Edwin L. Birdsong (August 22, 1941 – January 21, 2019) was an American keyboardist and organist, known in the 1970s and 1980s for his experimental

funk 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 various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

music. Birdsong did not achieve much chart success, but developed a strong fan base. Birdsong has also been sampled by other artists many times, most famously by Daft Punk who sampled "Cola Bottle Baby" in " Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", and Gang Starr who sampled his single "Rapper Dapper Snapper" for their song "Skills".

Biography

Birdsong was the son of a minister and grew up in a strict fundamentalist environment. He joined the Los Angeles Community Choir for a period before serving in the army during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

era. While in the army, he was stationed in Germany. He went on to play in clubs in Germany, and then moved to New York City to pursue his music career. There he headed a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

trio but experienced little success. While in New York he attended the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

as well as Juilliard as a composition major. In 1971 he signed a record deal with Polydor. Under Polydor, he issued his first two full-length albums, ''What It Is'' and ''Supernatural''. Birdsong then issued one album for Bamboo, ''Dance of Survival'', in 1975, and recorded ''Edwin Birdsong'' for Philadelphia International in 1979, which included the single "Phiss-Phizz". Birdsong also worked extensively with Roy Ayers, co-producing three of his albums and writing "Running Away" and "Freaky Deaky" with him. Birdsong slowly stopped making his own music but carried on playing session work for many well known artists including

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. Birdsong served as a mentor early in the career of hip-hop artist/producer Funkghost.

Discography

Albums

* ''What It Is'' (1971, Polydor) * ''Supernatural'' (1973, Polydor) * ''Dance of Survival'' (1975, Bam-Boo) * ''Edwin Birdsong'' (1979, Philadelphia International) * ''Funtaztik'' (1981, Salsoul)

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birdsong, Edwin 1941 births 2019 deaths American jazz organists American male organists Jazz-funk organists Musicians from Los Angeles Juilliard School alumni Manhattan School of Music alumni Polydor Records artists Philadelphia International Records artists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Jazz musicians from California Military personnel from California American male jazz musicians United States Army soldiers