Bandleader and trombonist Fred Wesley was one of the key figures in defining the
language of funk, earning a reputation as the world's most famous sideman in his
role as musical director of The JBs -James Brown's famous backing band.
Wesley was born in Columbus, Georgia, in the early 1940s. He was moved to
Mobile, Alabama at an early age and by the time he was three he was learning
classical piano under his grandmother, a music teacher. It was his father, Fred
Wesley Sr, who proved to have the bigger musical influence on the young Wesley,
however. He played big band music and ...