Introducing…

CO-FOUNDER | VOCALS

Faith Taylor is a talented musician and dedicated ESG leader, known for her soulful voice and passion for positive change. As a co-founder of the Essex Funk Collective with Jonathan Glasser, Faith has helped shape a dynamic blend of funk, R&B, and dance.

Her musical journey began early, influenced by jazz, classic R&B, and Japanese traditional opera. She refined her craft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, specializing in jazz and vocal performance. Deeply connected to her faith, she and her husband Gary co-wrote and released Imani: Songs of Faith, an album of uplifting music.

Faith has performed at Stanford and Wharton with groups like Stanfunk and Wharton Follies, sharing her belief in music’s transformative power. Essex Funk Collective embodies her vision of unity, blending diverse talents across races, religions, and generations, including her daughter and close friends.

As an ESG leader, Faith uses her platform to champion social change and sustainability, filling her music with messages of hope, love, and empowerment. Her commitment to meaningful art and community impact continues to inspire and uplift audiences.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

CO-FOUNDER | GUITAR

Jonathan Glasser, who co-founded the band, is our guitarist and in-house counsel. He attended New England Conservatory of Music, then law school so he could afford to live in South Orange. Jonathan and Faith were in a band once before and liked it enough to try again. This time things are really working out.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

BASS

Hailing from a musical family, bassist Brian Swisher mixes his love of classic rock, soulful R&B, and the danceable vibes of Motown to hold down the groove for Essex Funk.  With extensive experience in the New Jersey club scene, he has performed with various bands from North Jersey down to the shore, and from midtown Manhattan to Philadelphia.

Inspired by a wide range of bass players and musicians, Brian adds his unique mix of fun rock and funky rhythms to the Essex Funk Collective.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

VOCALS

Kenny Vaughan has written for Artists such as BeBe & CeCe Winans, Meghan Trainor, and The Roots. He was a writer and Recording Artist on the House Party Soundtrack and the Triple Platinum Boomerang Soundtrack.

He wrote and performed the National PSA for the Leave No Child Behind Campaign and is currently writing music for an Off Broadway show, A Mother, which will premiere March 2025

He has written and performed songs for Sesame Street including the 50th Anniversary Special which won an Emmy Award.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

VOCALS | RAPPER

Norman “Skip” Burns signed with Bon-Ami MCA Records (formerly Sugar Hill Records) in 1990 as part of the R&B group 4 Destiny. With over 35 years of experience, he has written and recorded more than 60 songs, available on Spotify, iTunes, and Apple Music. Skip was featured in Mustapha Khan's documentary Song For Our People, performing the song "What Have You Done With Your Freedom?" at film festivals in LA, Boston, Washington, Utah, and New York City.

In 2023, he received a Telly Award for his performance in the social justice video Don’t Cry. Skip performed live at the Port Authority’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations in 2023 and 2024, and he continues to perform as gospel hip-hop artist Normie B at church events across New Jersey. His 2024 Juneteenth performance earned awards from the Bergen County Board of Commissioners, County Executive, and Sheriff’s Office. Skip also appeared in a national PSA for the Leave No Child Behind Campaign and is currently writing music for the upcoming Off-Broadway play A Mother, premiering in March 2025.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

VOCALS

Essex County native Nigel Finley grew up surrounded by the area's rich musical landscape—from gospel harmonies in church to the sweeping sounds of Broadway. Arts education was his guiding force, shaping his talents through various arts institutions and groups in New Jersey. In high school, Nigel and bandmate Kiyomi Taylor played in a funk band called the MotherFunkers, where he first discovered the joy of connecting with an audience. Today, as a vocalist with Essex Funk Collective, he channels that same energy into every performance.

Nigel is also a dedicated fundraiser at God’s Love We Deliver, a New York-based nonprofit providing nutritious, medically tailored meals to people in need. Passionate about the organization’s mission, he finds fulfillment in helping others gain strength and comfort through food during challenging times. Recently, he joined bandmates Norman Burns and Kenny Vaughan to release "You Gonna Need Him," their debut single as N2K, believing in music’s power to lift spirits and bring people together.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

DRUMS

Steven has been drumming just about his entire life.  Passionate about jazz as well as music from all over the world, he loves to study and dissect music, exploring various genres (currently obsessed with Afrobeat and Tony Allen!)  Steven has recorded drums and percussion across many records ranging from artists The Beeps, Karen Novy, Hal Hirsch, Chris Koch, Thursday Habit, Stuff Bros and Marry the Sea.  Steven's musical hobbies include playing piano and song writing.  He's also been doing production and music engineering for over 25 years.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

VOCALS

Kiyomi is a visual artist who lives in Brooklyn. During her time at Columbia High School, Nigel and her were lead singers for “the Motherfunkers” - also, a funk and soul cover band. She has been watching her mom sing in local bands for her entire life and is happy to be singing alongside her in Essex Funk. Kiyomi brings her unique voice and deep love and knowledge of funk, soul, and pop music from the 60s, 70, and 80s to the band.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

KEYS

Lawrence Allen was born into a musical family, so a love for music was inevitable. Lawrence found a passion for piano at an early age. 

Lawrence enjoys learning and playing all types of music and really loves live performance.

Photo by Alan Holzman @alanholzmanphoto

PERCUSSIONIST

Daniel Sadownick was born in the South Bronx, New York. He earned his master’s degree in music at New York University. After graduating, he then studied drums and percussion with Jazz and Afro-Cuban innovators such as Andrew Cyrille, John Amira, and the late Frankie Malabe. During his studies, Daniel began touring with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra for two years. It was here that Daniel made numerous contacts, which led to tours and recordings with jazz icons such as Michael Brecker, Nicholas Payton, Dennis Chambers, Christian McBride, Nat Adderley, Richard Bona, and Dianne Reeves.

A versatile percussionist who does not limit himself to one genre, Daniel has spent the last few years recording and touring with diverse artists such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kesha, Steely Dan, Josh Groban, Jennifer Lopez, Al Green, Billy Idol, The Roots, Al Jarreau, Maxwell, Angie Stone, and Coheed & Cambria. He has also been a member of the NYC-based band “Screaming Headless Torsos” since 1995.

Daniel’s debut jazz CD, “There Will Be A Day,” garnered him a SESAC Award for being one of the top ten albums played on all of Jazz radio in the United States. He has also been voted as a “Rising Star” in the Percussion category in Downbeat Magazine for the last fifteen years.

JAZZ MUSICIAN

Don Braden is a Jazz musician of the highest caliber. For over 40 years he has toured the world leading his own ensembles on saxophone and flute, as a special guest, and as a sideman with Jazz greats Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, and many others.

He has composed music for ensembles ranging from duo to full symphonic orchestra, in many styles, for recordings (including 24 CDs as a leader and over 80 as a sideman), film, and the television networks NIckelodeon and CBS. Braden is a leading arranger of contemporary standards, and has built a solid collection of newer American songs into his Jazz repertoire.

He is also a world renowned educator, having spent over two decades giving master classes at countless schools and universities, and running first class educational programs such as the Litchfield Jazz Camp, NJPAC's Wells Fargo Jazz For Teens, and most recently, the Harvard University Monday Jazz Band.

He is an imaginative, technically excellent, soulful saxophonist, and his harmonic and rhythmic sophistication give him a unique approach to improvising as well as composing and arranging. Most important of all: he has a beautiful sound, and he swings! All this combines with his joyous yet disciplined personality to make him one of the most important musicians working today.

VOCALIST

Guitar/Bass
@william.barnes.984

FLUTE

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Arch Thompson is a gifted flutist, composer/arranger and performer who uphold a rich and diverse musical tradition that extends from the shores of the Caribbean Islands and on to North, Central and South America.

A serious student of music since the age of twelve, Arch attended Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles where he gained recognition for his creative and innovative style on the U. S. Army Band. He performed and toured internationally and studied at the U.S. Army Conservatory of Music. In the following years, he studied with Cheryl Grand, a former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and The Legendary Bill Green. He has toured extensively throughout the West Coast as a soloist. He later moved to Puerto Rico in order to fulfill his desire to master Contemporary Latin Jazz where he quickly became one of the featured Jazz flutist in the country and played with such notables as Dave Valentin, Jerry Gonzalez, Frank Lacy, Stefon Harris and Steve Turre.

While in New York, Arch studied intensely with Harold Jones, a premiere flute instructor with the Manhatten School of Music and Arch continued to focus on his professional growth. While studying and performing in New York, he began to synthesize his unique musical style, which blends classical, jazz, funk and Latin into a sensational sound that moves from the tranquil and beautiful to a driving, pulsing, rhythmic fire that will have you dancing and singing to the captivating call of the Flute.

Arch believes that the Creator has provided him with a divine gift through which he can transform and heal all those individuals whom his music reaches. In his hands, the flute becomes an enchanting and magical instrument that purifies the mind and uplifts the spirit and is an experience that none should miss.

Source - Flute Visions

PIANIST

Bio coming soon.