Defunkt are a quintessential downtown New York band, alive and kickin’ during that scene’s formative punk/no-wave/mutant disco years, and melding punk, jazz, and funk. They’ve got a good story, too; Defunkt was founded by trombonist Joseph Bowie, a member of St. Louis’s Black Artists Group, who grew up playing with legends like Albert King and Little Milton. Bowie’s sound evolved into avant-garde numbers as a young man, playing with the Human Arts Ensemble alongside Charles “Bobo” Shaw, with Oliver Lake and Frank Lowe.
Bowie then moved to NYC and joined seminal no-wave group The Contortions. In 1978, Bowie started Defunkt, a more funk- and jazz-flavored lil’ number. Now the 1980s lineup of Bowie, trumpeter John Mulkerin, guitar players Bill Bickford and Ronny Drayton, bassist Kim Clarke, and drummer Kenny Martin are back for Live at Channel Zero, a (you guessed it) live recording from a 2015 club show in Slovenia, plus a little something something from a 2007 German club date as well. It’s out today on ESP-Disk’.
Here’s footage from bonus track “You Don’t Know - Nasty Excerpt”:
Tracklisting:
01. In the Good Times
02. Make Them Dance
03. Love You from Afar
04. Ooh Baby
05. Eternal Triangle
06. Defunkt
07. Refuse to Love
08. You Don’t Know - Nasty Excerpt