Biography
The designation acid jazz fails to encompass the breadth of most ensembles saddled with the playful phrase, yet it constrains Brooklyn Funk Essentials even more severely. This ever-shifting, multicultural collective merges funk with multiple strains of jazz, soul, ska, and dub poetry. Recognition has centered chiefly on their 1993 debut Cool and Steady and Easy, which proved instrumental in establishing the independent U.K. imprint Dorado. As participants have pursued separate artistic paths, the band has reassembled intermittently, issuing two albums each decade and concluding their third decade with Stay Good in 2019.
Electro pioneer Arthur Baker, who had ties to Lenny Dee and Victor Simonelli’s prior house endeavor bearing the identical name, conceived Brooklyn Funk Essentials alongside bassist and musical director Lati Kronlund, an alumnus of Swedish new wave outfit Reeperbahn. The sizable ensemble rapidly became a fixture of the New York City club circuit. Formative lineups incorporated vocalists Joi Cardwell, Sha-Key, and Papa Dee, dub poets Everton Sylvester and David Allen, DJ Jazzy Nice, keyboardist Yuka Honda before Cibo Matto, trumpeter Bob Brachmann, trombonist Joshua Roseman, saxophonist Paul Shapiro, drummer Yancy Drew, and percussionist E.J. Rodriguez. Brooklyn Funk Essentials released Cool and Steady and Easy in the U.K. in 1993. The set yielded an underground success through its version of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and incorporated contributions from Maceo Parker and the Tower of Power horns. RCA secured U.S. distribution rights in 1995.
After Cardwell departed to concentrate on solo work, vocalist and songwriter Stephanie McKay assumed her role and appeared on the 1998 collaboration In the BuzzBag with Turkish group Laço Tayfa as well as Make Them Like It two years afterward. Following a prolonged hiatus, BFE resurfaced in 2008 with Watcha Playin’, on which Sha-Key, Papa Dee, and Sylvester compensated for McKay’s absence. The band rejoined Dorado, reinstated Cardwell and McKay, and issued Funk Ain’t Ova in 2015. Their sixth album, Stay Good, surfaced late in the decade with veteran singer Alison Limerick now part of the configuration.
Electro pioneer Arthur Baker, who had ties to Lenny Dee and Victor Simonelli’s prior house endeavor bearing the identical name, conceived Brooklyn Funk Essentials alongside bassist and musical director Lati Kronlund, an alumnus of Swedish new wave outfit Reeperbahn. The sizable ensemble rapidly became a fixture of the New York City club circuit. Formative lineups incorporated vocalists Joi Cardwell, Sha-Key, and Papa Dee, dub poets Everton Sylvester and David Allen, DJ Jazzy Nice, keyboardist Yuka Honda before Cibo Matto, trumpeter Bob Brachmann, trombonist Joshua Roseman, saxophonist Paul Shapiro, drummer Yancy Drew, and percussionist E.J. Rodriguez. Brooklyn Funk Essentials released Cool and Steady and Easy in the U.K. in 1993. The set yielded an underground success through its version of Pharoah Sanders’ “The Creator Has a Master Plan” and incorporated contributions from Maceo Parker and the Tower of Power horns. RCA secured U.S. distribution rights in 1995.
After Cardwell departed to concentrate on solo work, vocalist and songwriter Stephanie McKay assumed her role and appeared on the 1998 collaboration In the BuzzBag with Turkish group Laço Tayfa as well as Make Them Like It two years afterward. Following a prolonged hiatus, BFE resurfaced in 2008 with Watcha Playin’, on which Sha-Key, Papa Dee, and Sylvester compensated for McKay’s absence. The band rejoined Dorado, reinstated Cardwell and McKay, and issued Funk Ain’t Ova in 2015. Their sixth album, Stay Good, surfaced late in the decade with veteran singer Alison Limerick now part of the configuration.
Albums