’s new EP, Give Me A Groove. With Marla Mase proving a sexy-waitress spoken vocal and Charlie talking through the roiling, spooky tune, we get to the sung title chorus and more Hampton wailing, making this a tune that certainly grabs you by the throat to bring you into Funk’s vision. The cover of “It’s Not Unusual” is more spoken than sung here, and though the horns inform the slower groove, I’m not sure it works so well. “It’s Not a Joke” though, with Josh David’s bass and the horns again, is really funky, the best tune here for me in fact, pushing Funk’s staccato verse vocals perfectly. The rap/sung high stomping, wacka-wacka electric and snapping rimshot keeps “Sexy Cutie” moving. It’s as much poppy as it is high funk and I believe here Charlie’s vocals sound the best. With harmonies of sly backing vocals running in the choruses, and yes, Hampton’s pull-off leading stellar moments, this is the headiest brew here. Prepare to have horns, drums, bass and sexy, sly Charlie Funk to get into your life with the man’s solo stuff.