Curtis Mayfield: “Freddie’s Dead”
Parliament:“Mothership Connection” live 1976. Notice the use of repeated riffs in the instruments similar to “Payback” by James Brown. Funk music is often structured in this way to allow a degree of improvisation, often by the vocalist, and the repetition of the riffs plus the groove of the rhythm section make a very danceable style. “Flash Light”from 1978 features a bass riff, but the riff is performed on a synthesizer instead of a bass guitar.
“Flash Light” (Live)