Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Black Butterfly (coverart)
For those of us who like their jazz funky, their funk jazzy, and some other flavours thrown in, the release of Brooklyn Funk Essentials‘ 8th studio album, Black Butterfly, will be music to the proverbials.
The eclectic outfit of mixed instrumentalists, singers, and multitalented artists has changed personnel a little over the years, but at the heart, Lati Kronlund still beats the bass and keyboards for the project he started in 1993 with New York producer Arthur Baker.
The on-off-on nature of the Essentials’ existence has led to lineup changes, but Kristoffer Wallman, an original funkster, is back in the fold on keyboards and synths. Desmond Foster on guitar and vocals has been knocking around since joining at the end of last century, and drummer Hux Nettermalm has been keeping time since 2014. Singer Alison Limerick joined in 2016 and co-wrote Black Butterfly with Kronlund (Arthur Baker gets a co-writing credit for Never Give Up). On brass and vocals are Ebba Asman and Jessica Pina, with Loic Gayot on saxophone.
Brooklyn Funk Essentials. Courtesy
And, as you’d expect from that part of the world, the music they play is a melting pot of styles blending influences from Soul, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin, Funk and Spoken Word in a melange of beats, melody, harmony and poly-rythmic madness that had me wriggling in my chair.
Make that hop around as I got up to put the jug on.
While the message may be familiar and the sounds not quite as fresh as when they rocked the scene three decades ago, the Essentials still have it in spades.
Blackout opens the album with a bongo roll and Foster speaking – I looked outside, And everything was white!
The groove is a James Brown style funk with various interjections of recorded news-sounding statements – I looked out over Wall Street, the World Trade Centre and Brooklyn Bridge. And everything was pitch black – The Blackout continues with breakneck brass and ambient (city) sounds.
Bust The Bus Stop, previously released as a single on high-rotate on BBC Radio 2, Jazz FM and 6 Music in the UK, has elements of Parliament and a nod to Rose Royce (Car Wash). Sexy synths and silky singers compete with more of that cool brass section.
Other singles from the album include the aforementioned Never GIve Up, with Limerick and Foster showing their vocal talents in a standard jazz funk track – Don’t let nobody stop you, It’s so hard to be soft, In a world built for the hustle, Rich keep blaming the poor… Don’t you give up on love – Keep it inside, Though you feel your heart is breaking, Never give up on love – Follow your vibe-oh, It’s yourself you’d be forsaking.
And an excellent Afrobeat-influenced cover of Talking Heads’ Life During Wartime, a song that still resonates to the wider world today despite being over 40 years old.
The title track closes out the album with a dreamy, jazzy sound and Limerick’s soulful voice – Black butterfly, Your time, Flutter into the clouds, Long range, Everything change, Black gold, What will the future hold?
“The black butterfly is a symbol of hope, renewal and inevitable change,” explains Kronlund in the album notes. “A continuation of the band’s groove r-evolution.”
But the standout for me is track 4, Voodoo Gates: Afro-jazz, latin vibes, soul sonics, and some mournful brass make for a musical mash-up to dance to, to ponder, and to relish for all of its 7-plus minutes.
It may not be a new sound, but it’s a welcome chance to reflect on the evolution of this genre and what a banging band Brooklyn Funk Essentials continue to be.
