D.C. funk master Brown readies 1st album in decade

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - The untimely death in 1996 of 33-year-old pop/jazz singer Eva Cassidy struck a deep chord with Chuck Brown. Washington, D.C.'s godfather of go-go had teamed with Cassidy on the 1995 release "The Other Side."

"After we lost her, I didn't want to do anymore studio work," Brown said.

But cajoling from songwriter/producer Chucky Thompson and business manager Tom Goldfogle changed Brown's tune. "We're About the Business" (due April 24 from Raw Venture) is the musician's first set of primarily original material since Cassidy's death.

That's not all. Rapper Eve samples his No. 31 1974 R&B hit "Blow Your Whistle" on "Tambourine." The Swizz Beatz-produced track is the first single from her long-awaited album.

"When 'Blow' first came out, there were little kids riding bicycles, blowing whistles and shaking tambourines," Brown said, his gravelly voice erupting in gentle laughter. "That tune is a classic."

As is Brown himself. Still an energetic fixture on the D.C. club circuit, Brown and his Soul Searchers have been preaching the gospel of go-go since the '70s. The pumping grooves of Latin percussion, jazz, soul, gutbucket rhythm and funk define Brown's journey from a piano-playing, church-bred youth to guitar-strumming member of a Latin group covering top 40 songs. In between were such inspirations as

MIXING IT UP

"When I left the Latin group to form a band, I was looking for my own sound," Brown said. "I kept that (Latin) sound, mixed it with the church sound of my childhood, Brown's live funk and congos."

Brown's pioneering sound inspired other go-go acts through the years, including Trouble Funk. The best-known, E.U. (aka Experience Unlimited), scored four top 10 R&B singles in the late '80s, most notably the No. 1 party jam "Da'Butt," featured in

Brown himself first charted in 1972 with his and the Soul Searchers' "We the People, Part 1" (No. 40 R&B). But go-go didn't fully click until 1976, with Brown's No. 1 R&B/No. 34 pop hit "Bustin' Loose, Part 1." Twenty-six years later, when Nelly sampled "Bustin' Loose" for his mainstream blockbuster "Hot in Herre," the track still registered. Outside of live albums and a Christmas collection, Brown's last stand on the R&B charts (No. 26) was 1984's "We Need Some Money."

He began recording "Business" in late 2004. His pairing with protege Thompson -- who toured Europe with Brown at the age of 17 -- results in such can't-help-but-move tracks as the single "Chuck Baby" (featuring Brown's rapping daughter KK, whose own go-go band, Backyard, is earning its share of buzz around D.C.) and "Party Roll," the theme song for the D.C. Lottery's spring campaign. And only Brown could pull off the go-go-ification of "Love Theme From 'The Godfather."'

Brown will perform a rare series of club shows outside his D.C. base, in cities including New York, New Orleans and Atlanta. Also on the schedule are a live simulcast April 24 on D.C. stations WKYS and WMMJ from the city's Hard Rock Cafe and a performance berth on radio personality Tom Joyner's annual Fantastic Voyage cruise (May 20-27).

Though go-go's popularity remains strongest in D.C. and overseas, Brown isn't about to end his crusade.

"I've had records that absolutely did nothing," he said. "But I'll never get tired of go-go. As long as God keeps me able, I'm still getting hired and I'm still not tired, I won't be retired."

Reuters/Billboard

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