Venue: Main House
Date: Fri 24 Aug
Time: 8pm
Produced by: J-Night
Reviews
Wed 29 Aug 2012
Written by Liam Wilkinson
Billed as "The Man Who Invented Funk", saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis brought a surprisingly relaxed performance to the stage of York Theatre Royal.
Wed 29 Aug 2012
Written by Ron Burnett
Hot anticipation for the James Brown saxman was palpable – funkateer Pee Wee Ellis was in the house. Huge in reputation and equally huge in suit size, his tone on opening ballad There Is No Greater Love was unexpectedly Coleman Hawkins/Ben Webster in its breathy romanticism.
The Man who invented Funk!
American saxophone legend Pee Wee Ellis is most famous as the man who refined the sound of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and has every right to the title The Man who invented Funk.
In 1965 Pee Wee joined James Brown and soon came up with the first pure hardcore funk hit Cold Sweat following it up with 26 others and served Brown as MD until 1969. In the 1970s, as arranger and producer of CTI-Kudu records, he was responsible for the hits by Esther Phillips, George Benson, Hank Crawford and many others. In 1979 he began a long relationship with Van Morrison and reformed the JB horns with Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker.
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