FRED WESLEY LIVE IN CONCERT IN JOHANNESBURG

The Wits Theatre on November 29 stages a one night only Fred Wesley Concert brought to by the Cape Town Jazz Orchestra, in partnership with the DAC and National Arts Council which will see him play funk, gospel and jazz, and take audiences back to the day when soul reigned supreme. Fred Wesley is the trombonist, composer, arranger, bandleader and author known worldwide as one of the architects of funk music. Fred's work with Godfather of Soul James Brown in the s established him as the world's funkiest trombone player. Today he fronts his own jazz-funk band, the New JBs, passes his expertise along to students and younger musicians around the world, and lends his fire to assorted artists across a broad musical spectrum. Born in Mobile, Ala., Fred Wesley began his professional career as a teenage trombonist with Ike and Tina Turner. He was music director, arranger, trombonist and a primary composer for James Brown from , then arranged and played for Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy’s Rubber Band. He has played with and arranged for a wide variety of other artists including Ray Charles, Pancho Sanchez, New York Voices, Slide Hampton, Van Morrison, the SOS Band and Cameo, to name a few. Since his stint with the Count Basie Orchestra, he has maintained a focus on jazz – playing, recording, writing and promoting it. His solo jazz recordings include “To Someone,” “Amalgamation,” “Comme Ci Comme Ca,” “Full Circle” and “Wuda Cuda Shuda.” Fred probably one of the most  prolific writers has had his music sampled by a variety of artists which include but are not limited to Janet Jackson, Nas,  Arrested Development, Public Enemy, Jay Z, Run DMC, Cypress Hill, Kris Kross, Notorious BIG, Common, A Tribe Called Quest and Ice Cube to mention a few.