Posted by PFunkJazz on 10/16/2005, 12:14 pm
71.104.232.231

from LA SUNDAY TIMES CALENDAR POP EYE 10/16/2005. Column written by Steve Hochman.
Tommy Trojan meets Atomic Dog

THE USC marching band is known for its highly regimented performances.

George Clinton and his P-Funk collective are, uh, not.

So it could get pretty interesting when Clinton becomes an honorary member of the USC band at halftime of the No. 1 Trojan football team's Nov. 19 game against Fresno State at the Coliseum. The band will do a tribute to Clinton (celebrating his 50th year in music), and he and members of P-Funk will join the band for a rousing take on his "Give Up the Funk."

The teaming came about when Arthur Bartner, the band director, put out word seeking a guest artist, an annual tradition for the marching band. Publicist Sandy Friedman suggested Clinton, Bartner ran the idea past his students, and they loved it.

"We've been listening to a lot of his recordings and a lot don't translate — they're so free-flowing," says Bartner, who's overseen the USC band for 35 years. "And I have 35 drummers, and that beat is not going to budge. It gets locked in. But my arranger, Tony Fox, will come up with arrangements and make it work and leave some room so Clinton can have some room to improvise."

The USC marching band does have a history of interesting pop collaborations, dating to 1973, when Diana Ross performed a halftime show and, perhaps most famously, when it backed Fleetwood Mac on the song "Tusk." And Bartner notes that the band got pretty funky at the 2004 Grammy Awards performance, where it accompanied OutKast. But he still sees this as an enticing challenge.

"It will definitely be a different experience matching these two different musical cultures," he says.





http://www.calendarlive.c...=cl-suncal

Xtra is this a national televised game?.
they probably would not show it

mrwigglesdaw1rm said:

the game will most likely be televised since they're ranked number.....I'm not sure about the actual performance either. Commentators always talk and give updates for other games during half time.....hopefully they'll make an exception this game.