George 'Funky' Brown (January 15, 1949 -- November 17, 2023) was an American drummer born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and a founding member of Kool & the Gang.
In the Record§
He co-founded the group in the mid-1960s alongside Robert 'Kool' Bell and other Jersey City neighbors, all of whom attended Lincoln High School, and served as the rhythmic anchor of the band for more than five decades.
As the group's primary drummer, he helped craft a sound blending jazz roots with hard funk and later crossover R&B, producing a catalog that is among the most sampled in music history.
He also raised the city's next generation of chart-toppers: after the death of their father, his marriage to their mother made him stepfather to Attrell and Jarrett Cordes, the Jersey City brothers who formed PM Dawn and took “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” to No. 1 in 1991.
Sources§
- Wikipedia — George Brown — link
- Archive research: The Jersey City Sound, 2026
- Attrell Cordes, Wikipedia — link
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