BADBADNOTGOOD at Danforth Music Hall, Saturday, March 12. Rating: NNNN
In a NOW cover story, BADBADNOTGOOD drummer Alex Sowinski bragged that the Toronto trio was the first jazz band in the city to get crowds moshing at shows.
Since then, they’ve continued growing their international profile by doing hip-hop covers and collaborating with big names such as Future Islands, Rihanna and Ghostface Killah, with whom they recorded last year’s Polaris Prize-nominated Sour Soul album.
Four years later, watching a sold-out Danforth crowd mosh along to their racing tempos still seems unique but a few things are different in the BBNG world. Tenor sax player Leland Whitty is now officially part of the band and was the focal point for much of the group’s hometown stop on their North American tour.
While the attention is often on BBNG’s famous connections, the Danforth show felt like a moment to soak up the spotlight on Toronto’s music scene. Sowinski – who doubled as hype man – explained their upcoming IV album was self-produced in Toronto with several local collaborators, including smoky-voiced soul singer Charlotte Day Wilson came out to perform new song Into Your Eyes.
The focus was also more about straight-up jazz than covers, though the set list included few crowd-pleasers such as Flying Lotus’ Putty Boy Strut. Whatever the style, BBNG attacked it with a punk-rock ethos that emphasized skronky improvisation and fast-and-loud showmanship over the precision of their studio recordings.
From the first few bars, the foursome played like they were on a collision course. Bass guitarist Chester Hansen’s brisk rhythm notes bounced around Sowinski’s frantic drumming, while Matthew Tavares worked one set of keys with his fingers and comically banged his head or elbows against another.
Whitty’s fluid sax work floated atop the din but it wasn’t until Confessions – off their III album – that they tempered the mood with more diverse tempos. As a gradual chord progression built up around a quivering, late-night club melody, the saxophonist started to seem like the band’s de facto front man.
The show’s most impressive moments moved between dreamier jazz and rambunctious jazz-rock fusion. Slower songs – such as new cut Speaking Gently or III track Differently, Still – gave each member room to breathe and show off a bit of personality, though Hansen’s bass solos were largely swallowed by boomy sound.
It always felt like they were itching to spin off in wild directions, and they did on new track Four Shots (a song inspired by doing… four shots), and set closer CS60, for which they cajoled family and friends to come out from the side stage and jump along with the fans.
As their profile rises, BBNG are clearly relishing the communal big-room experience and tailoring their amped-up brand of jazz accordingly.
kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie
