Album Review: The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown – Repurpose Purpose Vol. 1

One of the many qualities that sets jazz – especially the ‘50s and ‘60s era variants – apart from rock is the loose-aggregation approach. Rather than coalesce around bands in the traditional sense, jazz musicians wold convene for a particular recording session or live date, do their thing, and then move on. Some of the greatest music in jazz came about that way: witness Kind of Blue, Cal Tjader and Stan Getz’s Sextet and countless others. In the rock idiom, there have been occasional supergroup outings, but they’re the exception, not the rule.

John Heintz is all about breaking the rules. His funk project/supergroup is The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown. Based in Los Angeles and launched in part with the efforts of Asheville-based players from Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, the collective has brought together a true who’s who of funk. TBONG has just released its fourth platter, Repurpose Purpose – Vol. 1. Featuring another superb roster of big names, it’s a funkfest par excellence.

TBONG’s approach is deceptively simple: a jam mindset applied to studio session work. Such a method only works when the assembled musicians are of the sort who listen; jams can easily turn into sonic trainwrecks. That’s not the case here; the players act as one (so to speak) big ol’ funky organism. Certainly there’s a basic structure to build upon for the vocal-fronted tracks (chief among ‘em, “Spirit Stain” with Fishbone’s Angelo Moore), but the spirit of improvisation remains at the heart of the material.

Repurpose Purpose is a shortish set: seven tracks, two of which are instro mixes of vocal-led tracks – but the concise quality of the music – all tracks clocking in between four and five minutes – keeps things on track. Tasty grooves abound. Swirling and alluring effects adorn the instrumentation. Rubbery bass lines and rock-solid drumming providing the foundation for the funkified flights of fancy.