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decades of fun

Bernie Worrell 1944-2016

Bernie

Pure Music.
Pure Passion.

The man was a vessel. The sounds he made were direct from his soul to yours.
His fingers were only complete when connected to the black and white keys – ivory, wood, plastic – no matter.

His hands rested in chordal patterns. They twitched in brilliant half-steps. Fingerless gloves covered the paws of genius.

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A crooked and friendly smile made it all right.

His contemporaries, if there are any, come from millenia — Monk? Chopin? Bach? Beethoven? Ellington? Debussy? Miles?

Or is it Bootsy, George, Eddie, Garry, Kidd, and the rest of his funkateer cohorts?

One of the finest composers, arrangers, and performers of the 20th & 21st centuries died the other day.

Expired after a thankfully short battle with cancer.

bernie-worrell-onstage-keyboard

Expired before he could deliver even more wonderful music.

George Bernard Worrell.
The Wizard of Woo.

Bernie Worrell piano

Bernie Baby We Miss You Already.bernie_worrell

If anyone can make music in the post-earth life it’s this man.

I expect to see him on that cosmic keyboard.

Through the front window of the mothership.

Close encounters of the woo kind.


Here’s some other takes on the legend passing:

How Bernie Worrell Built Our Musical Future (MTV)

Bernie Worrell, masterful P-Funk keyboardist, dies in Everson (Bellingham Herald)

Bernie Worrell, ‘Wizard Of Woo,’ Dies at 72 (NPR)

Bernie Worrell Obituary: Founding Member of Parliament-Funkadelic who helped Talking Heads take new musical directions. (The Guardian)

Bernie Worrell, Parliament-Funkadelic Keyboardist, Dead at 72: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee was also unofficial member of Talking Heads (Rolling Stone)

George Clinton: Bernie Worrell’s passing a ‘huge loss’ (Asbury Park Press)



Worrell