With all the cross-pollination, feverish stabs at greatness and straight-up reunion-itis going on in live music these days, it seems like the word “supergroup”—a term once reserved for the privileged few who could run the gauntlet of critical scrutiny (not to mention rabid fandom) and actually take us all higher—gets thrown around with astonishing regularity. But here’s the thing: how many artists can truly say they were in on the ground floor of an honest-to-Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame supergrou...
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With all the cross-pollination, feverish stabs at greatness and straight-up reunion-itis going on in live music these days, it seems like the word “supergroup”—a term once reserved for the privileged few who could run the gauntlet of critical scrutiny (not to mention rabid fandom) and actually take us all higher—gets thrown around with astonishing regularity. But here’s the thing: how many artists can truly say they were in on the ground floor of an honest-to-Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame supergroup, all while inventing a completely original and uncanny sound, and, in the ensuing years, building a legendary reputation as one of the most versatile hired guns in the music business? Bernie Worrell is just such an artist—first as a founding member and driving musical force behind Parliament-Funkadelic, and later as an essential collaborator on key albums by Talking Heads, the Pretenders, Keith Richards, Ginger Baker, Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, Yoko Ono, Bill Laswell, Public Image Ltd., Sly & Robbie, Dave Stewart, Nona Hendryx, Maceo Parker, Deee-Lite, Mos Def...the list goes on and on. Not only is Worrell a child prodigy on piano, but he’s also a master of the Moog synthesizer—so noted by the instrument’s inventor, Bob Moog himself, as well as the foundation that bears Moog’s name: Worrell is the 2008 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award known simply as “The Bob.” And it doesn’t stop there: the Hammond B3 organ, Hohner clavinet, Fender Rhodes and a wealth of keyboards, synths and assorted melodic gizmos all signify the breadth of Worrell’s expressive genius as a musician—an unbridled wizardry that’s matched only by his will to keep pushing the music to its very limits. Worrell’s latest move has been to found a new supergroup of his own, bringing a kindred P-Funk innovator together with two fellow travelers whose instinctive paths in rhythm are a well-known quantity in jazz, funk, rock, avant-garde and world music circles here in the U.S. and abroad. SociaLybrium, with Blackbyrd McKnight (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (bass) and J.T. Lewis (drums), is meant to foster, as the name implies, a meeting of the minds—a communal trip where four high-caliber musicians can jam together on equal footing, but also where the listener is encouraged to join in the fray. Call it freestyle Afro-fusion, electric church music or gutbucket street funk—however you slice it, SociaLybrium can get down in any style, at any given moment. You’ve been warned.
