Perhaps funk holds its own so bravely against every spark of new musical fads because it was itself a by-product of the zeitgeist of the ’60s and ’70s. A hybrid of R&B, soul, jazz and blues, fueled by the sexual liberation of the dance floor and, last but not least, fueled by very serious political issues such as racism, discrimination and social injustice, the genre has always remained more than just an invitation to flex your hips .
Brooklyn Funk Essentials have stayed true to these funk roots since their debut Cool & Steady & Easy in 1995, while expanding those horizons with powerful acid-jazz bits and, since Alison Limerick is on board as singer-songwriter, one too Casual expression that makes them a live act celebrated worldwide.
On the seventh album, “Intuition”, you can hear the effortless search for cool grooves and melodies like the Isley Brothers and Maceo Parker. It has become a liberating record, also with a view to the ever-expanding Corona period. Out with the lockdowns and in with a world where touch is required again, is about “Rollin’ (Love Will Be Here)”. “Mama” celebrates the irrepressible power of single mothers with heavy trombone in dub garb and spoken-word slow-motion vocals. And “Unkissed”, which swings back and forth wonderfully between sweetish vocal passages and stormy horns, thinks aloud about what it’s like when love perseveres in silence in everyday life instead of making itself heard loudly.
All of this may seem conservative and cautious in the face of the simmering wave of neo-funk and neo-soul, but it is also intentional, because it celebrates the timelessness of funk as music for all and as a sweeping theming of Upholds problems that concern everyone, in the sense that they will only go away if they are addressed by communities, not individuals.
Old school
The band adopts an organic approach, almost completely dispensing with technology (which makes their jams and dawdling, like in the opener “Scream!”, seem very authentic). Bandleader Lati Kronlund, who put together his formation in the early 90s from a bunch of session musicians and who devoted himself to unvarnished funk mainly because he noticed a harsh soullessness in the production of most 80s recordings of this music, says: “I have the feeling that I used to hide behind computers and drum machines, but after 30 years we just jam until we feel the groove and then we record it. Old school.”
Translated, this also means that it’s worth doing the things that have shaped you (Kronlund: “We know that the music that inspires us to play is still stuff like Grace Jones, Sly Stone, Patrice Rushen and Roy Ayers ’) to remain faithful even when times are getting harder. This requires the power of intuition – and a lot of self-confidence.