Brooklyn Nine Nine S08e03

Brooklyn Funk Essentials have been fusing soul, hip hop, spoken word, jazz and, of course, funk for 25 years and over 6 albums, the most recent ’Stay Good’ is released on September 20th. During this time they have made a name for themselves as electric performers, exhilarating their loyal and broad fanbase with performances on every continent. Established in the early ‘90s by Arthur Baker and Lati Kronlund, Brooklyn Funk Essentials were regulars of New York’s vibrant club scene when their debut album, ‘Cool & Steady & Easy’, hit the shelves. Released by pioneering funk and electronic taste-makers Dorado Records and combining classic funk’s raw, mind-bending basslines, peak-era disco’s euphoric vocals and early hip-hop’s observational lyricism, the album and its follow up, ‘Make Em Like It’ topped charts around the world. Fast forward to 2019 and following 2015’s reunion with Dorado and the success of ‘Funk Ain’t Ova’, the band are set to release ‘Stay Good’, a fun, funky and fresh collection of tracks featuring throughout are the powerful and soulful vocals of Alison Limerick, now a full time member of the band. Lati wrote and produced her debut hit ‘Where Love Lives’.

Brooklyn Rider is a string quartet based in Brooklyn led by violinist Johnny Gandelsman and including violinist Colin and cellist Eric Jacobsen who are among the founder-brothers of the orchestra known as the Knights; the group is filled out by violist Nicholas Cords. Passport is Brooklyn Rider's debut album and also the first issue on Gandelsman's label In a Circle Records, named after a concert series Gandelsman curated beginning in 2003.