Toronto's finest treblemakers: Sanjoy Narayan reports live from a gig by BadBadNotGood

Hindustan Times

8 hours ago

On Wednesday night, by Helsinki's harbour, the Nordic summer was playing its usual tricks. The cover art for Mid Spiral, released last July.
What began as a perfect evening turned fickle, the wind whipping off the Baltic Sea. It was the kind of weather that sends fair-weather concertgoers scrambling for cover. But as Black Sabbath's War Pigs thundered across the open-air venue's sound system, setting the mood, those who stayed knew they were about to witness something special.
When BadBadNotGood finally took the stage at Allas Live, the cold suddenly felt irrelevant. The Canadian trio of Alexander Sowinski (on drums), Chester Hansen (on bass) and Leland Whitty (switching between saxophone and guitar) was joined by their expanded tour line-up: Felix Fox-Pappas on keyboards, Kaelin Murphy on trumpet and Juan Carlos Medrano on percussion.
They launched into their set with the kind of controlled intensity that has made them one of the most compelling genre-benders in contemporary music. This wasn't just another gig; it was a masterclass in how jazz can evolve without losing its soul.
The setlist was a journey through the band's 15-year evolution, blending tracks from their latest opus, Mid Spiral, with older favourites that reminded everyone why they fell in love with BadBadNotGood in the first place.
The evening's most poignant moment came when they paid tribute to Sly Stone, (the pioneering American funk and soul musician who died earlier this month, aged 82) with an instrumental version of Family Affair, turning his 1971 funk classic into something both reverent and revolutionary.
BadBadNotGood started out in a Toronto basement, and weren't an instant success.
Critics dismissed an early set of releases, their Odd Future jazz covers, as having no artistic merit at all. College students then, and now in their early 30s, they've travelled far from those early jam sessions with rapper Tyler, The Creator that were nonetheless internet gold.
Today, they are selling out venues across continents, their journey a vindication of their musical fearlessness.
Mid Spiral, their 18-track manifesto released in July, captures the band at their most adventurous. Born of an intense week at the iconic Valentine Recording Studios in Los Angeles, the album showcases their democratic approach to music-making. Unlike ego-driven bands, they operate like a true jazz collective, with long-time touring keyboardist Fox-Pappas and collaborators such as Murphy, Medrano and LA guitarist Tyler Lott expanding their sonic palette.
Their genius lies in this collaborative spirit. The band's recent single, Found A Light (Beale Street), featuring three-time Grammy-nominated singer-composer VCR, exemplifies this. The seven-minute opus, released in April, serves as both a love letter to Memphis's musical heritage and as proof of collaborative mastery. VCR's vocals soar over the band's signature instrumentation, creating what she calls 'more than a song… a milestone'.
Each member brings distinct virtuosity to the whole. Sowinski's drumming is a masterclass in restraint and explosion, seamlessly blending acoustic percussion with electronic elements. Hansen's bass links jazz walking lines with hip-hop's rhythmic foundation, often serving as both anchor and propulsive force. Whitty, who became permanent after their collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah on the album Sour Soul (2015), transforms their sonic possibilities, his saxophone work showcasing not just technical prowess but an understanding of the instrument as both melodic voice and textural element. Mid-set at Helsinki, he held the crowd in thrall with an unaccompanied extended solo on the sax.
The band's collaborative history reads like a contemporary-music who's who.
The album with Ghostface Killah remains a highwater mark in hip-hop-jazz fusion, eschewing commonly adopted samples for live instrumentation. BadBadNotGood have provided jazz backbone to Kendrick Lamar's Lust, crafted grooves with Kaytranada, and have partnerships ongoing with Charlotte Day Wilson and Daniel Caesar. The collaborations never feel calculated; they appear to emerge from genuine musical relationships and shared curiosity.
BadBadNotGood's impact extends beyond recordings. The fact that they incite mosh pits at jazz festivals speaks to their ability to honour tradition while shattering expectations. At the Helsinki gig, there wasn't a mosh pit, but drummer Sowinski got the crowd to do sequenced hand waves and, on one occasion, deep breathing with guttural exhales! Not something commonly witnessed at such an event.
As they continue their world tour through major festivals that include Glastonbury, they carry more than songs from Mid Spiral. BadBadNotGood embody a philosophy that music is at its best when it refuses restraints. Their evolution from college kids to internationally respected collaborators proves that innovation occurs when talented people choose exploration over comfort.
On Wednesday night, watching them transform Sly Stone's funk into something entirely new while Nordic winds whipped around us, it became clear that BadBadNotGood isn't just a band; they are a beacon of musical adventure. Proof that the magic, in music, still happens in the spaces between traditions.
The cold may have been biting, but the music was pure fire.