cheryl lynne skinner: Music

• MP3 short clip, hi-fi play (broadband)
• MP3 short clip, lo-fi play (modem)

7. In a Flute Funk

I would rather be “In a Flute Funk” than a “Blue Funk”. This is a basic blues with a touch of rock & roll accented by the use of the rhythm guitar. After asking my friends what they thought about the flute, they mostly responded with words like birds, sweet or meditative. PLEASE! I set out to prove them wrong. It dawned on me that most people don’t understand the depth of the flute and the emotion a flute can evoke! I used the flute in harmony parts in the rhythm section to accompany its solo voice. There is a tutti section before the break. At the break section my idea was to have an avant-garde jam session for players in 3 patterns with different player featured per pattern. Musically I wanted bending notes and pitches going in & out, slithering about creating a mesmerizing affect like a snake. I explored the concept of “thinking out of the box” and using the interval of fourths and modal sounds. An unexpected beat of silence occurs between the second & third pattern to abruptly change the groove and mood. Next I added another tutti section to return to melody and chorus which are repeated by the flute followed by ad lib. & fade. (dedicated to Hubert Laws, Yusef Lateef & Herbie Mann)

Feel the Funk
Laws knew it
Unequivocally Yusef blew it
Toot that Flute
Ecstasy…

Feel the Fire
Underneath that Mann
Nights of Nappy Notes
Knights of Funk