BADBADNOTGOOD

Toronto-based jazz ensemble BadBadNotGood make expansive music that straddles the line between '70s soul-jazz, alternative hip-hop, and experimental electronica. The musicians gained attention in the early 2010s playing jazz covers of tracks by the likes of Odd Future and MF Doom. BBNG (2011) and BBNG2 (2012), their first two records, further developed that approach with reinterpretations of songs by A Tribe Called Quest and Kanye West as well as My Bloody Valentine and Feist. III (2014), their last fully instrumental LP for a decade, gave them their commercial breakthrough; it crowned Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and became the first of many BBNG projects nominated for Canada's Polaris Music Prize. The collaborative IV (2016) brought in guests ranging from Future Islands frontman Samuel T. Herring to saxophonist Colin Stetson and marked the band's Canadian chart debut. Talk Memory (2021), their third straight number one on the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, explored fusion, new age, and orchestral influences with string arrangements from Arthur Verocai. Their Instrumental sixth album, Mid Spiral (2024), originally issued as three themed digital EPs, resulted from a week of recordings with several auxiliary players. In addition to their own albums, BadBadNotGood have shared bills with the likes of rap legend Ghostface Killah (Sour Soul), post-hardcore group Turnstile (New Heart Designs), and contemporary soul singer Baby Rose (Slow Burn). "Alien Love Call," off the Turnstile collaboration, earned BBNG their first Grammy nomination (in the category of Best Remixed Recording).

From 🇨🇦 Canada