Legendary funk artist André Cymone spoke with host Jill Riley about his new album, The Resurrection of Funk, and the history of the Minneapolis sound. Cymone will perform live at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis on Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of the opening night for the venue’s centennial celebration.

Listen to the full interview in the player above, and find a complete transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current. I'm Jill Riley, special guest on the line with The Current, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, one of the Minneapolis sound innovators, alongside his childhood friend Prince, André Cymone is returning to a stage in North Minneapolis where a pretty historic moment occurred in the history of Prince when André was the bassist in Prince's band. That would be the Capri Theater. Well, André Cymone also has a new album, The Resurrection of Funk is the name of the new album, and André Cymone joins me on The Current. André, how are you doing?

André Cymone: I'm good. How you doing, Jill?

Jill Riley: I'm doing really well. I'm so glad that we could check in ahead of what really, I mean, for you must feel like just an absolute homecoming with such a historic stage, and I think an important art and cultural hub in North Minneapolis, the Capri Theater. Before we talk about your show, which is coming up on October 3, let's dive into your new album, The Resurrection of Funk. Funk music is such a building block of what became the Minneapolis sound, so I wonder if you could talk about funk music, how that led to the creation of the Minneapolis sound, and what that music means to you.

André Cymone: You know, funk music is a conversation, a musical conversation, but it's also a cultural conversation that musicians get to have with the world. What it means to me is growing up in Minneapolis, we had access to not a lot of music, because we were in the Midwest, you didn't get as many stations as some of the other, the East Coast and West Coast received. So we kind of had to make do, but there were a lot of amazing artists out at the time, like I don't know James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, George Clinton, Funkadelic, all of that, and all of them were speaking about a conversation that was happening in the country at the time, and just being young kids, obviously we were little sponges. So I mean, we were just figuring out what we were trying to do and what we wanted to say ourselves, and we realized musicians can be messengers, and that became very, very important in terms of expressing ourselves, and expressing what we were dealing with on the ground and the things that we were seeing in our neighborhoods and our communities, and so that's part of it. The other part of it is also just obviously expressing what it's like coming of age at that particular point in Minnesota, because really, Minnesota is an amazing place to grow up. It's an amazing place to live. I mean, and even what's going on right now, Minnesota is representing the country and the world in the most fantastic, amazing way, and it's showing the rest of the world that, as a whole, a state can represent and can shine a light on unity, on positivity, and it's always been that way. You know, my mother used to fight for that back in the day, and she instilled that in me, and everybody that was around, Prince, everybody that came to our house got a dose of Bernadette's brand of forward thinking,

Jill Riley: And so when you were growing up in Minneapolis, I mean, you and Prince were childhood friends. You were coming up together, and it sounds like just funk music was such a big part of the music that you guys wanted to make.

André Cymone: Yeah, I mean, I often have to remind people that Prince came to live with me and my family. It's not the other way around. And obviously I'm sure he probably had lots of options, but at that point, if you came by my house, you'd understand right away "Ooh, I'd love to live here," because it was a very free-spirited atmosphere, colorful characters. It was just a great place to be, period. I had musical instruments, so I played music already. It was really kind of a great environment for somebody to step into. And he brought a lot. I mean, you know, obviously, probably people have heard the story a million times, we didn't know our fathers played in a band, and then we found out, just by happenstance that they were in a band together. And his dad is a very very interesting character, just in and of itself. And he's somebody that made a huge impression on me. The school system and the fact that it had music programs and things of that nature, allowed us to be able to really flourish, from the aspect of being musicians. If it weren't for a lot of those things, we would have never — there'd be no me, Prince, Jimmy Jam, or Terry Lewis, or any of that stuff.

Jill Riley: Yeah. So the Capri Theater was really the stage and the setting for some pretty, I think, notorious moment in time when you know Prince had put the band together, you were playing bass with Prince, and I wonder what is it like to think about returning to that stage after all these years? And if you could maybe talk about what you remember from January of 1979, playing on that stage in North Minneapolis at the Capri Theater.

André Cymone: Well, a couple of things. I mean, one thing I had a lot to do with helping to put the band together. But yeah, no, it was it was really fun because we had to assemble a band. But once we were able to assemble the band and get everybody together, then it was like because we knew that the record company wanted to see us play, because they were coming, they were flying in from California, and at that point, it was kind of a big deal. Prince were walking around town because everybody had heard they got a record deal, and it was at that time it was before everything blew up, so it was André and Prince because everybody knew us in in the community. There became this buildup of anticipation and what it was going to be like because nobody had ever seen Prince perform as a front man. They saw him in our band, and in our band it was a whole different reality. So people were really excited to see what it was all about. And it went really really well. I mean, it was a great show, I thought, but for whatever reason, the record company didn't think we were quite ready yet, so I think that had a lot to do with us, really even, tightening down the show even more. But the Capri was amazing. We did two shows, I thought the shows were amazing. I know Prince had a little bit of a moment, stage fright moment, because it was his first time being a front man ever. And so, I had to give him a little pep talk.

Jill Riley: I was going to ask if you had any words of wisdom or some advice.

André Cymone: Oh yeah. I'm the the talker of the bunch. I'm, like I said I put together our original band because I would just go out and say, "Hey, you want to be in our band?” And that was when things were just starting and people didn't know what we were all about. But I was very serious, and it was great to meet somebody in Prince that was just as serious as I was about being a musician because in Minnesota, most people didn't think that was a possibility, and I was relentless, and so it just happened that I found a match into my passion, and we went fighting for it, and luckily all the stars aligned, and here we are.

Jill Riley: And on the stage at the Capri Theater, so it's you, it's Prince, it's Bobby Z and Dr. Fink and Dez Dickerson,and Gayle Chapman. And so, you really assembled these players that again to this day, I mean, are just thought of as, everybody on that stage, just like legendary players.

André Cymone: Well, we dodged a bullet. We almost had Yanni on stage,

Jill Riley: And I think people forget that Yanni like is from around here, or at least was living here.

André Cymone: He auditioned, yeah. I mean, all of those guys were amazing, and the thing is, the way we set it up is like okay, listen, this is how we're gonna have to work this, Prince, you're gonna have to deal with the front of the stage. You got to entertain everybody in front of you. I got the right side. Don't worry about that. I'll hold it down. Now we got this guy Dez. We didn't know that much about him. We knew he was from a band in St. Paul, but you know, as we started working with him, we were realized. Oh, he can hold it down because he had charisma, and so that was kind of the front three. And so we figured if each person could hold down their side of the stage, and Prince could hold down the front, we'd be all right. And so that was the attitude, and it worked out. It got us off the ground and got him off the ground, obviously. And as they say, the rest is history. The Capri was the first one though, that was really special.

Jill Riley: Yeah, the Capri Theater is where you're going to be making your return in Minneapolis, André Cymone, on October 3, and there's this big celebration of the 100th season of the Capri Theater, which again is just such a historic stage, and really not just a building, but this arts and cultural hub in North Minneapolis, and Andre Cymone has a new record called The Resurrection of Funk. And André, you said you see funk as a conversation, and with the album title being The Resurrection of Funk, it seems like it's this kind of restarting of the conversation that maybe you feel like needs to happen right now.

André Cymone: It absolutely is. I love hip-hop, but I think funk music has kind of been sort of left behind in that conversation, and funk music is the foundation of hip-hop. I mean, that's where they got a lot of their funk loops and all that kind of stuff, and but the thing is, funk music in and of itself, on its own, was a massive, major conversation. Like I said earlier, that kids like myself and Prince and our band really kind of, it resonated with us. And I thought that was getting left behind and forgotten. And I just think I can't let this happen, not on my watch. So, I really wanted to make that a part of the conversation to bring that back. And I think the other part of the conversation really is, I have to give credit to the Capri and to Maya and the people there. I mean, what they're doing in the community is much needed because communities need these kinds of outlets and these kind of centers and these kinds of hubs. But yeah, funk is so integral to everything, because the thing is with funk is it's a very open conversation. It's not closed. It's not only this community, only that community, only this culture, only that culture. It's a full multicultural conversation, so everybody can participate. And I look forward to hopefully inspiring, everyone, young kids, old kids, anybody, whatever, young kids, old kids, kids out there, but I want to inspire everybody to really kind of get back into the conversation of playing music because there is no expiration date on creativity. I mean if you're 40, 50, 60, whatever, you're in the game. We're all here, and we get to have fun. And that's I got that from my mother as well. I'm a very firm proponent of people having fun in life because you only get one of them as far as we know. So enjoy it.

Jill Riley: André Cymone. Talking about the new record, The Resurrection of Funk, and I really did get that impression that you really were inviting people in to experience what funk music is about, like almost this character that you play on the album, the Funk Forecaster, which is great. I mean, it just opens with this invitation. And then the way that you close the album is like this conversation isn't over. Like there's more coming.

André Cymone: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. My thing is I want to flood the zone with funk. You know. And so October, we're shooting to release Volume Two, and then we're going to follow that up after the first of the year with another album. It's probably going to be Sexy Resurrection, but we're going to keep it rolling because you know the the thing is, again, I write a lot of music, and so I just think that it's a conversation that needs to be had, and because the Minneapolis sound is a very integral part of a lot of different musical genres that are out right now, and I think a lot of people misunderstand what that is, and because I am definitely one of the architects, major architects, because really, arguably started in my basement. I really kind of want to reclaim my funk, and really kind of put it back in context, because the success has a lot of different fathers and all of that, and that's wonderful, and that can be fine, but when people start omitting my name from the conversation, then I start taking it personal, because I'm a nice guy and I'm humble and all that, and that's fantastic. But deep down, I'm really not all that humble. I'm kind of cocky, and I take what I do serious because, I like to think I'm really good at what I do. I take music serious. It's all I've ever done. So look forward to The Resurrection part 2, and there's going to be some songs on there that are going to blow people's minds.

Jill Riley: All right, we look forward to it. André Cymone at the Capri Theater, October 3. More funk to come, but to hold you over, you got to get started with The Resurrection of Funk, as it really feels like André Cymone, kind of like reclaiming what the Minneapolis sound again, those building blocks of funk music, and what your involvement was, what your creations are, and what funk means to you, and continuing that conversation with everybody and being, again, inviting into the world of funk. André Cymone, I so appreciate talking with you, talking about your new record, talking about the stories of involving you at the Capri Theater, your legacy alongside Prince, and again, the shout out to to Mama Bernadette, as she's one of those foundations that led you to where you are as well. Andre, thank you so much.

André Cymone: Yes, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Smitty who brought us in the Capri and Pepe, because they really kind of help bring a lot that a lot of that together, and you know, really, you know, we owe everything to those guys.

Jill Riley: All right. Well, I hope it's a great night. I'm sure there are a lot of great memories that'll be experienced and making new ones for the future. André Cymone on The Current.

Credits

Guests – André Cymone
Host – Jill Riley
Producer – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer - Natalia Toledo

External Link

André Cymone – Official Website