Funk is a music steeped in strong bass lines, enchanting grooves, and a sense of generating movement in the music that creates a reaction within the human body to get up and move. It’s a music guided by the feeling. This sense of feeling and movement within the music generates a freeing element within. One of the Queens of funk music, Betty Davis, was asked about the way she sings and composes her music that creates a freeing sound and her reply was, “I was just doing it, you know? It was just a matter of feeling. When you feel something you can’t really articulate it.” George Clinton, leader of the Mothership Connection which is Parliamant/Funkadelic also had something similar to add by explaining “The more one thinks about it, the harder it is to get the feel of the funk, it’s just done.”
The freedom of experimentation and innovation that is encouraged in funk has produced a plethora of sounds, taken many different forms, and has influenced many other genres since its early conception. It is the freedom to be that never allows the funk to die off, or become some sound of the past. It’s a sound that makes its way back around and into the bodies of listeners.
When I caught wind of UK based vocalist, songwriter, and producer Lynda Dawn I was reminded that the feeling of funk always permeate through my body, before it gets to my mind. This submission came late because three reasons: One, life has a way of knocking you off your pivot and you’ve gotta take time for self preservation and attention. Two, sometimes the feel of the music needs to set it before one attempts to write about it. finally, I allowed myself to get lost in the funk for awhile. It was hard to articulate what I was hearing because I wanted to let myself move through the music first. It was difficult to pull my body away from the music, put pen to paper and let the community know about what I haven’t stopped moving and listening to.
Then Dawn released her debut Ep “At First Light” and that curbed my initiative to write, again. I enjoy taking my time with music, and I had only heard one song from her, so I decided I would patiently sit with the music and get to know the artist through the music, before I write about her artistry.
What I found was a world all on its own. Dawn served a project that took unexpected turns, interludes, and themes to an astral-ethereal level while remaining comfortably in the pocket and groove of the project in just 19 minutes. She’s creating her very own pot of Funk, and the aroma is enticing.
While I hope everybody gives multiple spins to this track, I encourage all to hit play on the entirety of At First Light to get a good idea of where Lynda Dawn comes from musically and the direction of her artistry. The spirit of Funk is strong within Dawn’s music and she best exemplifies that as she strolls down Fonk Street urging her listeners to “Get up on your feet, c’mom. Let the melody take over.”
You can learn more about Lynda Dawn here:
About The Curator - KA II
I was raised in a community that believes in and practices the act of love, spirituality, understanding, and openness. These beliefs and practices are my foundation in this life and continue to drive my pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and freedom. I also come from a place where the gift of rhythm and movement are interwoven into each other and into the fabric of life. It is never one without the other.
Music and Dance are not just things we do and enjoy. They are a necessity. In times of joy we dance, in times of triumph we turn the music up a little louder, in times of stress and unbalance we close our eyes and dance. It is how we feel our emotions and what ignites our creativity, intellectual abilities, and the way we see the world. Without the two, life would have no color, art, love, or culture.
Music and movement have always been the guiding light of creativity and the master teacher, therefore I aim to share how they elevate my mind, heart, and soul to think wider and to think with compassion, wit, and intellect. I hope you enjoy the content. Peace