Review: Bootsy Collins' bass bursts big on 'World Wide Funk'

Bootsy Collins, "World Wide Funk" (Mascot Records)

The word "funk" is said or sung over 200 times on the new Bootsy Collins album. What were you expecting? Banjo duets, Viking metal or Gregorian chants? Didn't think so.

"World Wide Funk" is a self-contained party record. Think of something witty - or better still, funky - to say between tracks and you won't have to play anything else for over 70 minutes. Collins can keep the dance floor full with his genial sequencing of freaky rhythms, slinky ballads and slow jams.

If the crowd doesn't feel like shaking their groove thing, don't fret - there are enough guests on the album to pack the parquet by themselves.

From a Vincent Price-like introduction by Iggy Pop - tracing Collins' origins to a cavern full of dinosaurs - to Musiq Soulchild, Doug E. Fresh, Chuck D and Big Daddy Kane, more bass players on a single track than you can shake a Chapman Stick at, guitarists like Eric Gales and Buckethead, and a host of singers like Tyshawn Colquitt. They are all part of a seamless whole.

"Candy Coated Lover" is as sweet as it sounds and "A Salute to Bernie" is a touching farewell to late keyboardist Bernie Worrell, who, like Collins, was a pivotal member of the Parliament-Funkadelic family. "Hot Saucer" relies on culinary terminology to put even more funk in the blender, while "Heaven Yes" is full of regret about noticing too late the cost of the best things in life.

Recorded at his Bootzilla Rehab studio in Cincinnati, "World Wide Funk" shows bass pioneer Collins' masterful ability to mix and match musical styles and generations all in the name of funky grooves.