BADBADNOTGOOD

Hailing from Toronto, the jazz collective BadBadNotGood crafts expansive sounds that blend 1970s soul-jazz textures with alternative hip-hop rhythms and experimental electronica palettes. Early 2010s attention arrived when the musicians delivered jazz reinterpretations of material by Odd Future and MF Doom. Their initial releases, BBNG (2011) and BBNG2 (2012), expanded this method through fresh takes on selections by A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, My Bloody Valentine, and Feist. III (2014), the final all-instrumental album for ten years, delivered their first commercial breakthrough by topping Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and becoming the initial BBNG project shortlisted for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. The collaborative IV (2016) incorporated contributions from Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring, saxophonist Colin Stetson, and others, securing the band’s debut appearance on Canadian charts. Talk Memory (2021), their third consecutive Contemporary Jazz Albums number one, incorporated fusion, new age, and orchestral dimensions through string arrangements supplied by Arthur Verocai. Their sixth instrumental album, Mid Spiral (2024), began as three distinct digital EPs released after a single week of sessions involving multiple additional musicians. Beyond their own catalog, BadBadNotGood have shared stages with rap legend Ghostface Killah on Sour Soul, post-hardcore group Turnstile on New Heart Designs, and contemporary soul singer Baby Rose on Slow Burn; the Turnstile-linked track “Alien Love Call” earned the band their first Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording.

Formed in 2010 at Toronto’s Humber College jazz program by Matthew Tavares on keyboards and synthesizer, Chester Hansen on bass guitar, and Alexander Sowinski on drums, the trio bonded over mutual admiration for jazz and hip-hop before composing a piece drawn from Odd Future’s catalog and posting the performance online. The clip drew widespread views and reached Tyler, The Creator of Odd Future. Their debut album BBNG appeared in 2011, capturing covers of Odd Future, A Tribe Called Quest, and Waka Flocka Flame during a single three-hour session. After its release the group recorded a live session with Tyler, the Creator, supported Roy Ayers at Toronto’s Nujazz Festival, and performed at Gilles Peterson’s worldwide awards.

BBNG2 followed in 2012, again tracked inside a ten-hour window and mixing original compositions with reinterpretations of My Bloody Valentine, Kanye West, and James Blake. That same year the ensemble served as Coachella’s band in residence across six separate sets while also functioning as Frank Ocean’s backing band. They joined the production and composition team for the soundtrack of The Man with the Iron Fists, handled production duties for Earl Sweatshirt and Danny Brown, and supplied a remix for JJ Doom’s Key to the Kuffs.

The third album III arrived in 2014, featuring singles “Hedron,” “CS60,” and “Can’t Leave the Night.” February 2015 brought the Lex Records release of Sour Soul, their collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan MC Ghostface Killah. Early 2016 saw saxophonist Leland Whitty join as the fourth member; their first album together, IV, surfaced on Innovative Leisure that July with guest spots from Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring on “Time Moves Slow,” producer Kaytranada on “Lavender,” and rapper Mick Jenkins on “Hyssop of Love.” IV entered the Billboard 200 and led the Jazz Album chart. Their Late Night Tales mix appeared in 2017, followed the next year by the single “Tried” recorded with Sweden’s Little Dragon.

In 2019 BadBadNotGood and Jonah Yano issued a cover of the Majestics’ “Key to Love (Is Understanding).” Matthew Tavares announced his departure that October yet remained involved as a contributing songwriter. The band and MF Doom created “The Chocolate Conquistadors” for Grand Theft Auto Online, released in December 2020 weeks after Doom’s death but prior to public confirmation. Talk Memory, their first XL album, reached stores in 2021 featuring Arthur Verocai, Brandee Younger, and Laraaji. Following assorted remixes and further work with Yano and Lil Silva, the group reimagined three Turnstile songs for the 2023 EP New Heart Designs, issued the single “Sleeper” with returning collaborator Charlotte Day Wilson, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording for the New Heart Designs track “Alien Love Call.”

Boundary-pushing collaborations continued into 2024. April brought Slow Burn, a haunting EP written and recorded with Baby Rose. On that six-song project Chester Hansen, Alexander Sowinski, and Leland Whitty were joined by touring keyboardist Felix Fox-Pappas, who also participated alongside additional players in the concentrated weeklong sessions that produced the sixth full-length. Mid Spiral, whose instrumental contents first appeared throughout May as the digital EPs Mid Spiral: Chaos, Mid Spiral: Order, and Mid Spiral: Growth, received combined physical release that October. Beyond Fox-Pappas the set incorporated further contributions from percussionist Juan Carlos Medrano, guitarist Tyler Lott, and trumpeter Kaelin Murphy.