The Jazz Organ Scene

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Bernie Worrell Bernie was born in 1944 and grew up in Plainfield, NJ. A musical prodigy, he began formal piano lessons by age three and wrote a concerto at age eight. He went on to study at the Juilliard School and received a degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1967.   After meeting George Clinton, leader of a Plainfield-based doo wop group called The Parliaments, Worrell, Clinton, The Parliaments and their backing band, The Funkadelics, moved to Detroit, MI; thereafter, both groups became collectively known as Parliament-Funkadelic. During the 1970s the same group of musicians separately recorded under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, but toured as P-Funk. Worrell played grand piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, Hammond B-3 organ, ARP String Ensemble and Moog synthesizer, co-wrote, and wrote horn and rhythm arrangements on hit recordings for both groups and other associated bands under the "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" production company, and many of his most notable performances were recorded with Bootsy's Rubber Band, Parlet, The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns.   While funk musicians traditionally utilized electric keyboards, such as the Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano, Bernie was the second recipient of the Moog synthesizer created by Bob Moog. He used the ARP Pro Soloist as well. Worrell's synthesizer work is prominent on the majority of Parliament's most popular songs throughout the 1970s.   When Parliament-Funkadelic took a hiatus from touring in the early 1980s, Worrell was recruited to perform and record with Talking Heads during their most inventive period. Though he never officially joined Talking Heads, he was a de facto member of the group for most of the '80s.   From the late 1980s through the 2010s, Bernie recorded extensively with Bill Laswell, including Sly and Robbie's Laswell - produced Rhythm Killers and the 1985 Fela Kuti album Army Arrangement. Worrell performed with Gov't Mule. Through the beginning of the 21st century, he became a visible member of the jam band scene, performing in many large summer music festivals, sometimes billed as Bernie Worrell and the Woo Warriors. He appeared on several Jack Bruce albums.   Bernie joined the rock group Black Jack Johnson, with Mos Def, Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish and Dr. Know. Bernie's project Baby Elephant was a collaboration with Stetsasonic member/De La Soul producer Prince Paul and longtime Paul associate Don Newkirk.   Bernie appeared in the 2004 documentary film Moog with synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog and several other Moog synthesizer musicians. In 2011, he toured with Bootsy Collins, another major figure from Parliament-Funkadelic. From 2011 through 2015, Bernie performed with his group, the Bernie Worrell Orchestra. The band became known for the appearance of special guests at live performances, including Bootsy Collins, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Jimmy Destri, Mike Watt, Rah Digga and Gary Lucas. In 2015, Bernie appeared in the movie Ricki and the Flash as the keyboard player in Meryl Streep's band.   During May 2016, the New England Conservatory of Music gave Worrell an honorary Doctor of Music degree. In January 2016, Worrell was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer. He died at the age of 72 on 24 June 2016.   source: Wikipedia

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