David Webb, the CEO of the Funk Museum Hall of Fame and Exhibition Center, says he plans to announce the first class to be induced to the hall of fame at the event.
He will also discuss the funk symposium planned for the University of Dayton later this year.
Tickets for Saturday’s concert are sold out, but this is just the beginning of a milestone year for the band.
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Bell, the group’s co-leader, and its founder Tony “Silky T” Allen sat down recently at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s studios to discuss the first performance of Dayton Funk All-Stars’ 20th anniversary year.
Allen: "This whole unplugged thing Deron has for us is totally new to a funk band. Two days ago, I heard, 'How are you going to play funk with all acoustic instruments?' It's going to be the same songs with a different personality. It's different colors. It's funk alchemy, you know. It's like if you drew a picture in color but the same picture could be perfect in black and white. So, basically, we're taking the color tones and turning it into black and white. Anything can be done, it just needs to be put out there."
Bell: "We've had everything from school-age kids to adults and senior citizens at these unplugged shows and they've really gotten into it. The sound is pretty much the same but it's a paradigm shift in the approach. Where the synthesizer would play, the audience will sing the melody. We do use piano and the Fender Rhodes sound for music of the era. We use electronic handclaps but we turn it off and get the audience going with live hand claps. When you scale it back with acoustic instruments and scale back the technology, it's raw and more organic."
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Allen: "When Deron told me about it, I was like, 'OK, this is cool. This is a good idea. Let's get to it.' Now, I'm in school. Deron has already done this but now I'm in school and I'm learning everyday like everybody else."
Bell: "It's a whole different feeling to be so close to the audience in the PNC Arts Annex. It's raw, so there's all this energy in the room, which is this wonderful theater with specialty lighting and digital sound. There's no loss of quality. I think the quality actually increases when I can have a conversation right after the song and I don't even need a microphone. Then it becomes about, 'What is funk?' 'What are the elements of funk?' If we get people involved, then imagine the seeds we're planting in young people seeing the instruments and hearing the music."
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WANT TO GO?
Who: Dayton Funk All Stars present Funk Unplugged — SOLD OUT
Where: PNC Arts Annex, 46 N. Ludlow St., Dayton
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18
Cost: $25 risers and $35 tables
More info: 937-228-3630 or www.ticketcenterstage.com
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