Published on Mar 11, 1999
It’s been a few years since Living Colour, a premier funk/metal
outfit, breathed its last. So when word got out that former
bandmates Doug Wimbish and Will Calhoun were collaborating on a new
project, excitement was sure to build.
But don’t look at this collaboration, Jungle Funk, to be
anything like their previous work. Bassist Wimbish, drummer Calhoun
and vocalist Vinx do some impressive work here, but when all is
said and done, the music sounds sterile and empty.
The first thing that strikes the listener about this trio is
that there is no guitar player – a fact that is painfully obvious
by the time you hit the midway point of this album. Many of the
tracks on
Jungle Funk almost cry out for further instrumentation;
songs like “Headfake”, “Cycles” and “Aquarius” all suffer from
reliance on just bass, percussion and tape loops.
That’s right, in lieu of guitar work, the band relies on loops
and samples to fill in the empty space. Now, there are times that
such a mix works out well; songs like “Ugly Face” and “Trance” both
show the strengths of this group. But these become stale quickly,
and by the time you get to songs like “People,” you almost find
yourself wishing that this album would end.
This is, by no means, a slam against any of the three musicians
who make up Jungle Funk. Wimbish is one of the most highly regarded
bassists in music today, and his contributions to this project are
the cornerstone of it. Calhoun is an accomplished drummer, and Vinx
(who had made a name for himself as a solo artist) fights for and
quickly earns your respect.
One thing that puzzles me about Jungle Funk is that the liner
notes say this album was recorded live in Prague. But I don’t get
the feel of a crowd until well over halfway through the album, when
you can hear some faint cheers in the background. Too bad that some
of the more boring selections were the ones that you hear the
audience on; even they seem to give tentative acceptance to some of
the music presented to them.
So what would have made
Jungle Funk a better release? I think the addition of even
one guitar would have helped this project in ways that can’t be
comprehended. Just having another instrument to interact with could
have provided a sense of direction to the music, as well as
creating a solid interplay between instruments and samples. Here’s
a suggestion that might not go over well: why not ask Vernon Reid,
another former Living Colour member, to sit in the next time? Reid
is no slouch on the axe, though he would have to keep the
six-string pyrotechnics to a minimum. The funky jazz that makes up
Jungle Funk doesn’t seem to be the right vehicle for an
all-out shred.
Jungle Funk has its moments of glory, but more often than
not falls in their attempt to blaze new trails in the worlds of
jazz and funk. Such innovators are bound to run into pitfalls like
these; this I know. But the question to be asked now is: Can they
avoid these the second time around?