For Immediate Release 

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Elaine Schock or Meredith Louie

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From Demos to Completion, Musical Director Evan Taylor

Gathered 70 Artists, 11 Engineers, 7 Mixers and 4 Producers

To Bring Bernie Worrell’s Hidden Treasures

To Life on Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse

  

Taylor Dives Into the Story Behind the Song

On “Wave from the WOOniverse,”

From the Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking Head Funk Legend’s

Posthumous Double-Album

  

  

LOS ANGELES — The late Bernie Worrell, of Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking Heads fame, has always been out of this world. From his out-there outfits to his psychedelic sonic wonders to his mystical philosophies on life, the funk pioneer and master of the keyboard, known as the Wizard of Woo, has “come back” with a posthumous collection of 13 cosmic creations that began before his passing in 2016 and finished by his colleagues throughout the past two years.

Putting together the double album was quite the musical undertaking for producer Evan Taylor, who took a treasure trove of dozens of Worrell’s unfinished compositions and gathered 70 guest musicians, singers, and performers, 11 engineers, seven mixers, and four producers (including himself and Jared Samuel) to record 13 songs in 19 studios in 14 different cities.

“This was a massive undertaking. I didn’t even know where to start at first, but it just started coming together. It was great to be able to stay focused and in the moment with Bernie’s music,” says music director Taylor, who began working with Worrell in 2009 and co-produced three of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s records — the acclaimed 2010 Standards and two EPs Prequel and BWO Is Landing.

We’re going to take you track-by-track on how this ambitious project was brought to life, starting with the title track, “Wave from the WOOniverse” featuring Miho Hatori, Sarah La Puerta, and Invisible Familiars, and produced by Evan Taylor and Jared Samuel.

What did you think when you first heard this one?

Evan: I almost shelved this one because it felt too demo-y. But something made me compelled to keep listening to it.  I eventually had the notion that if the rhythm track changed a bit, it could open up some more possibilities.

What did you add to the song? Walk us through how the song came to life.

Evan: I played a groove, just kick and snare, and then doubled it with another selection of drums and added a few layers of claps. We did this at Studio G in Brooklyn, NY with Tony Maimone. That’s when it started to feel like something more substantial. A lot of people compare this song to a Tom Tom Club cut. That’s essentially what I did rhythmically, and Jared heard it and embraced it. 

 Jared: When Evan first sent this to me, I picked out that vocal melody for the verse. It arrived so completely and fast that I was convinced it was already someone else’s, but we went with it. I’ve always admired Bernie’s incredible way with these melodies that feel like they could be sung by children in a schoolyard — that sort of almost insidiously catchy thing that probably predates even ‘Ring Around the Rosie.’ Bernie seemed like he had his antenna primed for that, and — in the same way that those songs often seemed innocent but were actually about plague and whatnot — Bernie found ways to use these seemingly ‘G-rated’ melodies in service of things that were sneaky, funky, and much deeper.

Evan: I also tinkered with some more of the rhythm track, including some picked electric bass that doubled aspects of Bernie’s synth bass. Over that, I played a thump/pluck groove. At that point, I was satisfied with the initial rhythm track, but it still was missing something: percussion. 

 Who did you bring in for that?

Evan: Who else? Bernie’s bandmate in the extended Talking Heads universe: Steve Scales. I made my way to Old House Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina very early in the morning, but Steve had beat me there, ready to ‘percuss’ and also be an outrageously funny motherfucker. It seemed that he brought every instrument he owned, but rather than overdub each instrument, Steve had everything mic’d up at the same time and treated it like a live performance. When we were wrapping up, I noticed his concert toms. I just had to have Steve play some toms — a la [the Talking Heads’ hit] ‘Burning Down the House’— only he could have done it like that. It felt like the right way to honor that feel for this track. Then we were ready to bring it up at Jared’s place, Pale Moon Services in Cambridge, New York.  

How did the vocals and lyrics come about?

Jared: We found our source material and our singer in-house thanks to my partner [multimedia artist/musician] Sarah La Puerta. Sarah often employs the cut-ups method, at least as a starting point. So, we took a page from her book, mostly from some astronomy magazines she had laying around. We chopped ‘em up and mixed ‘em up with a page from the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) and maybe an insurance document; hence the ‘clusters and galaxies’ and ‘clinical modifications’ in the lyrics. But once we had that melody in place it was a lot easier to figure out which words belonged, and which ones didn’t. Then we recorded a lot of Sarah’s voice in unison, and some with me and Evan singing with varispeed to thicken the whole thing and actually sound like kids on the playground. A lot of the narrative there conveys this general feeling of, ‘Welp… so long, planet Earth. I did my best to share with you these special gifts I brought with me. Ya’ll received ‘em okay, but you could’ve treated me a lot better. Still—no hard feelings… Time to return to where I’m from.’ And then that rap from Miho Hatori is what really catapults it into the surrealist stratosphere.

Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse was released on Org Music initially on vinyl on Record Store Day (April 20, 2024) and then digitally and on CD in August 2024 at all DSPs (linktr.ee/bernieworrell). The lineup includes Bootsy Collins (James Brown, P-Funk), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Fred Schneider (The B-52s), Mike Watt (The Minutemen, The Stooges), Leo Nocentelli (The Meters) and Sean Ono-Lennon, Leo Nocentelli, Miho Hatori, Steve Scales, Marc Ribot, Fred Wesley, Marco Benevento, Stanton Moore, Steven Bernstein, Daru Jones, Will Calhoun, Buckethead, Norwood Fisher, and many more. 

 “Wave from the WOOniverse” Production Credits:

Bernie Worrell: Keyboards

Miho Hatori: Rap Vocals

Sarah La Puerta: Lead Vocals

Steve Scales: Percussion

Tim Young: Guitars

Evan Taylor: Drums, Bass, Linn Drum, Vocals

Jared Samuel Elioseff: Keyboards, Vocals

Gang vocals: Ana Becker, Natalie Kirch, and Rosie Slater

Claps: Evan Taylor and Janet LaBelle

Engineered by Jared Samuel Elioseff, Tony Maimone, Daniel Collins Hodges with Alex Jacobs, and Spencer Guerra

Produced by Evan Taylor and Jared Samuel

Recorded at Studio G. in Brooklyn, NY, Old House Studios in Charlotte, NC, and Pale Moon Services in Cambridge, NY

Mixed by Matthew Cullen

Mastered by Steven Berson at Total Sonic Media, Cedar Park, Texas

 

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Album Now Available Digitally

And on CD and Vinyl, HERE

  

Bernie Worrell: Wave from the WOOniverse track listing:

1. Intro (Reflections on a Bird) – Feat. Nick Montoya

2. Distant Star – Feat. Jerry Harrison, Paul Dooley, Alecia Chakour, Invisible Familiars

3. What Have They Done To My Funk – Feat. Bootsy Collins, Michael Moon Reuben, Ouiwey Collins, Buckethead

4. Heapin’; Bowl Of Gumbo – Feat. Leo Nocentelli, Fred Wesley, Stanton Moore, Lonnie Marshall

5. Re-Enter Black Light (Phase II) – Feat. Sean Ono Lennon

6. The Big WOO – Feat. Fred Schneider, Binky Griptite, Marco Benevento, Jaleel Bunton, Kyp Malone, Ana Becker

7. Greenpoint – Feat. Steve Bernstein, Mauro Refosco, Smokey Hormel, Scott Hogan, Michael Jerome Moore

8. Soldiers Of The Stars – Feat. Daru Jones, Eric McFadden

9. When The Rain Subsides – Feat. Will Calhoun

10. Pedro WOO – Feat. Mike Watt

11. Contusion – Funkadelic

12. Transcendence – Feat. Marc Ribot, Norwood Fisher

13. Wave From The WOOniverse – Feat. Miho Hatori, Sarah La Puerta, Invisible Familiars

  

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