Funk Music: Rhythm Revival
- Music History Hall
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Rhythm Revival
New Orleans musician Professor Longhair combined afro-cuban rhythms — rumba, mambo, and calypso — and performed New Orleans blues and rumba-boogie on piano. He put the funk into New Orleans music and had a direct bearing on the development of funk music. The Meters also brought the funky beat out of New Orleans and are widely recognized as early originators of funk music.
Following in the footsteps of the New Orleans originators and the Godfather of Funk, James Brown, a new form of funk music emerged in the 1970s in an unlikely spot - the Midwest.
Magic in the Midwest
Something magical happened in Southwest Ohio in the 1970s. This unlikely spot on the map made huge contributions to American funk music. The influence of Midwest funk music is undeniable — as songs from this period have been heavily sampled for decades.
Cities in the Midwest were at the end of a three-decade swell in migration. The Great Migration brought 54,000 black people to Dayton, Ohio, between 1940 and 1970. African Americans comprised over one-third of the population of Dayton during the latter half of the 1970s. Black residents were concentrated in West Dayton, due in part to a history of redlining.
There were still good blue-collar and white-collar jobs in Dayton (and nearby Cincinnati) during this period. Good jobs meant money for things like instruments and music lessons.
The Synthesizer was introduced during this time, and funk bands experimented with the new sound – creating grooves that would become extremely influential. A recording studio was established in Dayton, Ohio, by Roger Troutman of the band Roger and Zapp called Troutman Sound Labs and George Clinton’s band Parliament Funkadelic was lighting up the scene. Innovation and a musical revolution were happening in Ohio.
