According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is “music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying”. Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul, jazz and rhythm and blues. It focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline and typically consists of complex percussive interlocking grooves that create a “hypnotic” and “danceable” feel.BIg bands have adopted these genres into their vocabularies, and the Lighthouse Big Band will be celebrating these musical genres with tunes by James Brown; Tower of Power; Earth, Wind, and Fire, among others. Come out ready to dance as we have some fun with “Funk and Soul” night!