FUNKY BONE:

Fred Wesley: 'Recollections of a Sideman': Trombonist's Memoir Covers Half a Century of Musical Influence (All Things Considered, 1/25/03, NPR)

This is a great interview with Fred Wesley, who not only played in the bands of Count Basie, Ike Turner, James Brown and George Clinton, but tells how, when he played in the U.S. Army band in the mid-60's, he and his bandmates were America's first line of defense against Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear attack. It's worth listening to just for his generous but brutally honest comments about the Godfather of Soul. The book sounds fascinating.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 26, 2003 9:10 AM