When last we left you -- Bernie Worrell & the WOO Warriors were winding up the Midwest leg of their Summer 2006 U.S. Tour with Ohio dates at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland (June 2) and at Alchemize in Cincinnati (June 3). The band then performed at the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in Lawrence, Kansas before Bernie broke away for a Special Guest appearance with Buckethead & Friends at Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue, Colorado (June 16). Bernie would also reconvene with Praxis at the Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas (October 29), but only after BW&WW wound up a fruitful touring season with a triumphant performance in Moscow (August 25)! Now, can y'all get-to-that? With the WOOniversal language at his purple fingertips, you can bet that the Wizard didn't need to call on Gorbachev to "tear down those walls!"...

So now the '0-7 finds the WOO Warriors on hiatus, as Bernie affords himself the time to work on new material. We'll let you know when that's ready to drop. But in the meantime, Bernie has been bizzy with other things, as well:

January 19 - Bernie was a Special Guest performer with Doug Wimbish's Wim-bash at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim. Other performers included Will Calhoun, Keith LeBlanc, Angelo Moore, Vernon Reid, Steve Salas, Skip McDonald, Bernard Fowler and John McCarthy (BTW, John's latest CD, Drive, features Bernie and several other Wim-bash performers)...

February 9 - Bernie was a Special Guest performer with Steve Kimock & Friends, featuring George Porter Jr., at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, New Jersey...

March 9 - Bernie was Special Guest, along with Leo Nocentelli and Cyril Neville at the release party for Papa Mali's new CD, Do Your Thing at The Independent in San Francisco...

March 10 - Bernie performed at a benefit for former Fillmore and Warfield Theater backstage manager Tiffany Travalent at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco, where he and Jerry Harrison laid down a ridiculously funky rendition of "Psycho Killer" which proved to be the standout jam of the evening. Among the many other musicians who performed were Dawn Silva, Eric McFadden and Zigaboo Modeliste.

March 18 - Bernie performed at a Music for Life benefit with Fred Wesley and host of others at The Soiled Dove in Denver.

April 29 - Bernie was a Special Guest performer with The Nawlins Funkmasters, featuring George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli at The Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans during JazzFest. And in a strange coincidence, several days earlier, Bernie played three dates in Scotland as Special Guest of another set of Funkmasters -- this group featuring Fred Wesley, Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield. It turns out that the two bands were completely unrelated (though certainly accurately named).

May 18 - Bernie was a Special Guest performer with the Grand Masters of Funk, featuring Leo Nocentelli, Doug Wimbish, Cyril Neville and Tony Mason at Dartmouth College. And yes, Bernie will indeed be doing more Special Guest appearances. Keep your eyes on the Tour Dates section of this site for de-tails...

June, July & August – Bernie toured Europe and Japan with Bill Laswell’s “Method of Defiance”

Family Matters: We are deeply saddened by the recent, tragic passing of our brother, trumpeter extraordinaire Richard "Kush" Griffith, who succumbed to heart failure on June 18. From his days in the J.B.s to his work with Bottom & Company to his stints with Bootsy's Rubber Band and Parliament as a member of the Horny Horns (and bandleader of The Brides Of Funkenstein), Kush left behind an enduring musical legacy, which you can read more about at kushsights.com and myspace.com/kushfunk. Of course, even more significant were the lives he touched, and it is with a heavy heart that we send our deepest condolences to his wife, Pauletta and his family. Godspeed, Brother Kush; you are sorely missed...

We also send our thoughts and prayers out to the family and friends of Bernie "B.B" Brausewetter, guitarist for B.B & The Stingers, who passed away on April 15. B.B was a fixture in the greater Plainfield musical community and will be fondly remembered for his many acts of personal generosity...

And last, but surely not least, we lower our collective freak flags to half-mast in acknowledgement of The Man who distilled horns and guitars down to their percussive essence and invented the funk. The WOOtopian pays eternal respect and offers heartfelt thanks to the late, great Mr. James Brown, without whom the funk would not exist as we know it. Somebody said, "Don't be surprised if Ali is in the White House"? Well, don't be surprised if Soul Brother Number One is prominently positioned on music's 20th Century Pantheon, alongside the likes of Scott Joplin and Louis Armstrong...

(And speaking of The Godfather of Soul, Bernie joined such illustrious J.B. alums as Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield at the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood to score producer Judd Apatow's hit film, Super Bad [sonypictures.com/movies/superbad]. Apatow [The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up] and composer Lyle Workman ensured that this film would have that strate-up fonky sound by assembling this Hall of Fame crew, who scored a large portion of the film in only 4 days -- and you can catch The Music of Superbad, a behind-the-scenes, DVD extra-type thang over at http://youtube.com/watch?v=iH70z07-4p0...)

Family Matters (Part 2): We'd like to take a moment to express our appreciation for all of the special friends whom we hold dear -- people who have long had our back. We're talking about good folks like "Aussie Paul" McElligott (love to you from Bernie and Judie); and Jack Abney (for your critical help and support in so many ways); and one extra-loud whisper o' WOO goes out to our behind-the-scenes best "Buddy" (and you know who you are!)...

By now, long-time visitors to this site have noticed that we've recently undergone quite a facelift. These numerous slick new features come your way courtesy of web designer non pareil Joe Vernazza, who is not only our brand new CyberWOO, but also hosts our interactive Bernie Worrell Web Forum (You have registered, haven't you? Come on by and join in the conversation!).

But as we welcome Joe, we also wish smooth sailing to our good friend and long-time CyberWOO, Chris Engler, who steered us along the information super highway for years, but has taken an off-ramp in pursuit of other projects. And as long as we're talking tech, let us not forget Liberty Van Hine, to whom many thanks are due for getting Bernie's MySpace site [myspace.com/bernieworrell] up and running...

And we would be oh-so-sadly remiss if we failed to acknowledge the man who has directed Bernie's diverse activities over this past year. The WOOtopian now shines the Purple Spotlight upon Bernie's co-manager, Steve Savage. A long-time friend of the WOO (and a mover-shaker of note in the Ohio music scene via his own Juggleslugg Productions), Steve has played a key role in helping steer the Wizard through several critical transitions of late. With his vision, energy and dedication in the mix, it's easy to see why Bernie's got so many big things on the horizon. And on behalf of Mister B.W. himself, the WOOtopian sez "thanks, Steve!"

One indication of Steve's efforts is the number of recent BW sessions we have to report -- such as those for Burning Spear, Buddy Guy and Bill Laswell. And then there are The Freeks, a Cali-based cartel of well respected musicians from the stoner rock scene. Bernie contributed to a song on their forthcoming album called "Coming On" [myspace.com/thewestcoastfreeks]...

UPDATE: We are sad to announce that due to family obligations, we have lost Steve for the time being. We will miss his input and enthusiasm.

At the top, we mentioned the BW&WW gig at Alchemize in Cincinnati in June of '06. Well, it turns out that Freekbass has included an excerpt from that show on his new DVD release, A Sliver Of Shiver [freekbass.com], featuring his freeky self sitting in with the band during a sizzling performance of "Red Hot Mama"...

Now, here's an idea that some of us have been dreaming about forever -- at long last, a Bernie Worrell solo melodica album! It's called The Pianica Project, and it is due to be released on the Japanese Presspop label at the end of this year...

To all the musicians in the virtual house: bounce over to the Endorsements section of this site and take a look at some of the Wizard's partners-in-WOO, the latest of whom is Gallien-Krueger, maker of quality amplifier heads, speaker cabinets, combo amps and other such "funky thangs to play with". We cannot emphasize strongly enough what a big deal this is, as endorsements are relatively rare for keyboardists (as opposed to guitarists, bassists and drummers, who receive them more often). In fact, most of the musicians in the G-K family are guitarists and bassists; but in this instance, they have chosen to endorse Bernie. And not only does Bernie endorse them right back, but he recently emerged from the Wizard's Lair after test-driving his new toyz -- a pair of NEO412 cabinets, a 2001 amplifier and a 1001-II amplifier -- looking very excited about the whole thing, with a mischievous grin stretched across his face...Also, check out Dave Smith Instruments!!! And Moog.

We just have to say a word or two about one of Bernie's favorite photographers, Brian Diescher. Brian has demonstrated a real flair for capturing the aesthetic energy of "the moment". The following quote from his bio speaks volumes about his interactive, artful approach: "His goal is to create images that allow the viewer to experience the visual beauty and energy of music performance. Brian hopes to collaborate with musicians and artists directly." If you're a performer in search of that next level of photographic quality, Brian is your man! But hey, don't take our word for it -- you can check him out yourself at bdphoto.net (but first, take a stroll through the Media section of this site; that's Brian's work gracing the new cover of All the WOO in the World)...

And finally, this, from our "ain't it a-bout time" department: we are pleased to announce the impending release of Bernie's long-awaited instructional DVD, courtesy of the good folks at The Rock House Method. That's right, The Wizard of WOO is finally coming out with this own "how to" disc! How many times has the music establishment been all-too content to toss off dismissive descriptives like "Funkadelic keyboards" in everything from magazine articles to MIDI vintage keyboard patches? How many fake-adelic, wanna-be clones have we heard copping and fumbling Mr. B.W.'s keystrokes over the years? Well, for those who must'a forgot -- and those who never even knew -- here comes the One-who-dunnit to show the whole world, one mo' ag'in, just how it's done. It's a master class for the masses, straight from the Originator's hands to your ear-hole. Keep your antennas up for a release date on this one -- you'll know as soon as we do...

Well, that about brings us to the coda. As always, there is so much more that we wish we could divulge, but which is to this point still only penciled onto the drawing board. Once pencil gives way to ink, then gives rise to chiseled stone, we'll be right back in this space to give it up with the quickness! But until that time, it's about that slow bleed-to-black... Kirk out...

Bonus Hidden Track - Our Letter Of The Month:
Here's an interesting item which one of our "operatives" recently intercepted. It was written by our pal, the aforementioned "Aussie Paul" to those sage music scribes over at MOJO magazine, in response to their recent feature, 100 Records That Changed the World. We don't know if MOJO will print it -- but we sure will!

Naturally, any "100 Records That Changed the World" list is going to be controversial, both for what it includes and for what it omits. But your genuflection at the clay feet of Beatles plagiarists Oasis, Clash knock-offs Green Day, human headlines The Libertines and hysterical bombast Queen, to name a few, while ignoring one of the greatest bands of all time and the most sampled - Parliament-Funkadelic - shifted your list from travesty to outright disgrace.

To be charitable, perhaps it was too difficult for you to sort through such an influential canon to select just one song, so I'll do it for you: "Flashlight". Keyboard genius Bernie Worrell's monster synth bass line on this track shook the world and was imitated, if never achieved nor surpassed, by bands from funk to industrial, new romantic to electronic, and everything in between.

It's all very well for you to posit no "The Message" (built on a P-Funk sample), no hip-hop; no NWA (huge fans of the P), no Snoop (another fan) etc. Without P-Funk, no rap, no hip-hop, no Black Rock Coalition, a poorer world musically, period.

You tell 'em, Paul! The truth is the light and the light must shine -- uh, under the sun, that is...