BM:You mentioned that you think some people are drawing from what you do. That’s definitely true with a band like Deep Banana Blackout and the other jam ‘n’ groove bands you’ve inspired. What do you think of the young bands influenced by your funky stuff?

I’m at a loss. Maybe we’re in a position where we can inspire groups. I don’t know. People have to go with what’s within. If we can inspire, that’s great, but I don’t know what lured me to funky music. I just know that something inside me did. I’m very comfortable with it. I love it. I enjoy playing funky music. I enjoy seeing people have fun and have joy. I know that it has become important for me because it is important for people to have a situation where they can sort of forget all the problems, forget all the troubles and just have fun. Funky music or music period, besides funky music, has a quality that can do that. That’s why we feel that what we do is important. But I’m still at a lost for other groups and all of that because we’re constantly doing what we do and trying to make that better and better.

BM: Given how much you’re revered in funk and rock circles, do you think your jazz chops sometimes get overlooked? There’s a couple of tunes on ‘Dial: M-A-C-E-O’ that could be played on contemporary jazz stations.

Maybe, but I don’t care about that. I don’t mind that because if somebody out there discovers, ‘Hey, wait a minute, that sounds a little jazzy,’ then that’s a plus. They feel that they’re getting something extra and that’s all right, that’s OK.

I came up with a phrase a while back, ’2 percent jazz, 98 percent funky stuff.’ That’s sort of how we do it. We just like to hint at jazz here and there. I really do love to do the ballads, but we really put the funky sound in everything.

I have yet to walk into a place or be in the car, when a radio DJ plays one of our tunes. I haven’t heard it yet. I’ve done a lot of interviews where they’re playing stuff in the background, but I’ve yet to hear any of the new stuff. But that’s OK too.

BM: Are you going to play on the forthcoming P-Funk reunion albums?

No. I stay so busy. You know what I mean? I really do. But some of the old James Brown musicians are going to get together in Seattle on the 25th (of June). James Brown is going to be part of that too. There’s a museum that some people put together and part of it is dedicated to funky music. And James Brown is highlighted in the funky music. So he went back and got people like me and Fred Wesley and Bootsy (Collins) and my brother, Melvin, to play what we were doing way back then. We’re doing a live thing to open it. That’s going to be very fun and exciting.

BM: When was the last time you played with James Brown?

We were doing the same festival in Europe about three years ago.

BM: How do you approach being a frontman differently from him or George Clinton, especially James Brown, because without you, half of his schtick would have been out the window.

I don’t rule with an iron fist. I figure if somebody wants their job, they know what they have to do. So I don’t have to preach punctuality and decorum and how to act in the hotels and stuff because everybody’s wearing my name and all this. Everybody knows all this. On stage, they have a certain freedom to do what they want to, to play a little bit when it’s time for it individually. But there’s a very thin line between a group of guys just getting together, calling some tunes, and actually a group who’s really together and there to entertain the people. If someone’s really careful and watchful, they can pick them out. I don’t want to appear like we’re just a bunch of folks just getting together. We have fun, but I do like for us to be on the same page. It’s a little looser, but we’re still together. And we can do it in such a way that it looks like we’re just there, but we are really together.

I am the leader, so to speak, and I control how long and how short and how loud and all this stuff. I control it all. If I decided maybe somebody needs to play this part, that’s what they’ll do. If decide maybe not, then that’s what they do. A lot of the stuff is dictated by how much time we have. That’s why you have to have a leader, somebody to shape and mold it so that it can be done correctly to fit into that particular time slot.

BM: Throughout your career, what would you say was your proudest musical moment? You’ve done so many amazing things, but which one has stuck with you? When you’re playing a good set, sometimes you’ll think back on it.

Oh boy. Whew! We did a tune with James Brown called ‘Phase IV (Damn Right I’m Somebody’) that I sort of mentally said to myself, ‘I can get really funky and involved in this solo.’ My kids were really little at the time, 7, 8, 9 years old. But they talk about that particular solo now, like, ‘Man, I don’t know what you were thinking about.’ They now can hear, since they’re older, what I was trying to do at that particular recording session. But that’s a toughie. It’s really hard.

I remember when I was in Bootsy’s (Rubber) Band, I did an emcee thing to get the crowd to say, ‘Bootsy! Bootsy!’ I remember playing the L.A. Coliseum. We must have 85,000 people. I could see that whole 85,000 stand and say ‘Bootsy!’ on my command. That sort of sticks out a little bit. Just to hear that roar. You know what I mean?

BM: It sounds like an airplane flying over your head.

That was incredible. When we landed the Mothership with George many times, that was special. And the early James Brown stuff when you knew everybody in the world was going to attend a James Brown concert. What was fascinating about working with him in those early days, the question wouldn’t be if you were going to the James Brown, the question would be what you’re going to wear because it was already understood, if he’s somewhere near, you’re going to go. And that’s what gave you a great pride for working in a group like a James Brown band.

All the Apollo stuff. His very first Apollo thing when I was in high school is what grabbed me. One tune went right into another and all that. It’s a million things, man.

BM: Louis Armstrong fans and scholars will be celebrating the centennial of Satchmo’s birth for the entire year between his mythical birthday of July 4, 1900, and his actual birthday of Aug. 4, 1901. Comment on why you think celebrating significant Satchmo contribution to American is important.

Although conditions were what they were at the time of Louis Armstrong, he still bridged gaps between races and different groups of people in this country and out of the country. He was the ambassador that equalized the black race with the world. He was one of the first to represent the black race and black musicians in a whole lot of different countries through his music. That was very, very, very important because it opened the door for other entertainers to come. He was followed by all the other greats, like Sammy Davis Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald.

I can remember as a child him being the first black entertainer often on television. Again that was a very important step. But the man with the horn was clearly Satchmo. That was what I believe put the halo around his head. The spotlight will always be there.

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Bob Makin is an entertainment writer for Gannett NJ.

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