Let There Be Funk was premiered by tubist Rex Martin in February 2002 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The music is as it suggests, mostly written in a funk style with the occasional lyrical interlude.

 

The funk passages move between tempos in a schizophrenic way, deliberately unsettling the listener and cleverly weaving a structure that builds throughout the work.

Although originally intended for Tuba, the music is performed here by using Euphonium and guitar octave effect pedal. The resulting double octave effect and sound distortion is ideal for the writing.

 

The electronic track is performed by Brian James, Mark Carlson, Rex Martin and the composer D. Edward Davis.

The backing track for this piece is available as a free download from the DOWNLOADS section of this website.

This publication comes complete with composer biography and performance tips from David Thornton. The work can also be heard on David Thornton's CD Parallel Realities (WOS079) available HERE.