The perfect Imperfection: A Tribute to BADBADNOTGOOD
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Photo: swimfinfan, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Wait a minute… jazz band?
BBNG’s music cannot be simply defined as jazz, since it includes influences and elements of soul, hip-hop, even drum & bass. The original band members — Alex Sowinsky (drums), Chester Hansen (bass) and Matthew Tavares (keyboards) — met each other in a jazz college in Toronto.
Not all of their professors were not so fond of their music — so the story goes — because of the use of hip-hop and other genres not considered as traditional jazz music.
“Very bad, not good,” some professors described the freshly formed band’s music, so it became an inside joke amongst the members:
“Maybe our music is so bad that it’s good,” the young artists said, and so they coined their name: BADBADNOTGOOD.
At least that is how the anecdote goes. We like the tale, so we left the fact-checking behind. After all, this is a blog, not Wikipedia.
A Band Full of Contradictions
BBNG is a band full of contradictions, not only their name is so.
The music isn't your easy bossa nova or elevator lounge music. It consists of complex rhythms and elaborated compositions — and at the same time their songs sound so easy-going as if the band could be improvising on the fly.
The talent is equally divided between the band members, with an average level ranging from very skilled to highly gifted.
In the meantime, founding member and keyboardist Matty Tavares left the band to pursue other musical ambitions. Long-time collaborator Leland Whitty elevated his status from guest artist to permanent band member. Witty is a multi-instrumentalist who plays more than ten instruments, but mostly plays guitar or saxophone — both with the same ease and devotion.
All band members, past and present, master their instruments so well that improvisation is never a problem and will not quickly sound like a Thursday night roadhouse blues jam.
Photo: Martin Schumann, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The Sound of One Artist
The calm and self-assurance with which BBNG plays its complex songs reveals not only great talent, education and experience, but also a remarkable sense of mutual coordination.
Their music sounds as if one artist is playing all the instruments, yet at the same time, as if the band consists of at least six members - including two drummers.
If someone were to put a gun to our heads and we had to favor one of the members, it would be drummer Alex Sowinsky.
In most interviews as well as during stage performances, Alex does the talking. But his leadership is not only heard through his voice - it is in the way he makes the drum kit talk.
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Photo: Dimitri Kouri, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Every music aficionado has their preferences, every critic his opinion, but Sowinsky is undeniably one of the best jazz drummers alive - if not one of the best drummers overall (also here we left the fact-checking behind). In some of the songs, his drumming becomes the lead instrument, with the other band members backing him up.
Friendship You Can Hear
Maybe there's some bias in knowing that the band members met in college, but you can hear in their music that the band members are good friends.
Even in their most dissonant melodies, you can hear harmony.
With their talent and the number of hip-hop artists and producers demanding their contributions, BBNG could easily have gone on an ego trip.
Yet they play their songs without pretension.
The Perfect Imperfection
BADBADNOTGOOD is the perfect imperfection.
BADBADNOTGOOD is not bad at all - but very very good good.
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