Creative Funk - Funk Power: The Complete Singles (2023)

Creative Funk was a group of friends/ musicians all aged between 17 and 21 from Jamaica, Queens, NYC. An unknown group, they decided to take the grassroots, DIY approach when releasing their first record. They started their own record label, and with the help of their bass player’s father, Deek Deberry, and released their first record “Ready Made Family”. A slow moving ballad, this side sold 25,000 plus in the NYC and surrounding areas. Soon major labels came knocking, and the mighty Bell Records won the bidding war and landed Creative Funk. Their self made record was released to the national record buying public, where for the next 2 and a half years they would go on making music. Creative Funk, as I stated previously, all hailed from Jamaica, Queens, except lead singer Diane Jenkins, who was from Brooklyn.

The group was comprised of Gary Deberry (bass) Diane Jenkins,(vocals) Veedett Williams (vocals), Walter Etheridge,(guitar), Denzil Miller (organ and trombone), Richard Currence (drums), Andre Johnson (trumpet and flugel horn), and Michael Johnson (alto and tenor saxophone). The band, in the words of bassist Gary Deberry Sr. did “defunk in 1975”. Here’s what he had to say in regards to Creative Funk’s goings on on SoulfulDetroit.com after the group went their separate ways: “We all moved on and did several things. Denzil wrote, played and produced several records. Diane Jenkins continued as a solo artist. I played with flutist Bobbie Humphrey, then Norman Connors with Jeane Carne, then Stanley Turrentine. I also recorded with Sony under Corey Rooney. I play with club date agency bands. Deek, my brother, who wrote “Ready Made Family” passed away in 2007 and Clarence Basset passed in 2005.

Tracklist
1. Ready Made Family (3:52)
2. Funk Power (3:10)
3. The Whole Groove (2:39)
4. The Whole Thing (2:54)
5. Moving World (3:54)
6. Breezies (3:28)
7. Before The Next Teardrop Falls (3:31)