by Jason Ankeny
All Music Guide
Acid-jazz collective Brooklyn Funk Essentials was first conceived in 1993 by producer Arthur Baker and bassist/musical director Lati Kronlund; by the following year, the group was a staple of the New York City club scene, with early lineups also including singers Joi Cardwell, Sha-Key, and Papa Dee, poets Everton Sylvester and David Allen, DJ Jazzy Nice, keyboardist Yuka Honda, (soon to co-found Cibo Matto), trumpeter Bob Brachmann, trombonist Joshua Roseman, saxophonist Paul Shapiro, drummer Yancy Drew, and percussionist E.J. Rodriguez. Brooklyn Funk Essentials' debut album Cool and Steady and Easy followed in the summer of 1994, scoring an underground hit with its rendition of Pharoah Sanders' "The Creator Has a Master Plan"; when Caldwell exited to mount a solo career, she was replaced by vocalist Stephanie McKay. In the Buzz Bag followed in 1998, and two years later, the group returned with Make 'Em Like It.
