April 12, 2025
I've been a musician for much of my life. During my adolescence and early adulthood, I was a cellist and vocalist. My favorite pieces on the cello were Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1, Haydn Cello Concerto No. 1, and, of course, Bach Cello Suite No. 1.
In addition to being their composers' early cello works, one common theme of those pieces is that they have really "chordy" sections. If I could put forward a definition, I think the main characteristic of chordy music is that the melody is primarily driven forward by the progression of chords, rather than individual notes.
This brings me to my journey into funk. The song that got me started was Golden by Cory Wong. I stumbled upon this song at a party—the host was an avid bluegrass enjoyer, so it's not unexpected that a R&B and jazz musician like Cory Wong might appear in his feed.
From there, I think it's almost inevitable to stumble into Vulfpeck. Cory Wong is a major collaborator (member?) of Vulfpeck, performing with them at their famous Madison Square Garden performance. Vulfpeck even has a song titled "Cory Wong".
As I started to listen to more and more Vulfpeck, I eventually hit upon Tee Time.
My brain absolutely melted. Tee Time was the perfect mix of funky grooves that I had grown to love from Vulfpeck, and a stream of face-melting syncopated chords. My favorite moment is at 0:45, when, at the pickup into the next phrase, it feels like all the musicians lock in, and Woody Goss unleashes on the piano.
It's safe to say the inspiration for Tee Time came from Richard Tee's piano style, not just in the name of the song, but also in this video lecture by Professor Goss.
The song that Woody Goss mentions in his lecture, Strokin, is absolute genius.
Just the look of concentration on Richard Tee's face as he delivers his jaw dropping solo gives me shivers. It's clear he's pouring his soul into the groove, and seeing performers enjoy themselves on stage always makes me smile.
Then, there's Stuff's Stuff.
There are few musicians' work that I would consider myself to be a fan of, but I am definitely a fan of Richard Tee's.
Anyways, Love the Stuff.