The Pazant Brothers

Between the late 1960s and the middle 1970s the Pazant Brothers cut a series of little-known recordings that were chiefly instrumental yet came to be prized by collectors of funk, even though the group never registered any significant commercial impact within the R&B marketplace. Although their core sound aligned with the James Brown-inspired funk arrangements prevalent at the time, the ensemble also incorporated touches of jazz, Latin, and New Orleans music. Occasional incidental vocals surfaced on certain tracks, but these appeared almost incidental; the band’s greatest strength remained its instrumental work. Saxophonist Eddie Pazant, who joined Lionel Hampton’s band in the late 1950s and later rose to the post of musical director, formed the core of the Pazant Brothers alongside his brother, trumpeter Al Pazant. The pair also served as the horn section for Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers during the late 1960s. Ed Bland proved instrumental in establishing the Pazant Brothers as a recording entity, authoring much of their repertoire and capturing their performances while acting as an A&R executive at the GWP label. Roughly an album’s worth of material appeared on GWP, issued primarily as obscure 45s—one of them credited to the Chili Peppers—through the close of the 1960s and the opening years of the 1970s. After parting ways with Bland, the musicians recorded under the name the Pazant Brothers & the Beaufort Express for scarce singles on the Vigor and Priscilla labels; Ed Bland later placed the same lineup with Vanguard, resulting in the sole album Loose and Juicy in 1975. The Pazant Brothers remained active performers for subsequent decades, functioning additionally as session musicians and continuing their association with Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers. The bulk of their studio output was assembled on the 2005 compact-disc collection The Brothers Funk, while a previously unreleased early-1970s concert recording surfaced for the first time on the 2003 album Live at Museum of Modern Art.