Defunkt

Joseph Bowie is the brother of big band musician Byron Bowie and Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Lester Bowie. Joseph, who had previously worked as a sideman for various 1970s jazz musicians, founded Defunkt in 1978 with members of a band that had backed James Chance. The new group's original focus was on danceable jazz music. Joseph's saxophonist brother Byron, bassist Melvin Gibbs and future Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid That album was particularly popular in Eastern Europe and Japan. Bowie disbanded the group in 1983 due to a lack of mainstream success, and retired to the island of St. Croix for a few years. Their latest album, Mastervolt, was released in 2015. == Musical style ==

AllMusic described the Defunkt's music as "some of the most adventurous sounds of the last quarter of the 20th century." Trouser Press has praised the group's later works for "a dynamic rock-funk-jazz concoction of popping bass, neck-melting guitar [...] and Bowie's inventive trombone figures and up-close-and-personable vocals." == Discography ==

• Defunkt (1980) • ''The Razor's Edge'' (12"-Maxi-Single, 1981) • Thermonuclear Sweat (1982) • In America (1988) • Avoid the Funk: a Defunkt Anthology (Compilation, 1988) • Heroes (1990) • Live at the Knitting Factory (Live, 1991) • Crisis (1992) • Cum Funky (1993) • Live and Reunified (Live, 1993) • A Blues Tribute to Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix (1994) • One World (1995) • Defunkt live in Stuttgart (Live, 1996) • The Legend of Defunkt, Volume 1 (Compilation, 2001) • Defunkt – The Legend Continues (2001) • Defunkt Live in Europe (Live-Doppelalbum, 2002) • Journey (2004) • Defunkt + Thermonuclear Sweat (2005) • Mastervolt (2015) • Live at Channel Zero (2016) == Members ==

Current • Joseph Bowie – trombone, vocals • Kim Clarke – bass • Bill Bickford – guitar • John Mulkerin – trumpet • Kenny Martin – drums Former • Ronny Drayton – guitar • Kelvyn Bell – guitar • Ayodele Maakheru (Martin Aubert) – guitar • Vernon Reid – guitar • Richard Martin – guitar • Rocco Zifarelli - guitar • Melvin Gibbs – bass • Ron Mac Jenkins – bass • Reggie Washington – bass • Ted Daniels – trumpet • Byron Bowie – saxophone • Luther Thomas – saxophone • Charles Green – saxophone • Alex Harding – baritone saxophone • Ronnie Burrage – drums • Rishard Lampese – guitar • Skoota Warner – drums • Tobias Ralph – drums • Kahil El'Zabar – percussion • Kelli Sae – vocals • Martin Fischer – keyboards • Marcus Persiani – keyboards • Kevin Bents – keyboards • Bahnamous Bowie – keyboards • Adam Klipple – keyboards • Cliff Branch – keyboards == References ==