Listening to Lonnie Liston Smith’s album Cosmic Funk, I just today came across someone I had never heard of, but who I instantly loved— Cincinnati drummer Art Gore. I’m working on a transcription of his playing on Footprints, which is super-cool, but that takes some time, so here’s the intro to the title track, Cosmic Funk. There’s a hip little lead-in and a straightforward funk groove:
There’s a natural swing to the 16th notes— it’s not triplets, and not that pronouncedly in-the-cracks New Orleans thing. You hear it all the time in funk, but nobody talks about it. I don’t know what’s up with that. There’s a strong 8th note pulse to the hihat part, even when he’s playing 16th notes.