Joining forces with our hero fred wesley

Fred Wesley’s impact on BT ALC Big Band can be traced back nearly 15 years ago with an arrangement of Wesley’s biggest hit “Damn Right I Am Somebody’’ that band leaders Brian and Alex incorporated into their repertoire in their very first shows. As the group developed, they added more original compositions to their show, often drawing influence from Wesley’s writing and arranging style heard on their favorite James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic records. 

They reached out to Wesley to share a recording of their version of “Damn Right I Am Somebody (Ropeadope Records 2019)” and asked if he would be willing to come to the Boston area to be a guest with the band.

On September 29, 2023 BT ALC Big Band welcomed trombonist and funk music pioneer Fred Wesley to Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, MA for what turned out to be one of the most legendary jazz/funk concerts in recent New England history and marked the beginning of a relationship between the Boston based funk big band and an icon in the business. 

The September 29th BT ALC Big Band show featuring very special guest Fred Wesley will be released as a live album in 2025.

Available for 2025 festival/theater/performing arts center bookings

Fred’s trombone playing is so obviously distinctive and special that, if you didn’t read up on what he’s done, you can forget that he’s one of the most influential composers and arrangers of our time. When you talk about great arrangers like Ellington/Strayhorn, Quincy Jones,, etc., you have to include Fred in that conversation. His original instrumental material, specifically everything he made with The J.B.’s and then Fred Wesley and the Horns, is really, to my mind, the peak of what instrumental funk music can do. Everything we write in BT ALC can be traced back to his music - Alex Lee Clark

Anyone that has heard my music and style knows that Fred has been one of my biggest influences. Seeing him live in the early 90's at The Haunt in Ithaca, NY with Maceo Parker changed my life and showed me me the power of playing instrumental funk music that makes people dance and connects with their mind, body and soul. Fred is truly one of the funkiest humans to walk the face of the planet and it is a dream come true to work with him - Brian Thomas  

Fred Wesley on collaborating with the BT ALc big band

Alex and Brian are two fine musicians who are passionate about their musical heritage, they honor and build on the tradition of funk that I, James Brown, and others built. They have done some dynamic arrangements on music that I created. What a band! What great arrangements. Musicians of this caliber will make my and James Brown's simple songs last forever. - Fred Wesley