Funkistice - The Road‑Born Fusion Experiment (1988)
Written on tour during the 1988 U.S. Army Soldier Show - refined across bases in the U.S., Hawaii, Korea, and Japan.
Funkistice began as a groove sketched in barracks during the final leg of the Soldier Show tour - a fusion idea shaped by backstage improvisations, and the influence of listening to early Brecker Brothers music. The tune evolved organically and became one of the earliest examples of Brian’s emerging jazz‑fusion voice. What started as a fast, melodic idea grew quickly into a fully arranged horn feature by the time the tour returned to Fort Dix.
Exhibit I — The Original Road Sketch
The earliest version of Funkistice was drafted during the final days of the Soldier Show tour. Between performances, travel days, and backstage downtime, Brian refined the groove and wrote the melodic fragments for alto sax that would eventually become the tune’s foundation.
Early sketch - the first seeds of Funkistice.
Exhibit II — The Actual Sax Part
The horn lines were refined on the road. Trumpet player Joe Romano, a fellow Army Bandsman from Fort Monmouth, became Brian’s on‑tour trumpet-playing harmonic guide. The two rehearsed the tune extensively throughout the final days of the Soldier Show tour, locking in the phrasing, dynamics, and rhythmic hits before the official recording session at Fort Dix, NJ.
Rewritten alto sax part page 1 - for the studio recording at Ft. Dix
Exhibit III - The Fort Dix Recording
After the tour ended, Brian returned to Fort Dix, where Funkistice was ready for its full studio treatment. Joe Romano recommended drummer Randy Servello from the Fort Monmouth Army Band, and Randy agreed to record the session after rehearsing it with Brian in Fort Monmouth's band hall. The collaboration stuck - Randy became Brian’s drummer for all of the remaining Fort Dix recordings until his first Army term concluded honorably in September 1989.
Drummer Randy Servello - Fort Dix recording session, October 1988.
Randy Servello becomes a Drill Sergeant
Randy ended up making the Army Band a career and later on became a Drill Sergeant at the Armed Forces School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. Hooah, indeed.
Exhibit IV - The Final Mix & Legacy
The final mix of Funkistice captures the raw, road‑hardened energy of Brian’s earliest fusion writing. The tune’s blend of groove, horn lines, and improvisational space foreshadows the direction his music would take in the Early Rock Daze and Explorations eras. Funkistice stands as a snapshot of a young composer discovering his voice - on the road and in the studio.
The completed Fort Dix mix - the first fully realized version of Funkistice.