Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, February 19, 2025: Fearless Flyers - Flyers Funk

Today's Humpday Happytrack is probably going to get your head bopping and cause you to wiggle in your seat. The intense syncopated funk of the Fearless Flyers activates my dance reflex, and I suspect that this is a universal human response to this track.

When I first heard this quartet, I asked "Who the hell are these monsters?" The band's origin story began at the University of Michigan in 2011 when four talented and extremely funky musicians met in the music department and started to play and record together.  They named themselves "Vulfpeck." The founding members are Jack Stratton on keyboards, drums and guitar; Theo Katzman on guitar, drums and vocals; Woody Goss on keyboards; and Joe Dart on bass. Vulfpeck is old-school in some respects. They believe in actually playing their instruments (no sampling or sneaky mixing shenanigans in a studio). They aim for a tight, minimalist sound where each instrument contributes but doesn't dominate.

Vulfpeck attracted many like-minded players, ranging from older musicians like Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (a prolific studio drummer famous for playing on many of Aretha Franklin's records) to young stars like Cory Wong (the Minneapolis-based funk guitar superstar). In time, this aggregation of musicians created Vulfpeck side projects. The Fearless Flyers is one of those side projects.

There are four musicians in the Fearless Flyers; drummer Nate Smith, bassist Joe Dart, and guitarists Cory Wong and Mark Lettieri. Smith is a terrific percussionist who has played with jazz greats such as bassist Dave Holland. Lettieri is a member of the jazz/fusion band Snarky Puppy. Dart is part of Vulfpeck; he is an insanely funky bass player. Wong has his own group and collaberates relentlessly with musicians from multiple genres.

Today's track, Flyers Funk, has a high-energy, drum-free start/stop intro. Smith is playing a unique 4-piece drum kit (his side tom-tom is actually another bass drum and he uses no ride or crash cymbals). cand His groove is creative and quietly forceful. Dart's bass lines vary from percussive to melodic. Guitarists Wong and Lettieri are completely dialed into each other; at times they sound like one instrument.

Here's the track - enjoy and go ahead and dance - no one's watching!

Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, February 12, Arrested Development - Mama's Always on Stage

Well, I got distracted and stopped posting Humpday Happytracks for a few months. I'll try to be more consistent...

When I was a mid-career corporate drone, I realized that there was an entire genre of music that I had been ignoring - hip hop.  I decided that I needed to understand the stuff that my middle school kids were listening to, so I started paying attention. The first rapper that penetrated my consciousness was MC Hammer - my reaction was, "meh." My snooty attitude was blown away in 1992 when Arrested Development dropped their first album - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of..."  This is a record that stands the test of time.

While the entire record is glorious, I found the track Mama's Always On Stage to be especially amazing for many reasons. First, the spoken word brilliance. Here's a sample:

I respect you in a strong way.

Super late nights cause your baby slept all day.

But mama don't sleep, your life's a turning page.

Mama's always on stage.

Oh yeah - that slaps!

The other beautiful thing about this track - Arrested Development samples the great blues harmonica player, Junior Wells.  Full disclosure - I am a blues harmonica player and a long-time fan of the late, great Junior Wells.  I'm delighted that Speech, Arrested Development's primary lyricist and rapper, understands that hip-hop is a direct descendent of the blues. As Willie Dixon famously said, "The blues is the roots. Everything else is the fruits."

So enjoy this Humpday Happytrack, Mama's Always On Stage.  And here's the sampled Junior Wells/Buddy Guy track,  We're Ready.