Led by trombonist Joseph Bowie -- the son of a St. Louis-based music teacher, the brother of big band arranger Byron Bowie, and late trumpet player of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Lester Bowie -- Defunkt created some of the most adventurous sounds of the last quarter of the 20th century. This punk-funk-jazz unit born in 1978 in New York City merged avant-garde with rocking, funky grooves. Over this period the band made 15 recordings on various independent labels and traveled throughout the world sharing the stage with countless numbers of popular artists including James Brown, David Byrne and Talking Heads, The Clash, Hans & Candy Dulfer, Isaac Hayes, Prince, Larry Graham, Michelle N’dChello, Maceo Parker and countless others.