by: Sean Boy
The Poets of Rhythm are, to coin a term, transfunkular. Transcending time and space, 'Discern/Define' does just that: discerns all that is funk circa 1970 and defines all that is funk today in 2001. Not content with simple mimicry, The Poets of Rhythm have recorded an album that holds its own up against original funk makers The Meters, James Brown and Sly Stone.
Surprisingly, The Poets of Rhythm, while working with West Coast Quannum Projects, are not from California, but from Munich, Germany. Formed over a decade ago, founding members Jan Weissenfeldt and Boris Geiger rummaged through record bins as teens searching out the rare grooves sampled on their favorite club tracks. Although instrumental to the rare groove revival scene, The Poets of Rhythm are not solely about revival. They’re working in a time warp, as contemporaries of Brown and Stone. They embody funk in the now. Often recording on a Tascam four-track, and using curious, out-of-date recording techniques The Poets of Rhythm manage to capture the original funk vibe, now decades old. The African rhythms and psychedelic textures of “Ham Gallery,” “The Jaunt,” and “Fondle Rock,” a few stand-out tracks, sound straight outta Nixon-era New Orleans. And oh, the groove! Quality funk depends largely on a tight rhythm section and after a good ten years of playing together, drummer Max “Muggy” Whitfield and bassist Jan “Curly” Krause got it going on. When The Poets of Rhythm backed up Lyrics Born on “I Changed My Mind” (Quannum Spectrum) that was merely a hors d’oeuvre. 'Discern/Define' is a complete smorgasbord of groove genius.
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