Sometimes it takes outsiders to turn American music fans onto what’s made in their own backyard.
While early American blues musicians were ignored here in the states, musicians such as Jeff Beck and Keith Richards were absorbing their music, spawning what soon would be the British Invasion and the growth of rock ’n’ roll. Jimi Hendrix found fame in England long before he found it in the U.S., and it is arguable that the Ramones had twice as many fans in London in the mid- to late-1970s than they did in America.
While classic funk is seeing a resurgence here in the states, Leeds in the United Kingdom has been digging it for decades. Bands such as The New Mastersounds have been influenced by jazz-based funk musicians such as Jimmy Smith and Grant Green, adopting the genre as their own. The New Mastersounds, who are Eddie Roberts on guitar, Simon Allen on drums, Pete Shand on bass and Joe Tatton on keyboards will perform Saturday at the Animas City Theatre. Opening the show will be local band Sky Pilot.
Funk is becoming a festival staple with jam bands that have adopted the genre, but there was a time when modern American funk bands had to leave the country to get gigs.
“The Daptone guys used to come to Europe to play the club I was involved in, because they couldn’t get a gig in the U.S. at all. They had to go to Europe,” Roberts said in a phone interview last week. “It was only recently that the U.S. seemed to be playing catch-up. It’s a strange one, that’s where the music came from, but it took a long time for people to recognize and appreciate it.”
The New Mastersounds formed in 1999 out of the fertile Leeds club scene. Students at the Leeds College of Music began to emulate the sets club DJs would play of American funk.
“A lot of us gravitated there. There was a bunch of DJ’s running club nights, playing funk and soul,” Roberts said. “That’s what we were exposed to, and we started emulating those sounds, then we put the band together and started playing those clubs. Sixteen years later and here we are.”
Like any style that has spread quickly among fans and musicians, it was the mix tape that served as the catalyst, and it was those tapes chock full of American funk that influenced The New Mastersounds.
“DJ’s would make mix tapes and say ‘you should check this out, or check this out,’ and the next week they’d be there with a cassette with a bunch of tunes on it. That’s a big part of the learning process in forming the sound,” Roberts said.
The band recently spent time in New Orleans recording their new record. It currently is being mixed by Roberts with a release date set for later this year.
Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Bryant’s best
Saturday: Funk with The New Mastersounds and Sky Pilot, 9 p.m., $20. Animas City Theatre, 128 E. College Drive, 799-2281.
Sunday: Celtic music with Tommy and Saundra O’Sullivan and Patrick’s Crossing, 7 p.m., $15/$18/$24. Henry Strater Theatre, 699 Main Ave., 375-7160.
