MAKE IT FUNKY!

Two percent jazz, 98% funky stuff! The performances of an extraordinary assemblage of New Orleans-based musicians and others with a deep connection to the music of the Big Easy are recorded in this beautifully shot concert documentary. Alan Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Bonnie Raitt and Keith Richards are among those onstage for an evening of exciting music. Concert footage is interspersed with interviews with the performers and archival footage of pioneers, including Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. MAKE IT FUNKY! illuminates the roots of the New Orleans second line rhythm, which made a profound contribution to the genesis of soul, funk, rhythm & blues and rock & roll.

"Second line" refers to the second group of musicians who follow the pallbearers in a funeral procession in New Orleans. The tune is slightly less mournful than the one played by the first group, and the beat is a syncopated mix of European march rhythms and African polyrhythmic drum patterns. For those who grow up in New Orleans, the second line rhythm is ingrained from an early age. When Aaron and Art Neville (Art narrates the film) are sitting side by side and discussing the beat, you get the sense that it's as obvious to them as 1, 2, 3.

The performances in the film are made all the more thrilling as the viewer begins to recognize the building blocks that give the music shape. MAKE IT FUNKY! will have you dancing in your seat.

Colin Stanfield

Michael Murphy has a distinctive style of maintaining the integrity and excitement of live performances while showing the heart and soul of his subject matter. Murphy has largely focused on programs that highlight American roots music. He has created programs for the House of Blues, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Other recent productions have included a DVD retrospective on the roots rock band The Blasters and a documentary on a Lousiana photographer and surrealist philosopher, CLARENCE JOHN LAUGHLIN: ARTIST WITH A CAMERA.

Print Source:
Cilista Eberle, Michael Murphy Productions, Inc.
8020 Jovenita Canyon Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Tel: 323 654 9283
Fax: 323 654-9766
Email: cceberle@aol.com

Friday 6/17 at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday 6/18 at 3:15 p.m.

MAKE IT FUNKY!
Friday night fun will surely ensue when New Orleans funk legends Walter Washington and Big Sam's Funky Nation perform live in conjunction with MAKE IT FUNKY!, yet another film in our fabulous - and FUNKY! - Music Documentary strand.

Friday 6/17
Music starts at 7:30 p.m., film rolls at 9:30 p.m.
FREE!

Events sponsored by Celebrate Downtown Silver Spring.

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