In Chucky Thompson, Black Music Found A Borderless, Million-Selling Sound

As a kid in 1980s Washington, D.C., Carl Edward "Chucky" Thompson Jr. couldn't stop running into Chuck Brown, the godfather of the city's funky go-go music scene, chopping it up with the youth that made up his core audience at his shows. By the time the self-taught musician finessed his way into Brown's band, the Soul Searchers, as a 16-year-old conga player, he noticed something else: The bandleader made a point to individually address all of his musicians before, during and after every performance. Thompson was a prodigy who picked up keyboards, drums, guitar, bass and trombone by ear, but Brown taught him something he couldn't learn on his own — that making good music with others begins with being selfless and flexible.

"It's all about the energy you bring and how you're moving," Thompson said, in his heavy D.C. accent, when we spoke earlier this summer for . "You're dealing with all of these different personalities, and you have to address them differently. Being with Chuck was