Having recently performed a string of tour dates in the United States, including numerous performances at the popular California music festival Coachella, Ontario-based jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD were seemingly long overdue for some stage time at home.
Local Ottawa band Daughters of the Revolution opened the evening, bringing their eclectic mix of hip-hop, electro, spoken word, and punk to the stage. Fronted by former World Poetry Slam Champion Ian Keteku, the band impressed the audience with clever wordplay and abnormal instrumentation throughout their set.
When BADBADNOTGOOD took the stage, the three musicians played an energetic set in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Ottawa’s Ritual nightclub June 1, their first show in the nation’s capital. Mixing elements of jazz music and hip-hop, the group treated those in attendance to a musical melange unlike any other.
The show was also special for bass guitarist Chester Hansen. An Ottawa native, Hansen was welcomed to the stage with raucous cheers and applause from friends and family in the audience that evening.
The trio set the tone early, kicking things off with their jazz rendition of rapper Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard in Da Paint”. Frenetic jazz drumming from Alex Sowinski amazed the crowd, while pianist Matthew Tavares delivered some wonderfully improvised keyboard parts.
BADBADNOTGOOD then moved on to cover an entirely different genre, choosing to interpret the James Blake version of “Limit To Your Love.” The crowd clapped along to Tavares’ delivery of the song’s recognizable piano line, while Hansen dazzled the onlookers with an extremely groovy, extended bass solo. Sowinski took a minute to pause and ask the crowd to “make some noise for the hometown boy” before launching right back into the feverish ending of the piece.
The trio also covered another James Blake standard, “CMYK,” in which they whipped the crowd into a frenzy through energetic drumming and sheer keyboard wizardry. A mosh pit soon broke out in the crowd, and some audience members even went as far as to crowd-surf, two things you don’t usually hear about at jazz concerts.
The band treated the crowd to some of their original compositions from their latest mixtape BBNG2 as well. The ever-eerie “Vices” was played, with Tavares ensnaring the crowd in the lull of his ghostly keyboard lines. “CHSTR” kept the intensity strong with more bass soloing and lightning-fast drum work, while “DMZ” made many heads spin with its constantly changing time signatures.
BADBADNOTGOOD rounded out the evening with a couple of Kanye West jazz renditions, including “Flashing Lights” and an 11-minute jam to the hip-hop star’s latest single “Mercy.” With the crowd begging for more, they did an encore performance of their medley combining Tyler the Creator’s “Bastard” with Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade.”
The band’s performance was essentially flawless, with each member showcasing his skills to full effect. Their onstage energy successfully kept the crowd engaged throughout the entire performance.
