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!

Time to talk music -Vulfpeck

I guess I learned about Vulfpeck about three or four years ago.  This group has attracted quite a bit of attention, and there are some great articles about the fellas.  The origin story is appealing - a group of killer musicians met in Ann Arbor while studying at the University of Michigan, started playing together and dialed into the tightest funk groove I have ever heard. 

Vulfpeck was launched in 2011 sort of by accident, I guess.  It is a DIY effort - no manager, no record deal,  all millenial viral internet genius at work that led to a sold out gig at Madison Square Garden on September 29, 2019.  They are really the gold standard of the funk genre now, and many awesome artists have sat in with the group - vocalist Antwan Stanley, guitarist Cory Wong, trombonist Melissa Gardiner and saxophonist Joey Dosik collaberate regularly.  So does MacArthur Genius Grant mandolinist and NPR star, Chris Thiele.

My old bandmate, the late, great guitarist Osee Anderson, used to tell me, "Look for the pocket masters."   The guys in Vulfpecks are  the Jedi Knights of the pocket.  Joe Dart's bass lines are absolutely ridiculous - funk bass is really tough to play well, I think. The band can also lay down some heartbreaking R&B - check this out.

So if you love funk and high-skill  R&B, get deep into Vulfpeck.