Spear gets funky
Tuesday | September 9, 2008

Bass player Glen Browne identifies Burning Spear  as one of the persons who established reggae in Europe.

LEGENDARY funk musicians Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell, who made their names as members of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic band, worked on Burning Spear's new album, Jah is Real.

The album was released by Spear's label on August 17, the birthday of Pan African leader Marcus Garvey.

"We thought it made sense to have those musicians. Bootsy played the bass so relaxed. It brings a light to the record, it was surprising," Spear told the Baltimore Sun newspaper. "There was no problem, a sign of a professional musician. Both played like they had played reggae forever."

Collins joined funk pioneer James Brown's band when he was just 18 years old, introducing an aggressive type of bass playing that has influenced many musicians including Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Worrell, a keyboardist, was an in-demand musician throughout the 1970s and 1980s, working with big names like the Talking Heads.

Collins and Worrell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as members of Parliament-Funkadelic