Leroy Emmanuel - The Original Funk Brother

Listen to the words of the legendary guitarist Leroy Emmanuel in the Fireside Chat interview that you can find in the end of this article. Leroy was once a steady member of Motowns legendary studio band The Funk Brothers who was the rhythm sector behind countless Motown hits.

I took the images that illustrates this article at Newworldsons concert at Gullbranna Festival. At the concert at Gullbranna the original members in Newworldson Joel Parisien and Mark Rogers was backed up by the Chops Horns (Darryl Dixon and Dave Watson), the bassist "Big Bad" John Irvine and the original Funk Brother Leroy Emmanuel. If you are given the opportunity to see this funky constellation live do it!

Listen to Leroy Emmanuels interesting story here:
http://www.rbmaradio.com/shows/leroy-emmanuel-fireside-chat 

Here´s a direct link to the Flickr set The Original Funk Brother: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chasid68/sets/72157634666413068/



Text and Photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved.

A Guitar Legend at Gullbranna

I think that some readers thought of the guitar virtuoso Rex Carroll from the band Whitecross who also played at the Gullbranna Festival when they read the headline of this article. But for both Rex Carroll and me the guitar legend at Gullbranna in Sweden was Leroy Emmanuel who played guitar with the Canadian band Newworldson.

Leroy has worked with some of the greatest entertainers in the history of modern music: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Edwin Star, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Al Green, Sonny Boy Williamson, Funk Brothers, Bohanon, Dionne Warwick, James Brown Band, The Counts, Funkadelics, Sly and The Family Stone, The Commodores, Kool and the Gang, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Natalie Cole, Grover Washington, Rufus, Jackson Five, Peaches and Herb, The Dells, Chick Corea, Rufus Thomas, Ben Vareen, Ike and Tina Turner, Ruby and the Romantics, Roberta Flack, the Temptations, Booker T and the MGs, Hot Chocolate, Albert King, Martha and the Vandellas, War and many others.

I recognized Leroy and I took the opportunity to shake hands with him and to exchanged a few words with him backstage. Although he is a Soul, Funk and Rhythm & Blues legend, he was very humble and it was easy to speak with him. It would have been real fun to sit down and talk music and memories with Leroy Emmanuel, but the time was not on our side this time. For me it was the musical highlight of the year to meet and see a legend like Leroy Emmanuel in action.  

Click on the following link if you want to see more pictures from Newworldsons concert at the Gullbranna Festival: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGG3wWn

Text and photo: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved.

Den största stjärnan stod i bakgrunden

Gitarrlegenden Leroy Emmanuel uppträdde med bandet Newworldson på Gullbrannafestivalen utanför Halmstad den 5 Juli. Leroy har tidigare spelat med bland annat Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Edwin Star, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Al Green, Sonny Boy Williamson, Funk Brothers, Bohanon, Dionne Warwick, James Brown Band, The Counts, Funkadelics, Sly and the Family Stone, Commodores, Kool and the Gang, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Natalie Cole, Grover Washington, Rufus, Jackson Five, Peaches and Herb, The Dells, Chick Corea, Rufus Thomas, Ben Vareen, Ike and Tina Turner, Ruby and the Romantics, Roberta Flack, Temptations, Booker T and the MGs, Hot Chocolate, Albert King, Martha and the Vandellas, War med flera. 

Jag kände igen Leroy och passade på att skaka tass med honom och bytte några ord med honom bakom scen. Trots att han är en legend inom blues-, soul- och funkkretsar så var han mycket lättpratad och ödmjuk. Det hade varit riktig kul att få sätta sig ned och snacka musik med Leroy, men tiden räckte inte till denna gången. För mig var det årets musikaliska höjdpunkt att få se en legend som Leroy Emmanuel in action.

Tidningen Dagen har skrivit om Gullbrannafestivalen och det är en mycket bra artikel som sammanfattar festivalen på ett bra sätt. Men jag förstår inte hur de kunde missa att skriva om Leroy Emmanuel som har arbetat tillsammans med några av de allra största underhållarna i musikindustrin?

Klicka på den följande länken om ni vill se fler bilder från Newworldsons konsert på Gullbrannafestivalen: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGG3wWn

Text och foto: © Mikael Good, All Rights Reserved.