Trouble Funk

Trouble Funk remained far removed from mainstream attention in the first half of the 1980s yet drove the local scene in Washington, D.C., with go-go, a high-energy fusion of swinging, up-tempo 1970s funk and 1960s-style horn arrangements. The group came together in 1978; its roster eventually stabilized around drummer Emmet Nixon, percussionists Mack Carey and Timothius Davis, guitarist Chester Davis, bassist Tony Fisher, trombonists Gerald and Robert Reed, trumpeter Taylor Reed, keyboardist James Avery, and saxophonist David Rudd. Audiences embraced the band for an unfailingly potent stage show that delivered raw, celebratory dance-funk built on extended jams rather than numerous individual songs, anchored by crowd-pleasing vocal tags and call-and-response hooks.

Drop the Bomb, Trouble Funk’s 1982 debut, became the first go-go album issued beyond the D.C. area when it appeared on Sugar Hill, the label simultaneously promoting the earliest hip-hop releases; both genres had grown from the same breakbeat-centered block-party tradition. Although the follow-up, In Times of Trouble, surfaced only on the regional imprint D.E.T.T., the ensemble secured wider reach with the forward-looking live document Saturday Night (Live from Washington, D.C.), released by Island in 1985. After touring the live show across the United States and abroad, including a 1986 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Trouble Funk issued the stylistically adventurous Trouble Over Here, Trouble Over There in 1987; the album featured Bootsy Collins and Kurtis Blow. The record proved something of a creative detour, prompting Island to drop the group. Trouble Funk nevertheless maintained a steady presence on D.C. stages throughout the 1990s, performing for longtime fans seeking nostalgia as well as listeners drawn by musical curiosity.