There was an absolute party atmosphere in the Cuveehof at Schloss Johannisberg on June 26, 2025, when Fred Wesley and his New JB’s thrilled the audience with a mixture of funk, R’n’B and soul. A very special interlude was provided by 80-year-old Martha High, who zipped across the stage with incredible energy, a powerful voice, a striking hairstyle, elegance and a performance reminiscent of Tina Turner, finally getting off the stage and dancing into the rows of the audience. Parts of the audience also got up and danced along.
Funk Legends Reunited
Jazz legend Fred Wesley, the internationally acclaimed trombonist and former musical director of James Brown’s band, celebrated his debut at the Rheingau Music Festival this year. With his concert on June 26, he brought funky grooves to the Cuvéehof at Schloss Johannisberg. Together with the impressive singer Martha High, who also performed with James Brown for 30 years, and the band The New JB’s, he brought the legacy of funk to the stage with new energy. The ensemble impressed all with its powerful music – a mixture of funk, R’n’B and soul.
With classics such as “Pass the Peas” and “I’m Black and I’m Proud” as well as new interpretations of well-known hits, it was a successful concert evening that will hopefully not be the last at the Rheingau Music Festival.
Fred Wesley, born on July 4, 1943 in Mobile, Alabama, came into contact with the trombone at a very early age. His father was the conductor of a jazz orchestra who had his son learn the trombone at an early age. Wesley gained his first experience with Count Basie before joining James Brown in the 1960s and becoming an integral part of the brass section. He also worked for a time as musical director for James Brown as well as for the influential side product The J.B.’s. Wesley was also instrumental in the emergence of funk music. He and his partner Maceo Parker on saxophone were a congenial team.
Martha High
was the most important voice in James Brown’s choir for 35 years.
She was not only the soprano in James Brown’s backing choir, she was also the stylist for James Brown’s hairstyle for 17 years, which was more than distinctive. Today, the American, who was born in Virginia and grew up in Washington D.C., is 80 years old. In 1963, she joined the girl group “The Four Jewels”, which was founded by her school friends, under her birth name Martha Harwin. They released a few smaller hit singles before joining James Brown as his backing choir on tour in early 1965. The Four Jewels disbanded in 1968, but Martha remained in James Brown’s backing band. He gave her the stage name High and signed her up as a fellow musician. High sang for James until the beginning of 2000.
She has not lost her feel for the energetic funk that James Brown coined like no other, as she proved on this evening in the Rheingau.
Johanna Wenninger-Muhr