News + Reviews
The most exciting and important music news in New Jersey
George ‘Funky’ Brown of Kool & The Gang Dies at 74
They called him Funky. George Brown started Kool & The Gang in 1964 Jersey City with brothers Ronald and Robert “Kool” Bell and neighborhood friends Spike Mickens, Dee Tee Thomas, Ricky Westfield and Charles Smith, as a jazz-pop-funk-soul collective. By the time of their 1969 self-titled debut album, they were opening shows for Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby. Brown passed away November 16 in Los Angeles at the age of 74.
Kool & The Gang March On With New Album & New Memoir
It’s amazing to think that Kool & The Gang started in Jersey City 59 years ago as The Jazziacs. The two co-founding members—bassist Robert “Kool” Bell and drummer/keyboardist George “Funky” Brown—are still at it with some new young lions in the band.