Groove Theory

This chapter explains the meaning of funk as a concept and introduces readers to salient precepts and characteristics. The chief argument is that (a) the phenomenon known as the funk/spirit—or, more simply, the funk—operates as a distinct form of black vernacular epistemology, and that (b) funk comprises the secular counterpart of “the spirit”—what Albert Murray calls “paroxysms of ecstasy”—in black church worship. This sensation, which is usually generated by the interplay between motion and emotion, has been a vital aspect of the production of knowledge in music-making within African American working-class performance venues. Funk foregrounds the body and sensuality as indispensable aspects of a musician’s ability to play certain notes and to create desired timbres and soundscapes. This sort of psychosomatic epistemological modality calls into question the normative mind-body split; and, as such, it stands at variance with the prototypical notions of knowledge in the Western tradition. It points up the limits of reason, and constitutes a recognition of other ways of knowing, multiple ways of knowing. Combining musicology, literary scholarship, and elements of philosophy, the chapter examines song lyrics in conjunction with musicians’ memoirs, fiction, and interviews. In doing so, Bolden creates a philosophical approach to funk as he examines recordings by James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, and others.