Music critics have tried to define jazz for decades – for a musician, the closest approach might be to fuck it all and ignore every single official rule there might be. To say it with Miles Davis: Play what isn’t there. The trio BadBadNotGood from Toronto is doing exactly that, without trying to take off towards crazy avant-garde-experiments no one cares about. Instead, the three gentlemen are transforming HipHop to jazz. Their records have been circulation via Bandcamp for quite some time now, and a session together with Tyler, The Creator has clarified the fact that something big is happening here. Now, their second record is being released as a limited edition on vinyl. And to understand what their music is all about, you only need to listen to thirty seconds of their cover of James Blake’s »Limit To Your Love«. The piano starts rolling, the bass makes the lower strings vibrate and then the drums set in, merciless, ruthless. No vocals. And still, the track hits your very core, takes a quick detour and then comes back to its original melody. BadBadNotGood actually outclass the original tracks in these moments. They do the same to Kanye West’s »Flashing Lights«, reducing it to the bones and still making it more driving, more sparkling and even gloomier. It’s not like their own songs pale in comparison – tracks »Vices« or »DMZ« just keep the hypnotic maelstrom running. There are only a few moments when you’ll hear a saxophone, here and there you’ll find a tiny bit more than just a bass, drums and a keyboard interacting. »BBNG2« is dark, uncompromising and merciless. And it’s definitely one of the best jazz-records of the last few years.
BBNG2
