BadBadNotGood
BadBadNotGood | |
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![]() Badbadnotgood performing live in 2012
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Background information | |
Also known as | BBNG, The Odd Trio, GoodGoodNotBad |
Origin | Toronto, Canada |
Genres | Post-bop, instrumental hip hop, jazz, free improvisation, electronica |
Years active | 2010 | –present
Labels | Innovative Leisure |
Associated acts | Odd Future, Frank Dukes, Ghostface Killah, Earl Sweatshirt, Kaytranada |
Website | badbadnotgood |
Members |
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BadBadNotGood (stylized as BADBADNOTGOOD, abbreviated as BBNG) are a Canadian music group from Toronto, Ontario. The group includes Matthew Tavares on keys, Chester Hansen on bass, Leland Whitty on saxophone, and Alexander Sowinski on drums. They are known for their interpretations of hip hop tracks and their collaborations with Tyler, The Creator; Earl Sweatshirt; Danny Brown; Frank Ocean; and Ghostface Killah.
Contents
History
2010–11: Beginnings and BBNG
Matthew Tavares, Alexander Sowinski, and Chester Hansen met in 2010 through the Humber College jazz program in Toronto.[1] The young threesome united over a shared love for hip hop music, including that of MF DOOM and Odd Future.[2] Hansen plays acoustic and electric bass in the group, while Sowinski, who often dons a pig mask during performances,[1] is on drums and sampler. Tavares rounds out the trio, banging out rhythms on a Prophet '08 and electric piano.[3]
One of BadBadNotGood's first collaborations was a cover of "Lemonade" by Gucci Mane.[2] They played a piece based on Odd Future's music for a panel of their jazz performance instructors, who did not find that it had musical value.[4] After they released the track on YouTube as The Odd Future Sessions Part 1, it got the attention of rapper Tyler, The Creator, who felt differently and helped the trio's video go viral.[5]
BBNG uploaded their debut album to Bandcamp in June 2011, which included covers of songs from A Tribe Called Quest, Waka Flocka Flame and several tracks from Odd Future. The trio had their first show at The Red Light in Toronto.[1] In September 2011, they released their first album, BBNG, recorded in a three-hour session. Dante Alighieri on Sputnikmusic called the album "a welcome reinterpretation of modern jazz without the pretense of snotty wine parties and thick rimmed hipster dinosaurs."[6]
BBNG recorded a live jam session with Tyler, The Creator in Sowinski's basement in October 2011.[3] Videos from the session received more than a million views between them on YouTube.[1]
The trio opened for Roy Ayers at the Nujazz Festival in January 2012 and played for Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards in London. At a February tribute to J Dilla in Toronto, their covers of "Lemonade" and "Hard in da Paint" had hundreds moshing.[1][7]
2012–present: BBNG2, III, and Sour Soul
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A sample of BADBADNOTGOOD's "CHSTR". The song is an original composition from the 2012 album BBNG2.[8]
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BadBadNotGood released their second album, BBNG2, in April 2012. Recorded from a ten-hour studio session, it features Leland Whitty on saxophone and Luan Phung playing electric guitar. The notes to the album indicate that "No one above the age of 21 was involved in the making of this album."[9] The album has original material as well as covers of songs by Kanye West, My Bloody Valentine, James Blake, Earl Sweatshirt, and Feist.[10]
The trio was the band-in-residence at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival[1] and backed Frank Ocean of Odd Future both weekends.[10]
Prior to the release of the album III, the first single "Hedron", became available on June 20, 2013 when it was featured on the compilation album Late Night Tales: Bonobo.[11] BADBADNOTGOOD assisted in production and musical composition for the soundtrack of The Man with the Iron Fists.[12] On January 14, 2014, the second single from "III" was released titled "CS60".[13] The third single, "Can't Leave The Night", was released on March 11, 2014 with the B-Side "Sustain".[14] The groundbreaking third album III was released on May 6, 2014 on CD, Vinyl, and digital download.
The fourth album, Sour Soul, was released by Lex Records on Feb 24 2015 in collaboration with Ghostface Killah. Unlike their earlier works, it is more of a heavy hip hop album with light jazz accents.
Leland Whitty officially joined the band as saxophone player on January 1, 2016.
Future
Both Tavares and Hansen have since withdrawn from Humber, while Sowinski remains enrolled "for the school's dental plan.".[4] The group produced "Hoarse" on Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt's studio debut, Doris, and "GUV'NOR", a remix on JJ DOOM's Key to the Kuffs (Butter Edition).
Reception
Paula Mejia, in a Prefix magazine review, called BADBADNOTGOOD "a jazz trio on paper -- but often strange, forever imaginative, and ultimately revolutionary hip-hop and electronic beatmakers at heart."[15] NOW magazine's Anupa Mistry has lauded BBNG's "spastic, sonorous, genre-fucking rap covers."[7] Jerell Tongson, in describing BADBADNOTGOOD's hip hop influences, wrote that the group "deconstruct the four bar loops, understanding how to work crescendos by stretching out and reshaping the music into their own vision of silky smooth key progressions, pounding drums, and tasty bass lines."[1]
Band members
- Matthew A. Tavares - keyboards (2010-present)
- Alexander Sowinski - drums, sampler (2010-present)
- Chester Hansen - bass guitar, upright bass (2010-present)
- Leland Whitty - saxophone, viola, violin, guitar (2016-present)
Discography
Studio albums
- BBNG (2011)
- BBNG2 (2012)
- III (2014)
- Sour Soul (with Ghostface Killah) (2015)
- IV (2016)
Live albums
- BBNGLIVE 1 (2011)
- BBNGLIVE 2 (2012)
Singles
- BBNGSINGLE (2011)[16]
- "Flashing Lights / UWM" (2013)
- "Hedron" (2013)
- "CS60" (2014)
- "Can’t Leave The Night / Sustain" (2014)
- "Six Degrees" (with Ghostface Killah, featuring Danny Brown) b/w "Tone's Rap" (2014)[17]
- "Velvet / Boogie No. 69" (2015)
- "Here & Now / Timewave Zero" (2016)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ BBNGSINGLE http://badbadnotgood.bandcamp.com/album/bbngsingle
- ↑ Six Degrees http://pitchfork.com/news/55333-ghostface-killah-danny-brown-badbadnotgood-team-for-six-degrees/