And now, ‘Brit-funk’

Press, 26 April 1984, Page 18

And now, ‘Brit-funk’

By

Lindsay Wesker,

‘Black Sounds,’ London

All people in artistic professions want more recognition than they are receiving; all recording artists want to sell more records. Thus it was not suprising that jazz musicians in the United States began fusing funk, soul and pop into their music in the early 19705. This commerical form of jazz gave all jazz a much wider audience, and this growing number included many enthusiastic black music fans in Britain. In fact, the British fans of this fusion gave it a name — jazz-funk. Artists making this kind of jazz included Grover Washington, jun., Lonnie Liston Smith, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Ronnie Laws. Soon, groups of British musicians began playing this exciting new style; their music was also given a name — Brit-funk. Brit-funk also encompassed British groups emulating the heavy funk style of groups such as Brass Construction and Parliament, and the more polish soul sound of Earth, Wind and Fire and the Jacksons. Shakatak was one of the first Brit-funk groups to secure a major record deal.

It all began in Bishop’s Stortford, 25km north of London. There, a band called Tracks released a record which came to the attention of Nigel Wright, a member of another group. Members of the two groups came together into a quintet and recorded another disc. London’s Capital Radio liked it but was perplexed because the label only mentioned the song’s title, “Steppin”, and the station asked Nigel for a group name.

As the shop Record Shack had sold most copies of the record to the public, Nigel combined “shack” and “attack” into Shakatak.

The Shakatak sound was — and to a great extent still is — a keyboard centred, jazz-funk style, comparable to the recent offerings by jazz keyboardists such as George Duke, Dave Grusin and Herbie Hancock. To begin with, the drummer, Roger Odell, bassist, George Anderson and the guitarist, Keith Winter, provided a danceable rhythm over which the keyboardist and producer, Nigel Wright, and the keyboardist and songwriter, Bill Sharpe, played catchy melodies and took solos.

Shakatak was signed by Polydor Records (in Britain) in 1980 and the debut album “Drivin* Hard,” was released soon after. The album contained mid-tempo and up-tempo jazz-funk instrumentals, although “uptempo” in Shakatak terms is usually a relaxed, swayingstep dance music. The album also featured a track called “Brazilian Dawn,” something that fused Latin music into Shakatak’s jazzfunk.

The American musicians of the early 1970 s had also collaborated with Latin American musicians, and this is where most black music fans in Britain developed their taste for samba. Samba flavoured tracks — usually with Winter playing the central melody on guitar — are still a part of Shakatak’s albums and live show.

In 1980, Shakatak introduced female backing vocalists more often, and Jackie Rawe and Jill Saward were used to sing either a chorus or a bridge, the keyboard melody being still the central theme.

Five years later, there are now two permanent girl singers in the group and Nigel Wright has stepped out of the line-up to concentrate on production. These days, the group’s albums not

only contain tracks where the girls provide backing vocals, but there are songs with central vocal melodies. A feature that distinguished Shakatak from many other jazz fusion playing Brit-funk groups was a little section of silence slotted into the arrangement. Reminiscent of the stop-start technique used on Rodney Franklin’s “The Grove,” this became known as the Shaka-gap and vociferous audiences began counting the beats out loud during the short breaks. This little gimmick added an element of charm that pop groups must have in their make-up. Just before Christmas, 1981, Wright went to Polydor to ask if the company would allow the band to release a new single. It was four months before the release of the new album was due and Wright felt that Shakatak would be out of the public eye for too long.

It is normally not wise to release singles before Christmas unless a group is a really major act or it has an irresistible festive season song. Polydor gave the go ahead but warned Wright of the possible adverse consequences. Shakatak’s choice of single was the song that finally launched it in the pop world — “Easier Said Than Done,” included in the album of 1982, “Nightbirds.”

Working rather too fast for its own good, even before a year had elapsed Shakatak released its third album, “Invitations.” This consolidated the group’s popularity but was a trifle safe for many people’s ears. “Out Of This World” - the latest album — in contrast, included more backbeat and more vocals, and the group’s more vibrant stage show set fresh toes tapping. For the first time, the girls

began standing out front and taking the limelight. When George Anderson joined the group in 1981, his soul and rhythm and blues background , immediately made the group’s backing tracks funkier. Recently Norma Liehas has taken the place of Jackie Rawe, so the vocal harmonies now have more jazz and gospel in them.

To Shakatak’s credit, especially in the years 1980 and 1981, it spend much time on the road, playing both large and small venues, visiting the far corners of Britain. This paid dividends when the group began releasing singles; strong sales in all Britain’s cities are essential for pop chart status.

The group’s interpretation of that original American fusion is very light and palatable and rather more streamlined than the jagged conglomeration that inspired so many. This has allowed Shakatak to cross over from the British black music audience to the British pop audience and, subsequently, the mainland European pop audience. Japan, where there is an insatiable appetite for all forms of art, is probably Shakatak’s second biggest audience.

Success had provided Shakatak with . royalties enough to finance an image. So everyone has had new hair styles and has been fitted with a wardrobe of stylish, casual clothes, which rather aptly describe the group’s music. Success will probably also give the group courage enough to move away from its highly distinctive identity. Future albums will probably see it toughening and jazzing-up its sound, returning to the music of those pioneering Americans who set everything in motion.