D.C. Funk at the Brick House
Charleston sax man Wilton Elder partnered with visual artist Scott Parsons on Sept. 5 to present A Taste of D.C. at the Brick House Kitchen on James Island. It was a warm, muggy evening, and a small but enthusiastic crowd of music fans filled the yard in front of the tented stage. The special pale ale and porter from the D.C. Brau Brewing Company were well chilled. The Maryland-style blue crab cakes and “half-smokes” from the nearby grill were mighty spicy. The funk jams on the stage were hot.
Parsons, a Maryland native who normally works on murals and large canvases, did some on-the-spot spray-paint works during the event. Elder welcomed members of his local funk/soul ensemble Super Deluxe along with several veterans of Charleston party band PlaneJane and other special guests, including trumpeter Charlton Singleton, trombonist Mitch Butler, saxophonist Chris Williams, percussionists Gino Castillo and Bobby Alvarez, and others. Keyboardist Rodrick Simmons, guitarist Tommy Gielingh, bassist Kenny Shider, and drummers A.J. Jenkins and Quentin Ravenel made appearances as well.
The “widescreen version of Super Deluxe,” as Elder put it, powered through two sets of old-school soul, funk, Motown standards and authentic, D.C.-style Go-Go music (Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers, Experience Unlimited, etc.). Metronome caught a little bit of the ensemble’s rendition of “Gimme Some More” by James Brown and the J.B.’s.
Visit superdeluxelive.com for more.
Mitch Butler, Charlton Singleton, and Chris Williams jam on stage with Super Deluxe’s Wilton Elder during the Taste of D.C. event, 2012 (photo by Ballard Lesemann)
Mitch Butler, Charlton Singleton, and Chris Williams jam on stage with Super Deluxe during the Taste of D.C. event, 2012 (photo by Ballard Lesemann)
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About the Author
Ballard Lesemann is a musician and writer. Born and raised in Charleston, S.C., he spent years playing in bands and working for Flagpole Magazine in the bustling music town of Athens, Ga. He returned to his hometown and served more than seven years as the Charleston City Paper's music editor. He's better at drumming than he is at playing guitar.
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