Fred Wesley

Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943)[1] is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s.

Not to be confused with Fred Weasley.
Fred Wesley
Background information
Born (1943-07-04) July 4, 1943
Columbus, Georgia
GenresFunk, R&B
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsTrombone
Years active1960s–present
Associated actsJames Brown, The J.B.'s, Parliament-Funkadelic, Soulive
Websitewww.funkyfredwesley.com

Biography

Wesley was born the son of a high school teacher and big band leader in Columbus, Georgia, and raised in Mobile, Alabama. As a child he took piano and later trumpet lessons. He played baritone horn and trombone in school, and at around age 12 his father brought a trombone home, whereupon he switched (eventually permanently) to trombone.[2]

During the 1960s and 1970s he was a pivotal member of James Brown's bands, playing on many hit recordings including "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud," "Mother Popcorn" and co-writing tunes such as "Hot Pants." His slippery riffs and pungent, precise solos, complementing those of saxophonist Maceo Parker, gave Brown's R&B, soul, and funk tunes their instrumental punch. In the 1970s he also served as band leader and musical director of Brown's band the J.B.'s and did much of the composing and arranging for the group. His name was credited on 'Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s' recording of "Doing It to Death," which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in July 1973.[3] He left Brown's band in 1975 and spent several years playing with George Clinton's various Parliament-Funkadelic projects, even recording a couple of albums as the leader of a spin-off group, The Horny Horns.

Wesley became a force in jazz in 1978 when he joined the Count Basie Orchestra. He released his first jazz album as a leader, To Someone in 1988. It was followed by New Friends in 1990, Comme Ci Comme Ca in 1991, the live album Swing and Be Funky, and Amalgamation in 1994.

In the early 1990s Wesley toured with his colleagues from the James Brown band, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker, as the JB Horns. With the departure of Ellis the band became The Maceo Parker Band. Wesley was featured trombonist with Parker until 1996 when he formed his own band, The Fred Wesley Group, now known as Fred Wesley and the New JBs.

Backstage in Cologne/Germany 1998

Wesley's 35-year career includes playing with and arranging for a wide variety of other artists including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Randy Crawford, Vanessa Williams, The SOS Band, Cameo, Van Morrison, Socalled and rappers De La Soul, to name a few. Many other artists have sampled his work. In 2002 Wesley wrote Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman, an autobiography about his life as a sideman. Also in 2002 he recorded an album entitled Wuda Cuda Shuda.

Wesley served as an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies department of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 2004 to 2006, and now works with students as a visiting artist at numerous other schools including Berklee College of Music and Columbia College of Chicago. In addition to performing with his own band, he tours as part of a collaboration called Abraham Inc. along with Klezmer artist David Krakauer and Klezmer/hip-hop artist Socalled.

In 2007, Wesley accepted an invitation to contribute to Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard). He participated with Lenny Kravitz, the Rebirth Brass Band, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker to contribute their version of Domino's "Whole Lotta Lovin'."

In 2010, Wesley contributed to Kings (Freestyle Records), the fourth album by Israeli funk and groove ensemble, The Apples. Specific sessions on the album were dedicated to working with Wesley, one of the group's heroes.[4]

Discography

As leader
  • Damn Right I Am Somebody (1974)[5]
  • Breakin' Bread (1975)
  • A Blow for Me, a Toot to You (Atlantic, 1977)
  • Say Blow by Blow Backwards (Atlantic, 1979)
  • House Party (RSO, 1980)
  • Blow Your Head (Urban, 1989)
  • To Someone (Hi Note, 1990)
  • New Friends (Minor Music, 1990)
  • Swing & Be Funky (Minor Music, 1993)
  • Amalgamation (Minor Music, 1994)
  • The Final Blow (Sequel, 1994)
  • Full Circle (Victor, 1998)
  • Wuda Cuda Shuda (Hip Bop Essence, 2003)
  • It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (Sons of Sound, 2006)
  • Funk for Your Ass (Columbia, 2008)
  • With a Little Help from My Friends (BHM, 2010)
  • Studio Live Session (LoEnd, 2018)

As sideman

With George Benson

  • Good King Bad (CTI, 1976)
  • Pacific Fire (CTI, 1983)
  • Space (CTI, 1978)

With James Brown

  • Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud (Polydor, 1969)
  • Sex Machine (Polydor, 1970)
  • Funky Drummer (King, 1970)
  • It's a New Day So Let a Man Come In (King, 1970)
  • Hot Pants (Polydor, 1971)
  • Love Power Peace (Polydor, 1971)
  • Soul Power (Polydor, 1985)
  • CD of JB (Polydor, 1985)[6]
  • In the Jungle Groove (Polydor, 1986)
  • CD of JB II (Polydor, 1987)
  • Motherlode (Polydor, 1988)
  • Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (P-Vine, 1990)
  • Star Time (Polydor, 1991)
  • The Payback (Polydor, 1993)
  • Get On the Good Foot (Polydor, 1993)
  • Revolution of the Mind (Polydor, 1993)
  • Hell (Polydor, 1995)
  • Reality (Polydor, 1996)
  • Funk Power 1970: A Brand New Thang (Polydor, 1996)
  • Make It Funky (Polydor, 1996)
  • Say It Live and Loud (08.26.68 Live in Dallas) (Polydor, 1998)
  • Get On Up The James Brown Story (Polydor, 2014)
  • Get Down with James Brown: Live at the Apollo Volume IV (Polydor, 2016)
  • Live at Home with His Bad Self (Republic/UMe 2019)
  • Live at Home with His Bad Self: The After Show (Republic/UMe 2019)

With George Clinton

  • Computer Games (Capitol, 1982)
  • You Shouldn't-Nuf Bit Fish (Capitol, 1983)
  • R&B Skeletons in the Closet (Capitol, 1986)
  • Hey Man...Smell My Finger (Paisley Park, 1993)

With Bootsy Collins

  • Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band (Warner Bros., 1976)
  • Ahh...the Name Is Bootsy, Baby! (Warner Bros., 1977)
  • Bootsy? Player of the Year (Warner Bros., 1978)
  • This Boot Is Made for Fonk-n (Warner Bros., 1979)
  • Ultra Wave (Warner Bros., 1980)
  • F-Encounter (Warner Bros., 1980)
  • The One Giveth, the Count Taketh Away (Warner Bros., 1982)
  • What's Bootsy Doin'? (Columbia, 1988)
  • Jungle Bass (4th & Broadway, 1990)
  • Blasters of the Universe (Rykodisc, 1993)
  • Fresh Outta 'P' University (Black Culture/(WEA, 1997)
  • Live in Louisville 1978 (Disky, 1999)
  • Christmas Is 4 Ever (Shout! Factory, 2006)
  • Tha Funk Capital of the World (Mascot, 2011)

With Hank Crawford

With Deee-Lite

  • World Clique (Elektra, 1990)
  • Infinity Within (Elektra, 1992)
  • Sampladelic Relics & Dancefloor Oddities (Elektra, 1996)

With Pee Wee Ellis

  • A New Shift (Minor Music, 1996)
  • What You Like (Minor Music, 1997)
  • Live and Funky (Skip, 2001)
  • The Spirit of Christmas (Minor Music, 2013)

With J.B. Horns

  • Doing It to Death (1973)[7]
  • Pee Wee, Fred & Maceo (Gramavision, 1990)
  • Funky Good Time/Live (Tokuma, 1992)
  • I Like It Like That (Soulciety, 1993)
  • Bring the Funk On Down (ZYX Music, 1999)

With Maceo Parker

  • Roots Revisited (Minor Music, 1990)
  • For All the King's Men (4th & Broadway, 1990)
  • Mo' Roots (Verve, 1990)
  • Life On Planet Groove (Minor Music, 1992)
  • Horn Riffs for DJ's (Tuff City, 1992)
  • Horn Riffs for DJ's Volume 2 (Tuff City, 1993)
  • Southern Exposure (Minor Music, 1993)
  • Maceo (Minor Music, 1994)
  • Funkoverload (ESC, 1998)
  • My First Name Is Maceo (Minor Music, 2003)
  • Live in Funky Good Time (Sounds of Ordinary Madness, 2008)
  • Roots Revisited The Bremen Concert (Minor Music, 2015)
  • Life On Planet Groove Revisited (Minor Music, 2018)

With Parliament

  • Mothership Connection (Casablanca, 1975)
  • The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (Casablanca, 1976)
  • Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca, 1977)
  • Live (Casablanca, 1977)
  • Motor Booty Affair (Casablanca, 1978)
  • Trombipulation (Casablanca, 1980)
  • Tear the Roof Off 1974–1980 (Casablanca, 1993)
  • Mothership Connection Newberg Session (P-Vine, 1995)
  • Dope Dogs (Fonomusic, 1995)

With Bernie Worrell

  • All the Woo in the World (Arista, 1978)
  • Blacktronic Science (Gramavision, 1993)
  • Pieces of Woo: The Other Side (CMP, 1993)

With others

Bibliography
  • Fred Wesley (2002). Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0822329093.

Further reading

References
  1. Ankeny, Jason. "Allmusic Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  2. "Audio interview with Fred Wesley – WCPN 90.3". WCPN, ideastream.org. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  3. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 338. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  4. "Review: The Apples - Kings - out on Freestyle Records". parisdj.com. September 27, 2010. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015. Wesley contributes to several tracks.
  5. "The J.B.'s / Fred Wesley / Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s – Damn Right I Am Somebody". AllMusic. 1974. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  6. "James Brown – The CD of J.B: Sex Machine & Other Soul Classics – credits". AllMusic. 1985. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  7. "The J.B.'s – Doing It to Death". AllMusic. 1973. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  8. "The Apples – discography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
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