Review Summary: BBNG mature and shift their style on another fantastic release
BADBADNOTGOOD has been a very exciting young band to watch over the last few years with their irreverent take on jazz fusion. Taking much more influence from hip-hop and electronica acts rather than “classic” jazz artists, BBNG have succeeded in reinterpreting the jazz fusion style while simultaneously opening the doors for jazz musicians who want to incorporate hip-hop into their music, but were maybe too skeptical or self-doubting to do so. If BBNG are not reinventing jazz they are certainly injecting a large dose of fun and innovation into it, and that makes them an absolute joy to listen to. Their hotly anticipated third album has now been released and it continues their path of exploration and experimentation, and it’s their most confident, technically adept, and well produced effort yet.
The biggest point of separation apparent on this album is the fact that there are no covers to be found anywhere, hip-hop or otherwise. III is one hundred percent original material from the band which allows them to build songs without any reference material to limit their creation. Hip-hop also plays a lesser role in this album’s style overall, with much more influence being taken from electronic music. “Can’t Leave the Night” is a perfect example with its gorgeous, haunting synth lead and sub-bass driven structure that is devoid of improvised solos that would actually make it a jazz song, and the fun and danceable “Since You Asked Kindly” was written in a similar way. In fact, many of these tracks don’t contain any soloing whatsoever. BBNG place a much stronger emphasis on composition rather than improvisation here, which might cause some fans to grumble with discontent, but there are still plenty of improvisational moments to please fans. “Confessions”, for example, features tenor sax player and frequent collaborator Leland Whitty who delivers with an exciting and fluid solo that’s perhaps the best one he’s performed with the band so far, and “Eyes Closed” spotlights Chester Hansen’s dexterity on the upright bass. By making a connection to the roots of jazz that they previously seemed to give no attention to, “Differently, Still” is notable for being a complete throwback to a style of jazz one would find in the late ‘50s or early ‘60s. A tremendous amount of stylistic variety exists in this record.
There is also a much appreciated variety in instrumentation on III as well. Guitar, trumpet, bass clarinet, and cello are among the new additions to BBNG’s sound, along with a variety of interesting keyboards and synths not found on previous releases. The spacey guitars prevalent on “Eyes Closed” are reminiscent of post-rock while a string section makes brief appearances on the closing track “CS60”. A piercing trumpet makes an appearance at the end of “Kaleidoscope” as well. While it would have been nice to hear some of these new instruments being utilized to a greater extent, they exist just enough to be gratifying as part of the bigger picture of this album. But that is only a small criticism given how satisfying this album is overall. Even with all these new additions and shift in style, this album manages to cohere into a wonderfully self-assured listen.
BBNG is getting increasingly experimental, ambitious, and adept at their instruments with every release, and this is only their third one in a string of excellent material. It’s going to be a rewarding journey to see where they will lead us next in their musical evolution, and we’ll all be there to lap it up when the time comes. BADBADNOTGOOD once again prove to be rouge innovators in a century-old style that is not one to reject change, and their name is nothing but a funny contradiction.
