MAKE IT FUNKY: A SPECIAL EDITION

On Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 7:00 PM CST, Dr. Tony Bolden will be joined by the composer-poet and pianist Janice A. Lowe and the scholar, musician, producer, and songwriter Scot Brown for Make It Funky: A Special Edition--a trip on the Mothership to the musical land of funk. Bolden's contribution will include a brief reading from his new book Groove Theory: The Blues Foundation of Funk. We'll also discuss models and manifestations of the funk aesthetic, including its multidimensionality, sound quality, social significance, and visual elements exemplified in photos of funk artists, such as those taken by the acclaimed black photographer Bruce W. Talamon. We'll conclude the evening w/ Q&A.

This special edition will be the seventh event in the "Make It Funky" mini-symposia series at the University of Kansas. Modeled after a two-day symposium on funk that Bolden organized at the University of Alabama (which featured Brown incidentally) in 2007, the programs combine performance and scholarship that engage specific themes related to funk aesthetics. And since "funk is its own reward," as George Clinton reminds us, the predilection for pleasure flouts the mind-body split, which means that audiences experience learning on multiple levels. These programs have enlightened and enthralled students, community people, and faculty since my arrival at KU. Such is the epistemology of funk.