The Pazant Brothers

The Pazant Brothers made some obscure, largely instrumental recordings between the late '60s and mid-'70s that are highly regarded by funk collectors, though they never made an appreciable commercial dent in the R&B market. While similar in essential respects to the James Brown-inspired funk arrangements of the day, the group also added some elements of jazz, Latin, and New Orleans music. Some of their tracks also had afterthought-seeming incidental vocals, but it was as an instrumental band that they were strongest. The Pazant Brothers included saxophonist Eddie Pazant, who began playing with the band of jazz great Lionel Hampton in the late '50s, eventually becoming musical director. His brother, trumpeter Al Pazant, was also in the Pazant Brothers Band, who recorded as the horn section for Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers in the late '60s. Ed Bland was crucial to launching the Pazant Brothers as a recording act, writing much of their material and recording them as an A&R/executive of the GWP label. The group released about an album's worth of tracks for GWP, mostly on obscure 45s (one credited to the Chili Peppers), in the late '60s and early '70s before ending their collaboration with Bland and recording under the name the Pazant Brothers & the Beaufort Express on rare singles for the Vigor and Priscilla labels. That was the name they also used when Ed Bland signed the band to Vanguard for their only album, 1975's Loose and Juicy. The Pazant Brothers continued to play over the next few decades, and also work as session players and with Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers. Most of their studio recordings were issued on the 2005 CD compilation The Brothers Funk, and an early-'70s live concert was released for the first time on 2003's Live at Museum of Modern Art.
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