Students collide with a great.

By Brian Coleman
Berklee.edu Correspondent
March 10, 2006

	George Clinton
	Photo by Nick Balkin
	Watch MTVU's coverage of George Clinton's Berklee visit.

The assembled 7-piece group (Christina Kenny, voice; Adam Deuplisea, drums; Ryan Williamson, keyboards; Brad Fell, bass; Joseph Kollar and Christopher Duddy, guitars; and Greg Sanderson, saxophone) had kicked off the class ordinarily enough, working their way through a groove that would lead into a so-called Parliament-Funkadelic thang. As the group riffed, Cowan shouted out: "So, where'd you get your flow?"

"Downstairs in the basement!" the seven, led by vocalist Christina Kenny, called back. The response was strong, but still a bit bleary-eyed. Either way, the class knew: funk always has a way of cutting through any blues you've got around you.

After a break in the rehearsal, there was an unexpected and loud knock at the door. "Hello! Can I come in?" a husky voice called from the hallway. Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing and turned toward the door. Collective shock took hold as two elderly gentlemen entered and stood before them. Not just any two men, mind you. Facing the wide-mouthed class were George Clinton and Garry Shider, two men who had, more than 35 years earlier, created the sound that eventually led to the course's existence.

Bandleader, composer, and producer Clinton is, next to James Brown, arguably the funkiest man on Earth. His Parliament-Funkadelic group (with members Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and many more) has released a slew of classic funk records, starting with 1970's Osmium, up through his most recent, last year's How Late Do You Have 2bb4ur Absent? Shider, a core P-Funk member since the early 1970s, is a guitarist and vocalist of the highest order. Together they are two of the most important elder statesmen of funk and soul music, loved and respected worldwide.

"I guess I'm your substitute teacher today," Clinton laughed from beneath a multi-hued mass of hair, one of his enduring trademarks. "I don't know what I'm gonna teach you, but you might just learn something."

The students continued staring at Clinton, Shider, and each other with disbelief. It was a clear mix of nervousness and elation. Tuning up again with an even greater sense of purpose, they started to realize that this was going to be something special.

"We had no idea that George was going to be there, it was a total surprise," said guitarist Kollar afterwards. "It was definitely the most amazing thing that I've done here at Berklee. I mean, how can you top that?"

Clinton was brought to Berklee under the auspices of a show on mtvU (an offshoot of MTV aimed at college students) called "Stand In," which brings experts in their fields (ranging from Bill Gates to Madonna) to different locations around the country to have them sit in and teach students the tools of their trade. The P-Funk edition of the show will debut on Monday, March 20 on mtvU.

Fresh off a typical five-hour-long gig the night before in Providence and one the next day in New Haven, Clinton and Shider were understandably a bit sleepy upon arrival. But they were nonetheless thrilled to be in front of such avid and musically-accomplished fans. As Clinton said afterwards: "I saw the next P-Funk All Stars in that room today."

The only person in the room who had been tipped to the appearance was Cowan, who had prepared the group to rehearse two numbers for the surprise guests. Still dazed and grinning from ear to ear, guitarist Kollar bravely barreled his way through Funkadelic's 1978 composition "Who Says A Funk Band Can't Play Rock?" As he played, Clinton was right in his face, giving him direction and encouragement, sometimes by shouting it in his ear.

George Clinton (left) and guitarist Gary Shider work with P-Funk ensemble students. Photo by Nick Balkin

"In the beginning, with George right in front of me, it was a bit intimidating," Kollar said. "But you could just see that he had the groove inside of him, and he was all about making things as funky as possible. I was doing some stuff wrong, and George and Garry corrected me. It was great."

After working through the first tune for about 10 minutes, with frequent shouted vocal encouragement from Clinton and Shider, they moved on to "Nappy Dugout," Funkadelic's 1973 mostly-instrumental funk vamp. The ensemble found a groove right away and seemed to be shaking off the surprise of Clinton and Shider being there. But Clinton stopped them two minutes in, to work through the guitar parts, making sure each vamp ended cleanly, and helping the students with their transitions. It was definitely clear that their temporary prof was getting into it, and the students soaked up his wisdom.

Clinton's stage-honed group direction was far from academic and decidedly non-concert-hall, but it was just as effective. Using hand gestures (he asked the drummer to hit harder by bringing down his hand in a punching motion) and body English ("Do it like you're tired," he instructed the class as he leaned to the side, adding that they should "fall into it."), he got his points across perfectly. And there was plenty of vocal encouragement as well. As Clinton advised at one point: "Even though it's funky, you still have to pay attention!"

The final song was the uptempo jam "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On" (the title track from Funkadelic's 1974 album). After about 10 minutes working through the song, Clinton stopped the proceedings to change up the groove. To fully work through each intricacy of the groove, Clinton instructed the group to slow things down, and they began the song again, at half-speed. "There you go," he said as they rolled along, watching his every move. "Real funky....Don't get louder….Stay right there."

"The slowing down really helped a lot," said guitarist Kollar afterwards. "He was just letting everything breathe. He let us know to keep some space in-between the grooves, because that's what funk is all about."

Afterwards, instructor Cowan was as in awe of what had just transpired with his students. "I didn't really know what to expect, but it was definitely better than I could have imagined," Cowan said. "And having Garry Shider show up with George was an extra bonus. I've been teaching this class since 1999 and this is definitely the highlight of all my years doing this."

After the class finished their three songs with Clinton and Shider, there was a Q&A session where students asked the two legends about topics ranging from past concert experiences to P-Funk's important influence on today's hip-hop. "I think that funk is the DNA of hip-hop, and we have a real good connection with all of those guys," Clinton said, noting his associations with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

And perhaps the most important advice Clinton offered was this: "The music will always take you places, but make sure to always try and get along with people. Try not to find faults. Try and work with people instead, and find out how to just make great music together. That's what I've always tried to do. Over all these decades, no one ever got fired from P-Funk. Some people left, but a lot of those same people came back, too. I always keep the door open."

The seven students who rehearsed with him last week learned that he is just as open with people not in his group. Guitarist Duddy may have put it best. "You can't learn better than going directly to the source of the music. It was incredible."

Boston-based journalist Brian Coleman is the author of Rakim Told Me: Hip-Hop Wax Facts, Straight From The Original Artists (The 80s).

 Press Coverage

• "Professor Clinton's in da house" – Top-40 Charts.com (March 20, 2006)
  
• "P-Funk's Professor Clinton on MTVu" – EUR Web (March 20, 2006)
  
• "George Clinton's Berklee Tutorial" – Boston Phoenix (March 9, 2006)