Trombonist Fred Wesley might as well have copyrighted the term “horny horn.” He and bass superhero Bootsy Collins not only share a superhuman ability to evoke sweaty, funky palpitations—they’re also both in a very small club whose members can claim the heavy pedigree of playing with two of the godliest groove outfits of all time, James Brown & the J.B.’s and Parliament-Funkadelic. Born in Columbus, Georgia, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Wesley got his start on piano and trumpet, but after his father brought home a trombone when he was 12, he got hooked. Wesley’s sharp, fluid lines drive some of the J.B.’s most beloved and righteous 60s hits, including 1968’s “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud” and 1969’s “Mother Popcorn.” He also proved himself as a writer and arranger on classics such as “Sex Machine,” “Super Bad,” and “Talking Loud and Saying Nothing” (which featured a dream band with Collins and original Brown backers from the Famous Flames, Bobby Byrd and John “Jabo” Starks). Wesley became bandleader of the J.B.’s in the early 1970s, and by 1973, he was getting top billing on smash singles like “Doing It to Death” (now a staple of my DJ sets).
Two years later, Wesley defected from the J.B.’s to P-Funk, playing on classic Parliament albums such as 1975’s Mothership Connection and 1976’s The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (where he also arranged horns). At the same time, he recorded with his spin-off group, the Horny Horns, and with jazz great Count Basie. Wesley never ended his association with the Godfather of Soul or his famed sidemen, though—he played in Collins’s Rubber Band, with saxophonist Maceo Parker, and in the J.B. Horns with saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. Outside the world of funk, the mind-bogglingly diverse list of artists he’s worked with includes Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Van Morrison, 10,000 Maniacs, Color Me Badd, and De La Soul.
In 1996, Wesley started the Fred Wesley Band, which soon became Fred Wesley & the new J.B.’s. That unit currently includes drummer Bruce Cox, bassist Dwayne Dolphin, guitarist Reggie Ward, trumpet player Gary Winters, saxophonist Phillip Whack, and keyboardist Peter Madsen. On a 2025 session the group recorded for Tacoma public radio station KNKX, Cox (who’s played with Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, and Ravi Coltrane) and Dolphin (who’s played with Ellis, Turrentine, and Nancy Wilson) rule their rhythm-section pocket, expertly supporting Wesley’s laser-focused solos and riffs. The New J.B.’s don’t perform live all that often, and the Windy City is fortunate to host this free gig. Come prepared for the funk, but expect the unexpected.
Fred Wesley & the New J.B.’s Bumpus and Ayana Contreras (DJ set) open. Mon 7/7, 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph, free, all ages
