![\"Charles](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Charles_Wright_10.jpg\")
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Charles Wright (yellow) performs at Funk Fest. Photos by Angela Ratzlaff.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Soaked in a purple hue in front of the Supersound Stage, audience member Jenifer Hogue raises her hands and twirls her floor-length, faded blue skirt to the hums of an extended Shuggie Otis guitar solo.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s alive,\u201d Hogue, a Funk Fest volunteer coordinator, says about the boogie-inducing genre. \u201cI think as the years have passed by, people are looking forward to [Funk Fest], looking forward to the funk within Long Beach, and they want to come out here, get together.\u201d<\/p>\n Summer and Music took over the Downtown Long Beach Promenade with soul, R&B and blues during the fifth annual Funk Fest Saturday. Twelve bands played among three stages throughout the day, the first act starting at noon and the last performance ending past 11PM.<\/p>\n “The diversity that\u2019s expressed with this festival is just ridiculous,\u201d Hogue adds, \u201cI love it. It\u2019s nothing but love and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n This year\u2019s festival added a third stage, which was inside the underground bar Harvelle\u2019s, fitting even more funk into the day.<\/p>\n The day started out with high-energy performances from groups like Jungle Fire, who incorporated African roots elements into their music with a trio of percussionists.<\/p>\n Acts like the experimental soul-psych solo artist Noface and the mostly instrumental funk jam band Afrobeat Down filled the dark red room in Harvelle\u2019s with beats that pleased a small group of festival attendees taking a break from the afternoon sun.<\/p>\n Other performers included Charles Wright and the 103rd St. Watts Band, who played mostly original songs, including a vivacious performance of \u201cExpress Yourself\u201d that made the whole audience stand up and twist to the electrifying guitars and horn section. Wright’s skill stood the test of time as he sang, grooved on the guitar and at one point jumped off sage to dance with audience members.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad somebody is trying to do something to keep the funk alive,\u201d Wright said after his performance. \u201cIt\u2019s the most heart-felt music in the world next to jazz.\u201d<\/p>\n Founding member and keyboardist of Parliament Funkadelic, Bernie Worrell, broke out some instrumental smooth funk in the early evening. The Bernie Worrell Orchestra incorporated violin with traditional funk instruments, like electric guitar and Worrell\u2019s iconic keyboard compositions.<\/p>\n The Blackbyrds<\/em><\/p>\n After a firework display, which gace the festival its nickname “Funk of July,” 1970s soul legend Shuggie Otis performed as the headliner, capping off the night with blues improvisations as well as classics like \u201cStrawberry Letter #23.\u201d The real performances, however, took place in the crowd. Throughout the day, Long Beach residents snapped their heads back and forth to sharp horn sections and swayed their hips to heavy-bottomed bass riffs.<\/p>\n \u201cMusic is that thing that just lifts you up, and funk in particular, just the rhythmic cadence to it and the horns,\u201d Funk Fest volunteer MsT Musze said. \u201cIt\u2019s life for me. It\u2019s the soundtrack of my life, as a person born in the \u201870s, this is my soundtrack of all the good times I remember in my life, from my family, friends and just growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n The next Summer and Music event, Indie Rock at the Pike, will take place on July 20 at 4PM and feature a headlining act of Pete Yorn and The Olms. Other bands on the bill include The Blank Tapes, Song Preservation Society and Mystic Rabbit.<\/em><\/p>\n {gallery}angela\/funkfest{\/gallery}<\/em><\/p>\n {FG_GEOMAP [33.7698416,-118.19108419999998] FG_GEOMAP}<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer and Music took over the Downtown Long Beach Promenade with soul, R&B and blues during the fifth annual Funk Fest Saturday. 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Funk fans of all ages, sizes, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds cut loose on the grass in front of the Starchild Stage, located in Promenade Square Park, and by the Supersound Stage, which was set up in the parking lot across from Beachwood BBQ and Brewing.<\/p>\n![\"theblackbyrds4\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/theblackbyrds4.jpg\")
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