The funk starts now. John Roberts will turn it on until it fills the Salle Pierre Mercure, the seemingly staid soft-seater hall named in honor of the classical composer. If Pierre is with us (in spirit, of course) for the John Roberts show, he's going to be grinning from ear to ear. Doesn't matter what kind of music—classical music, folk music, R & B music—it's all gotta swing and deal in funk.

Welcome the guardian of all things funky, John Roberts. A veteran of Atlanta studios, he cut drum tracks for albums by George Duke, En Vogue, Monica, Xscape, Goodie Mob, Al Jarreau, Rachel Farrell, and Jonathan Butler.

And what's he going to do for you? He's going to put you into spasm! He's getting help from cutting-edge producer and kinky keyboard artist Mark de Clive-Lowe.


 






John Roberts hails from Philadelphia, where he played club gigs and did studio dates with DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince. He moved to Atlanta to provide input to Georgia funk. More recently, John Roberts has toured with Janet Jackson. John looks out at 50,000 fans before he counts in a song, secure in his knowledge of where the pulse ought to be; then he cracks the whip and the band locks tight, the singer gets comfortable because the lyrics sit right, and audience dances into the night.

Most important, John adds that spark, that personality, that warm feel that can only arise from the heart...not some rack mounted brain. What we're trying to say is that we are indebted to John Roberts for playing so strong that producers began defying tradition and hiring real drummers for dance/hip-hop/R & B, instead of resorting to sequencers.

Rise to your feet. Celebrate that this man raged against the machine and won. John Roberts ranks high because he is among the handful who put the funk back in funk music. You may remember him as “Lil' John” Roberts. He now bills as John Roberts. There is nothing “little” about him.
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