Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s. Wesley was born in Columbus, Georgia, the son of a high school teacher and big band leader. During the 1960s and 1970s he was a pivotal member of James Brown's bands, playing on many hit recordings including "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Mother Popcorn" and co-writing tunes such as "Hot Pants". His slippery riffs and pungent, precise solos, complementing those of saxophonist Maceo Parker, gave Brown's R&B, soul, and funk tunes their instrumental punch. In the 1970s he also served as band leader and musical director of Brown's band the J.B.'s and did much of the composing and arranging for the group. He left Brown's band in 1975 and spent several years playing with George Clinton's various Parliament/Funkadelic projects, even recording a couple of albums as the leader of a spin-off group, The Horny Horns.

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  • Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s. Wesley was born in Columbus, Georgia, the son of a high school teacher and big band leader. During the 1960s and 1970s he was a pivotal member of James Brown's bands, playing on many hit recordings including "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Mother Popcorn" and co-writing tunes such as "Hot Pants". His slippery riffs and pungent, precise solos, complementing those of saxophonist Maceo Parker, gave Brown's R&B, soul, and funk tunes their instrumental punch. In the 1970s he also served as band leader and musical director of Brown's band the J.B.'s and did much of the composing and arranging for the group. He left Brown's band in 1975 and spent several years playing with George Clinton's various Parliament/Funkadelic projects, even recording a couple of albums as the leader of a spin-off group, The Horny Horns. Wesley became a force in jazz in 1978 when he joined the Count Basie Orchestra. He released his first jazz album as a leader, To Someone in 1988. It was followed by New Friends in 1990, Comme Ci Comme Ca in 1991, the live album Swing and Be Funky, and Amalgamation in 1994. In the early nineties Wesley toured with his colleagues from the James Brown band, Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker, as the JB Horns. With the departure of Ellis the band became The Maceo Parker Band. Wesley was featured trombonist with Parker until 1996 when he formed his own band, The Fred Wesley Group. Wesley's 35-year career includes playing with and arranging for a wide variety of other artist such as Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Randy Crawford, Vanessa Williams, The SOS Band, Cameo, Van Morrison, Socalled and rappers De La Soul, to name a few. Many other artists have sampled his work. In 2002 Wesley wrote Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman, an autobiography about his life as a sideman. Also in 2002 he recorded an album entitled Cuda Wuda Shuda with a group of jazz musicians calling themselves the Fred Wesley Band. Wesley served as an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies department of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 2004 to 2006. (en)
  • Fred Wesley (né 1943) est un tromboniste et un arrangeur américain de jazz et de funk. Il s'est notamment fait connaître en tant que directeur musical de James Brown. Il est surnommé le "Funkiest Trombone Player Ever". Fred Wesley est né en 1943 à Mobile, Alabama. Il est le fils d'un professeur d'université et leader d'un Big Band. Il a commencé par des études de musique classique avant de se tourner vers le trombone et le Jazz pour se préparer à une carrière de tromboniste de Big Band. En 1978, il entre dans le Count Basie Orchestra.La naissance des courants musicaux Soul et Funk vont complètement changer la vie de Fred Wesley. Il entre dans le groupe de James Brown au milieu des années 60. Pendant 15 années, il en sera le directeur musical, le tromboniste, tout en composant certains des plus fameux tubes du "God Father of Soul". Il invente un phrasé au trombone reconnaissable entre tous, inspiré par le Jazz, aux accents de Soul Music et de Gospel.Il compose alors "Gimme Some More", "Pass The Peas" ou "Same Beat" qui seront tous des tubes interprétés par James Brown & JBs Friends. Il forme alors les JBs Horns avec Maceo Parker et Pee Wee Ellis. Ces trois-là seront inséparables des années durant, auprès de James Brown puis de George Clinton qu'ils rejoignent dans les années 70. Fred Wesley développe alors ses compositions et crée Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns, avec lesquels il tourne beaucoup, tout en enregistrant avec la plupart des musiciens de la planète Funk. Il continue à jouer avec le Funkadelic ainsi qu'avec Parliament.Au début des années 90, Fred Wesley reforme les JBs Horns avec Maceo Parker et Pee Wee Ellis et démarre une tournée mondiale qui sonne le retour du Funk en haut des charts. Ils enregistrent plusieurs disques pour différents labels et se produisent dans toute l'Europe. "Life on Planet Groove" est un énorme succès et les trois Funkateers sont partout. Jouant sur la vague Acid Jazz et s'imposant comme les parrains du Funk instrumental, ils participent à de très nombreux albums, côtoient de nombreux musiciens issus du Rap, du Rhythm and Blues, du Jazz et de la Soul. Fred Wesley forme alors son propre Sextet avec Hugh Ragin et Karl Denson + Peter Madsen, Dwayne Dolphin et Bruce Cox. Il enregistre deux disques avec cette formation, tournée autant vers le Funk que vers le Bop et le Latin Jazz. Après des retrouvailles avec Bootsy Collins puis une tournée avec Lynn Collins et un projet autour de Bobby Byrd, Fred Wesley a récemment tourné en invité de Nils Landgren Funk Unit et des Groove Collective. On a pu l'entendre sur les disques de Marcus Miller, Soulive, Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, George Benson et Hocus Pocus.En 2002, Fred Wesley a écrit Hit Me, Fred: Recollections of a Sideman, une autobiographie sur sa vie d'accompagnateur. Fred Wesley est également professeur dans le département de jazz de l'école de musique de l'université de Greensboro en Caroline du nord. (fr)
  • Fred Wesley (* 1943 in Mobile, Alabama) ist ein US-amerikanischer Posaunist und kommt ursprünglich aus dem Jazz. Mit Count Basie sammelte Wesley seine ersten Erfahrungen, bevor er in den 1960er Jahren zu James Brown kam und fester Bestandteil des Bläsersatzes wurde. Sowohl für James Brown als auch für das einflussreiche Nebenprojekt The J.B.'s war er zeitweise auch als Musical Director tätig. An der Entstehung der Funk-Musik war Wesley maßgeblich beteiligt, er und sein Partner am Saxophon Maceo Parker bildeten ein kongeniales Team. In der 70ern landeten beide dann zusammen mit Pee Wee Ellis bei George Clinton, wo sie als Horny Horns das Universum des P-Funk mit ausgeklügelten Arrangements prägten. Unter diesem Namen veröffentlichten sie auch 2 eigene Alben, Say Blow By Blow Backwards und A Blow for Me, a Toot for You. (de)
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  • Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s. Wesley was born in Columbus, Georgia, the son of a high school teacher and big band leader. During the 1960s and 1970s he was a pivotal member of James Brown's bands, playing on many hit recordings including "Say it Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud", "Mother Popcorn" and co-writing tunes such as "Hot Pants". His slippery riffs and pungent, precise solos, complementing those of saxophonist Maceo Parker, gave Brown's R&B, soul, and funk tunes their instrumental punch. In the 1970s he also served as band leader and musical director of Brown's band the J.B.'s and did much of the composing and arranging for the group. He left Brown's band in 1975 and spent several years playing with George Clinton's various Parliament/Funkadelic projects, even recording a couple of albums as the leader of a spin-off group, The Horny Horns. (en)
  • Fred Wesley (né 1943) est un tromboniste et un arrangeur américain de jazz et de funk. (fr)
  • Fred Wesley (* 1943 in Mobile, Alabama) ist ein US-amerikanischer Posaunist und kommt ursprünglich aus dem Jazz. (de)
rdfs:label
  • Fred Wesley (en)
  • Fred Wesley (fr)
  • Fred Wesley (de)
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