Saturday, September 24, 2011

HURRAH IN PHILLY! OCT 1st

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Hey! Check us out in Philly next weekend for the 4 Hours Of Funk Dj's Fleg & Exclaime at the HURRAH party held at the Medusa Lounge. We would like to thank Shawn Ryan and Chris Rogy for having us come up and rock some heavy Baltimore vibes in the city of brotherly love. Expect the best dance music......Period!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

WELDON IRVINE

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Its funny how truth works in the universe. Sometimes its right in front of your face and your just not in the place mentally or spiritually to take it in. Its the same when you know you have something special to offer that nobody else can offer but you still go un-noticed or walked on by others who are lesser than you but maybe have better political placement.

Maybe that's why there has been very little said about the great Renaissance man known as Weldon Irvine. I'm going to try and really get the point across here about how important this man was and still is to this day. Like I said about truth, even though Iv cherished his albums for years now it took a reference in the new wax poetics for me to go back and actually search for information about Irvine and after the fact I have to say that its astonishing how little has been said about him. I guess he's just one of those people who exists for the real truth seekers to be in the know of.

Weldon Irvine was a musician, performer, composer, writer, teacher, playwright, political activist...I could go on and on. Its more like he was that and a whole lot more. He wrote the civil rights anthem "To Be Young Gifted And Black" for Nina Simone and also produced award winning plays which featured similar political and racial themes. Throughout his whole career he played the role of an activist as well as a mentor to countless people, especially musicians and rappers.

There are over 500 songs which he is credited to, many of which were sampled by hip hop artists in the 90's. The most notable of these were ATCQ's "Award Tour" which sampled "We're Getting Down" on the "Spirit Man" album and BDP's "My Philosophy" which samples "Sister Sanctified" by Stanley Turentine (A song written by Irvine).

Irvine helped a whole generation of young musicians from Jamaica Qweens by teaching them all aspects of being a successful musician and in turn many of his deciles became just that. Guys like Tom Browne, Bernard Wright and Marcus Miller were just of few of these success stories.

One thing that really differentiated Weldon Irvine from his peers was that once hip hop became prominent he actually embraced it instead of writing it off as a bullshit deviation of real music like many other jazz musicians did at the time. Just like he did in the past he mentored quite a few hip hop artists including Q-Tip, Mos Def and Common. He was also featured on these artist albums and in Mos Def's case even served as musical director for his first album "Black On Both Sides". The thing is he was fighting the same battle that a lot of these Mc's were which was overall an anti music industry thing. His quote says it all: "Many of the young rappers got disconnected from a tradition of protest and decided to rap about mayhem in order to get paid".

While being involved in quite a few hip hop projects, Irvine produced and financed an album in tribute to Amadou Diallo who was gunned down by police officers without probable cause. "I said, 'This has got to stop and I'm going to use my art form as a vehicle to address the shooting". Very few artists ever go out on a whim and completely do a whole album themselves over a political matter.

Unfortunately it wasn't that many years later that Weldon Irvine took his own life. As sad as it is, its even more upsetting that it was really people in the music industry bullshitting him that let him to his suicide. He was trying to get a pay advance or outright sale of his music licensing in the UK. They were basically ignoring him and somehow that led to go over the deep end.

Weldon Irvine's Music lives on and the mark he made as unsung as he may have been still serves as an inspiration to many including myself. You can check his amazing discography here at: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Weldon+Irvine and if you are interested in learning more about him please visit: http://www.nathanielturner.com/weldonirvine.htm for a lengthy biography.

Here's an instrumental on Mos Def's "Black On Both Sides" album that really helped me get through some things as a teenager. Its called "May-December" and it features Weldon Irvine on the Keys and arrangements. Please check his other music too. It will really inspire you in a big way.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

4 HOURS OF FUNK FEA. HUNEE

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Hey there! Its almost that time of the month again and we are really stoked to announce that Hunee the remarkable Dj and Producer from Berlin will be our special guest!

Hunee made a pretty big impression with a track called "Rare Silk" which was released by W/T Records out of Brooklyn. Since then the man has released on such labels as Rush Hour and even has a track on a recent Panorama Bar compilation. Based out of Berlin, you wouldn't think he would be one for the soulful and funky side of things but guess again. His music
encompasses all of that and then some. As a Dj, Hunee in my mind is one of the most impressive new players doing it in the worldwide house and disco scenes. He really vibes out with a crowd and has great track selection and mixing skills to go with it. Just check out some of his tracks and mixes on his soundcloud and see for yourself. Def check his blog out too!

http://soundcloud.com/hunee
hunchmusic.wordpress.com

We will have a $5.00 cover after 11:00 this time so be sure to get there early.

Hope some of you can make it to this one : )

WHEN THE WORLD IS RUNNING DOWN

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Its been a while since either of us have posted anything. Rest ushered thats going to change soon. With that said I have a special edit of my favorite Police song "When The World Is Running Down". It was one of the more favorable pieces in the 80's dance scene. Maybe 2nd to "Voices In My Head". The edit is pretty strait forward with the break placed in the beginning for better mixing. Have fun with this one!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/p84log

Sunday, February 6, 2011

4 HOURS OF FUNK W. SHAREGROOVE

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On Friday February 18th 4 Hours Of Funk welcome's guest DJ's DUCKCOMB & STEVE SHAKEWELL from NYC.

Here's a short bio and also and an awesome mix they made for us. You can also check them out at: http://sharegroovenyc.com/

DJ’s Duckcomb & Steve ShakeWell have been sharing rare grooves for since 2004. Having held various residencies and one-off’s throughout Manhattan & Brooklyn, this dynamic duo focuses on choice programming of all kinds of disco, house, and funky music. Currently, they host parties at a private loft in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn. Some guests have included: Rahaan (Chicago), Jamie 3:26 (Chicago), Lovefingers (ESP Institue/NYC), Ron Morelli(L.I.E.S./NYC), Prince Language (No Comprendo /NYC) , Robotique (Philly), Jerome Derradji (Still Music/Chicago), Bim Marx (Stilove4Music/NYC), Chris Burns (D.C.), Bruce Ivery (Stilove4Music/Chicago), Mike Trombley (Macho City/Detroit), & Saheer (House of House/NYC).

Sharegroove---4-Hours-of-Funk---Bmore! by graham hatke

Friday, December 31, 2010

TOM TOM CLUB LIVE!



The first really inspiring musical experience I ever had was seeing the awesome movie "Stop Making Sense" where the Talking Heads do a totally life changing concert in NYC for 2 hours. At 5yo I used to set up toy instruments, watch the movie and basically pretend to play along with them. The music and energetic performance would give me chills and goosebumps all over. This experience continues to stay with me forevermore. I owe all my musical attributes to the Talking heads. They made music to tap into your body's sensations and in the movie they play with an equal ensemble of black musicians such as Bernie Worrell from Parliament, Alex Wire from The Brothers Johnson, Edna Holt and Dolette McDonald who had major underground dance hits in the early 80's and Steven Scales who although uncredited played drums on a few dance records as well. Having black and white musicians performing on stage together without the an outwardly kitschy "unity" theme attached made a big statement. The theme here was collectively participating in a powerful musical message far removed from the idea of race.

My favorite part was when they switched from Talking Heads to The Tom Tom Club and performed their current hit "Genius Of Love" which has always been my #1 fav song. Talk about getting goose bumps! Bernies synth solo where they turn on the strobe light would send a surge through me. Just check the video and you will understand. Later on I realized that the song was basically about drugs but also pays homage to black music (they cite Bob Marley, Sly & Robbie, James Brown and Bohannon to name a few).

To download here is a special re-edit of the songs performance in the movie. There's a mixable intro and the break towards the end I extended as well. Hope you dig this because it marks a major place for music in my life.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/bkmuwy

Friday, December 3, 2010

BEAUTIFUL SWIMMERS

This month at 4HOF we have special guests from DC The Beautiful Swimmers. They have released some seriously awesome records in the last few years and also throw some seriously dope parties like The Wale at U Street Music Hall. You can check them online at: www.futuretimes.org and at myspace at: www.myspace.com/letsgoswimmers

Check this music out tho. Its dope!