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BIOGRAPHY

Conducting for Sam Moore at Classic Rock Festival, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Funkboy aka Ivan Bodley is a bass player and music director for the stars.  He has performed with 55 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and counting. He has been musical director for Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Tokens and has performed with Sting, Elvis Costello, Temptations, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Percy Sledge, Eddie Floyd, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Bo Diddley, Buster Poindexter, Uptown Horns, Paul Rodgers, Wynonna Judd, and David Foster.

 

Appearances include Carnegie Hall (featured soloist with the Rock Concerto), Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (with Cracked Ice led by Crispin Cioe), 15 Broadway shows including “Rock of Ages,” “Spider-Man,” "Hedwig & the Angry Inch," “Kinky Boots,” "Fun Home," and "Ain't Too Proud," Obama Inaugural Ball featured in the Barry Levinson documentary “Poliwood,” Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Today Show, Emeril Live, Imus in the Morning, Charlie Rose, Live with Regis & Kelly, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Istanbul State Symphony and Israel Symphony Orchestras.

Funkboy is a magna cum laude graduate of the Berklee College of Music and an inductee into the New York Blues Hall of Fame. To date, he has traveled to 31 countries around the world and played to audiences of up to 82,000 people in performance settings ranging from jazz duos to 150-member symphony orchestras.

Originally from Chattanooga, TN, Funkboy has resided and worked in New Orleans, Los Angeles, London, Boston, and is now based in New York City. Ivan has a BA in Psychology from Tulane University where he was music director of college radio station WTUL, New Orleans.  He was also a publicist with Epic Records/Sony Music.

Funkboy uses Fender, Moxy Gretsch, and Warrior basses, Hartke amplification, DR Neon strings, PRA Audio wireless, Tech 21Digitech and Line 6 signal processors. Ivan eats only Little Debbie snack cakes.

 

© 2024 Ivan "Funkboy" Bodley

Ivan funkboy Bodley bass guitar Fender bass music musician acoustic electric bass upright bass soul funk R&B rhythm & blues jazz rock pop Broadway musical theatre Stax Motown Memphis Detroit New Orleans freelance New York City Queens Brooklyn Forest Hills 48 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Blues Hall of Fame inductee 28 countries 40 states 10 Broadway shows magna cum laude Berklee College of Music graduate Tulane University graduate Chattanooga, TN native Miles Davis Herbie Hancock Lee Morgan Lou Donaldson The Meters George Porter, Jr. James Jamerson Duck Dunn Fender precision bass Fender jazz bass four string bass five string bass Hartke amplifiers DR strings Tech 21 Sans Amp PRA wireless Line 6 bass pod Warrior bass Moxy guitars Little Debbie snack cakes touring musician traveling musician teacher composer arranger producer performer recording musician remote recording pro tools am I famous yet memoir of a working class rock star y’all ain’t gonna believe this be careful what you wish for www.funkboy.net Martha Reeves & the Vandellas Sam & Dave The Shirelles The Crystals The Tokens The Uptown Horns Cracked Ice Humble Pie Look at That Cookie Pigs Feet & Potted Meat iBod Beauty is only Knee Deep Jazz/Funk Unit

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