BadBadNotGood
BadBadNotGood | |
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![]() Badbadnotgood performing live in 2012 | |
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 |
Members |
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Website | badbadnotgood |
BadBadNotGood (stylized as BADBADNOTGOOD, abbreviated as BBNG) is a music trio from Toronto, Canada. The group includes Matthew Tavares on keys, Chester Hansen on bass, and Alexander Sowinski on drums. They are known for their interpretations of hip hop tracks and their collaborations with Tyler The Creator, Leland Whitty, Frank Ocean, and Ghostface Killah.
Career
Beginnings
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
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]
BBNG2
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 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]
Other projects
BADBADNOTGOOD assisted in production and musical composition for the soundtrack of The Man with the Iron Fists.[11] In November 2013, the single "Hedron" from the band's third album III was featured on the compilation album Late Night Tales: Bonobo.
Future
Both Tavares and Hansen have since withdrawn from Humber, while Sowinski remains enrolled "for the school's dental plan."[4] BBNG plans to release their third album in 2014. They are also planning a tour of the East Coast that Spring.[12] They have also announced that one of their future releases will be on vinyl.[13] 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). On June 20, the band released the first single from III, "Hedron".[14] On January 14th 2014, the second single from "III" was released titled "CS60".[15]On March 5th 2014, the release date of "III" was announced as May 6th and the third single, "Can’t Leave The Night", was revealed.[16] The Single for "Can't Leave The Night" was released on March 11th with the B-Side "Sustain".
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."[17] 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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/BadBadNotGood_-_NXNE_2012_3.jpg/250px-BadBadNotGood_-_NXNE_2012_3.jpg)
- Matthew A. Tavares - keyboards
- Alexander Sowinski - drums, sampler
- Chester Hansen - bass guitar, upright bass
Discography
Studio albums
- BBNG (2011)
- BBNG2 (2012)
- III (2014)
- Sour Soul (with Ghostface Killah) (2015)
Live albums
- BBNGLIVE 1 (2011)
- BBNGLIVE 2 (2012)
Singles
- BBNGSINGLE (2011)[18]
- "Flashing Lights / UMW" (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)[19]
- "Velvet / Boogie No. 69" (2015)
Productions
- Idle Warship - "Get Your Way (Sex Is a Weapon)" from The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) (with Frank Dukes)
- Wu-Tang Clan & Kool G Rap - "Rivers of Blood" from The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) (with Frank Dukes)
- Earl Sweatshirt - "Hoarse" from Doris (2013)
- Danny Brown - "Float On" from Old (2013) (with Frank Dukes)
- Black Milk & BADBADNOTGOOD - "Now or Never" from CONS EP Vol. 2 (2014)
Remixes
- Soulja Boy - "Pretty Boy Swag Remix" (2012)
- JJ DOOM - "Guv'nor (BADBADNOTGOOD Version)" from Key to the Kuffs (Butter Version) (2013)
- Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - "Shame (BBNG Remix)" from III (Rappcats Exclusive) (2014)[20]
- Future Islands - "Seasons Change (Waiting on You) [BADBADNOTGOOD Reinterpretation]" (2014)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Tongson, Jerell (April 13, 2012). "Rotten Decay: BADBADNOTGOOD Is Re-Defining the Genre". Huffington Post.
- ^ a b Mistry, Anupa (September 15, 2011). "Odd jazz covers". NOW Magazine.
- ^ a b Lester, Paul (April 18, 2012). "BADBADNOTGOOD (No 1,252)". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Mistry, Anupa (March 22–29, 2012). "BADBADNOTGOOD Toronto jazz futurists rewrite the rule book". NOW Magazine.
- ^ Tyler, The Creator (April 28, 2011). "I Love Jazz, This Is Fucking Sick! Dave Brubrek Trio Swag". Twitter.
- ^ Alighieri, Dante (October 31, 2011). "BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG (album review)". Sputnikmusic.
- ^ a b Mistry, Anupa (February 10, 2012). "BadBadNotGood, great When jazz makes perfect party music". NOW Magazine.
- ^ Dart, Chris (April 24, 2012). "Sound Advice: BBNG2 by Badbadnotgood". Torontoist.
- ^ "BBNG2 by BADBADNOTGOOD". Bandcamp. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ a b Barton, Chris (April 17, 2012). "The Odd Future-endorsed sound of BadBadNotGood comes to the Mint". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "blog post BADBADNOTGOOD: behind the scenes of The Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack". blog. November 2, 2012.
- ^ "BBNG: Bringing the Standards to Hip-Hop (interview with Fredara Mareva)". The Revivalist. April 16, 2012.
- ^ "sooo cool". Facebook. September 24, 2012.
- ^ "NEW TRACK". Facebook. June 20, 2013.
- ^ "2nd single from III". Facebook. January 14, 2014.
- ^ "Album release date and 3rd single from III". Fader. March 5, 2014.
- ^ Mejia, Paula (April 9, 2012). "Album Review: BADBADNOTGOOD: BBNG2". Prefix.
- ^ BBNGSINGLE http://badbadnotgood.bandcamp.com/album/bbngsingle
- ^ Six Degrees http://pitchfork.com/news/55333-ghostface-killah-danny-brown-badbadnotgood-team-for-six-degrees/
- ^ Shame - BBNG Remix http://www.rappcats.com/shop/badbadnotgood-iii/