FUNK HEADLINES

Funksgiving 26 Goes Back to Bellmore

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:27:07 -0500

It all started 26 years ago in Bellmore, NY… and this year they brought it back to Bellmore. Funksgiving 26 took place at the Bellmore Movies & Showplace on the day after Thanksgiving and it was a blast! Although it’s a theatre and lacks the dance floor one would find in a club, the audience came prepared to work off their Thanksgiving dinner and party like rock stars…. Aisles were made for dancing….
Funk Filharmonik’s history in Bellmore goes back to The Brokerage where they played on the last Thursday of the month for quite a few years and built the following that they have today. Each year was capped with the “Funksgiving” show which quickly became a tradition and a big annual event. In those days, they were playing music from Tower of Power, Earth, Wind and Fire and other funk/soul artists. And then, after 24 years, they finally released their own CD of original music which has been received quite well by both old and new fans alike.
And that brings us here, 26 years down the road, to the Bellmore Movies and Showplace where both long time and new found fans could “get their funk on”… The band played the music from their CD, Everybody Get Down and added some tried and true fan favorites from TOP and EWF to which the crowd fervently sang along. It seems as though they had done their homework.
There was no shortage of energy in the band either and they added to the excitement with some new arrangements to the music. They also added, as a special treat, a trio of background vocalists who brought some extra UUMPH! to the mix and sounded phenomenal… and on top of all that, they did it all with only ONE REHEARSAL… not an easy task by any means… so a special thanks goes out to Kristine Bogan, Abby Burke and Stephen Tyler Davis for a remarkable job on background vocals! All in all, the evening was a total blast from start to finish and everyone left the theatre with that “happy exhaustion” that one gets from a night of great music...
And so Funksgiving 26 is now a memory… to the fans, thanks for the support for the past 26 years and here’s to seeing everyone again further on down the road…

Funk Filharmonik... 25.5 Years Later

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:20:25 -0400

Well neither rain, nor sleet, nor touring schedules could effectively stop Funk Filharmonik from celebrating 25 (… and a half…) years together. It took a little bit of work after the Anniversary cancellation back in December but the party finally happened at The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale on April 22nd… and the house was packed!
The band was present in it’s entirety, which is a difficult thing to accomplish these days as a lot of the guys are on the road with other artists. We played some of our songs from the CD Everybody Get Down as well as some time tested favorites from Tower of Power and Earth, Wind and Fire… and somewhere in the middle we even took the time to say “Funk You” via Cee Lo… which seemed to be a crowd favorite. All in all it was a wonderful night, a great show and a great way to celebrate our 25.5th birthday.
A big “Thank you!” to everyone who worked to make it possible… from publicity to tee shirt and CD sales along with hospitality at the venue. Also a really BIG “Thanks!” to the fans who have stuck around for over 25 years and who come out show after show and support the band! We wouldn’t be doing this at all without you!
So I suppose we’ll see you all in 6 months for our 26th Anniversary… after all, this WAS technically the 25.5th… we’re going to have to start planning NOW… Thanks again!

Funk Filharmonik Takes the Port Jeff Ferry... Almost...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:02:36 -0400

It took a minute to get to it but here's the brief recap of Funk Filharmonik's latest show… If you were there, then you know all about it already... if you weren’t, then here we go...
It was August 6th, the last outdoor concert of the summer on the ferry dock in Port Jefferson, NY and Funk Filharmonik was there along with a a large crowd of local folk and tourists who were coming off of the ferry from Bridgeport, CT. As is the case more often than not, the audience was pumped and the band hit them hard. It was a fine summer night of music. We played only a few of the songs from the Everybody Get Down CD as we opted to bring out some of the "old standbys" from our past… Tower of Power, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly Stone and the like.
We were also graced with a special guest performer… singer/songwriter Lina Koutrakos came on and took the lead vocal spot on some songs. LIna is originally from the Port Jefferson area but her career has taken her far beyond the borders of the Long Island sea coast town. Her performance ranged from the Etta James tune "At Last" along with a slamming version of "Kansas City" to "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" by James Taylor and "Tell Me Something Good" by Chaka Khan. She is a fine artist and it was a pleasure to share the stage… and judging from crowd reaction, she kicked a**!
Filling in for the absent Ozzie Melendez that night was trombonist Jamie Ramos. A great player and vocalist, Jamie rocked it in both the horn section and background vocal department. A big "Thank you!" goes out to him for covering the otherwise missing parts.
All in all, it was another great show and we want to thank everyone who came out to support Funk Filharmonik and live music. See you all the next time around!

It Was a “Wondrous Funk War” on Long Island...

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:43:14 -0400

This past Friday in Patchogue, Funk Filharmonik got together with two great bands to create an amazing evening of some serious music for a VERY appreciative audience at the Great South Bay Festival. The evening's festivities started off with the Long Island based band Wondrous Stories who performed songs from the entire Deja Vu album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Believe me, this is no easy task but these guys are known for their "whole album" performances and they rocked the first part of the night.
Then it was our turn… we came out armed with the music from our latest CD, Everybody Get Down and we aimed to knock the crowd on their backsides… or at least make them dance up a storm. It was a successful campaign… it's a beautiful thing to get to play our own music and with so many fans - some old and some new - behind us, well what can we say… we had a "funky good time"…
Following the Funk was the legendary rock band War. They came out to an already amped up crowd and played their hits as well as a few other popular tunes from rock music history. Their sound is as fresh now as it was when they hit the scene in 1969. It was an honor for us to be able to open for these funk/rock legends.
If you missed us at the GSBF, you can come on out to our next show in Port Jefferson… stay tuned to this site for all of the info. As always, we thank our friends and fans so much for supporting us for so many years. We couldn't do it without you… we love you all!

The Funk Gets “Crazy” Once Again at the Crazy Donkey

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:46:30 -0400

Well a great night was had by all who attended the Funk Filharmonik show at the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale on Friday March 26, 2010 and we want to send out a big “THANK YOU!” to all who came out to share the evening with us. Some folks travelled from as far as Quebec City, Canada...now THAT’s a commute!
Also, big “Thank you’s!” need to go out to two great friends of ours who filled in for a couple of missing members. Thanks to the talented Mark Feinberg sitting in for John Scarpulla on sax and the inimitable Chris Jisi filling in for Jack Knight on bass. Believe me, a lot of work went into learning the new music from the CD for this gig... these arrangements aren’t easy and both of these guys get the game ball for kicking it out so righteously as though they’d been playing the songs for some time.... I only know of one rehearsal... but hey, they’re pros just like the rest of the band and I’m not surprised in the least...thanks again fellas!
To those of you who missed it...fear not...there will be more in store for the Funk and here on the site is where you can keep tuned in to all that is Funk Filharmonik...keep funk alive and we’ll see you down the road...