The Week In Funk

Alison Limerick and Desmond Foster with Hux Flux and Lati Kronlund. Photo: Laurent Robert

Alison Limerick and Desmond Foster with Hux Flux and Lati Kronlund. Photo: Laurent Robert

This week will see the return of Brooklyn Funk Essentials on the European roads. After last week’s show at The Arena in Berlin, where BFE and special guest Hüsnü Senlendirici, played to five thousand fans, the band continues this Tuesday (March 22) with a return to London’s Jazz Café. This will be followed by no less than three straight dates in the Paris area, starting on March 23 at Le Hangar in Ivry-sur-Seine. The next day (March 24), BFE will return to New Morning in central Paris, which along with Tramps in New York and Babylon in Istanbul ranks among the clubs where the band have played most often. Rounding off the week, the band will play at Le Deux Pièces Cuisine in Blanc Mesnil on Saturday, March 25.

The band is very excited to present their new show, fronted by UK soulstress Alison Limerick alongside Desmond Foster on lead vocals and guitar. Audiences can also expect several features by Anna Brooks (saxophone) and Iwan VanHetten (trumpet and keys) in the horn section, and the solid grooves of Lati Kronlund (bass) and Hux Flux on drums. The set will include a taste of the band’s new EP, which is currently in production.

In The BuzzBag on Vinyl

Steaming hot from the printing press - we just received the brand new vinyl reissue of Brooklyn Funk Essentials featuring Laço Tayfa's seminal 'In The BuzzBag' album. Pressed on heavy duty virgin vinyl, and sequenced as a double 33 1/3 RPM album the music really explodes on this format. The album was recorded live at Imaj Studios in Istanbul during nine hectic days and nights in the winter of 1998, during which the twentythree collective members of BFE and Laço Tayfa combined their musical ideas and influences, which ended up earning them a Grammy nomination. Watch this space for info on how you can get your copy.

The Wrap-Up

The past weekend saw Brooklyn Funk Essentials rounding off the summer's touring with two last gigs in Lyon and Bordeaux, France. Photographer Richard Ahlstrom took some excellent pictures at the shows which we are sharing with you.

Photo by Richard Ahlstrom.

Backstage Secrets Revealed

Photo by Richard Ahlstrom.

How does Desmond Foster get that hot, yet smooth guitar sound? We can now reveal that the secret is that before each show, Desmond irons his strings. "I started off on the one dot mark", says Des "but these days, I'm up to the three dot mark on the Iron for that really scorching sound". Drummer, Hux Flux, prepares his drum sticks by marinating them in fresh brewed, black rough ground echo-logical coffee beans, just thirty minutes before hitting the stage. "Nothing like a bit of caffeine to get the drums singing", says Hux.

If you are lucky enough to have tickets, you can check out the result tonight (July 29) at New Morning Club in France and on Friday, July 1 when BFE will headline the Ile Utopie Festival in Lyon, France.