
We Want the Funk: Funk Drumming with Gary Ribchinsky
March 29 @ 1:00 pm
FREE
We “got the feeling” at Essex Library! In follow-up to the Indie-Lens Pop-Up documentary film “We Want the Funk,” which was screened at the Library earlier this month, a live drumming performance by Gary Ribchinsky, the founder of the band Long Island Sound, will take place on March 29 at 1:00 PM at Essex Library. Ribchinsky will also provide a lecture on the basic characteristics of funk music, artists and songs.
This program is FREE and open to the public at 33 West Avenue, Essex, CT. Register at youressexlibrary.org or by calling the Library at 860-767-1560.
If you missed the Library’s screening of “We Want the Funk,” Connecticut Public will be premiering the film on April 8, 2025. More information is available HERE.
About the Film
WE WANT THE FUNK! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots, to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown’s dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle, and Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, the story also traces funk’s influences on both new wave and hip-hop.
About Stanley Nelson
Stanley Nelson is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, MacArthur Fellow, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. President Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal. Nelson has directed and produced numerous films, including Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, and Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple.
About Gary Ribchinsky
Gary Ribchinsky, a drummer and vocalist, continues to perform with the band Long Island Sound, which he founded in 1975. Gary has also performed with stars such as Sammy Davis Jr., Engelbert Humperdink, Nel Carter, and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He has performed at the Goodspeed Opera House, the national Broadway tour of Ain’t Misbehavin’, and as percussionist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra New England. He has been musician, contractor and percussionist for the New England Pops and the American Musical Theater as well as many Big Bands throughout New England. He was also the percussionist with the CD award winning Klezmer group, Klezical Tradition and plays frequently with Zev and the Klezmer All Stars.
Gary has taught percussion at the University of Connecticut and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and was the assistant band director, percussion instructor and arranger for the national award winning East Lyme High School Viking Band. Gary studied at the Boston Conservatory with renowned percussionist Arthur Press of the Boston Symphony.
Gary is also a tennis professional (PTR) and was the varsity girls’ tennis coach at Valley Regional High School from 2002 -2015. As passionate about tennis as he is about music, Gary plays USTA tennis tournaments throughout New England and for the past thirty-plus years has built and maintained a successful tennis program for kids and adults with Essex Park and Recreation. Gary (Coach) resides in Ivoryton with his wife Julie, who is a cellist. He also enjoys spending time with his three successful children and six amazing grandchildren.