TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Fred Wesley, born in Columbus, Georgia, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, is a key figure in funk and jazz history. As music director and arranger for James Brown, he helped shape the explosive horn sound that defined Brown’s band in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Wesley co-wrote hits like “Hot Pants” and led The J.B.’s. His influence also extended to jazz through his work with George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic and Maceo Parker. As a solo artist, Wesley demonstrated how the trombone could groove like any guitar, influencing countless musicians with his unique phrasing and humor.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.