Uptown Funk Empire

Uptown Funk Empire

Uptown Funk Empire is the funk-focused project of Bruno “Patchworks” Hovart, a musician from France. Hovart also works under the name Patchworks and is associated with Metropolitan Jazz Affair, The Dynamics and Mr President.

Background

Hovart starts playing guitar, bass and keyboards at the age of 15, initially covering James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Cream. He begins in bedroom practice and later plays in college bands. His first releases appear in the mid-1990s, when he works on deep house and disco live bands as well as other electronic projects.

Music and collaborators

He develops a style centred on vintage disco and funk production with a contemporary feel, and Uptown Funk Empire is presented as a tribute to funk. Hovart handles bass, keyboards, computers, composition, programming, arrangements and vocals across the project. The music includes boogaloo, soul, disco, boogie and funk.

He works with artists including Amp Fiddler, Archie Shepp, Mr Day and Paul Randolph, and records for labels including I Still Music in the United States, Favorite Recordings in France, Infracom in Germany and Further Out in the United Kingdom.

Release and reception

The first Uptown Funk Empire album is The Empire Strikes Back. It features vocals from Juan Rozoff, Noel McKoy, Ange and Janice, as well as Hovart himself. The project’s music is played by stations including Radio Nova, Jazz FM, BBC Radio 6 Music, Hed Kandi Radio, Arrow Jazz FM, Radio X, Radio Grenouille, Superfly FM, Antena 3 and Jazz Radio, and it receives support from DJs such as Joey Negro, Recloose, DJ Bobbito, Jazztronik, Rich Medina, Osunlade, Rainer Trüby, Femi Fem, Nik Weston, Simbad, Kiko Navarro and Bob Jones.