Letters From The Atlantic

その無限の音楽的範囲は、ジャンルや時間の境界を感じさせない。
ジャズ、ロック、ファンク、R&B、ソウル、ボサ・ノヴァなどをシームレスにブレンドしたButcher Brownの新ALがリリース。
ゲスト・アーティストのヤヤ・ベイ、メラニー・チャールズ、リーノア・ウルフ、ミア・グラッドストーン、ヴィクトリア・ヴィクトリア、そしてニコラス・ペイトン&ニール・フランシスをフィーチャーした強力作品。

「ニューヨークやイギリスのダンス・クラブで聴けるような曲をイメージしてレコーディングしたんだ。僕たちはみんなプロデューサーだから、DJが見つけてグルーヴに切り刻むようなサンプルを考えているんだ。でも、サンプルは使わず、すべてライヴでやって、自分たちのやり方で再構築したんだ。「この曲のレコーディングには魔法のような何かがあった。コントロール・ルームに戻って聴いたときの興奮と喜びは、この曲を世に送り出すべきだという明確なサインだった」と収録曲。"Ibiza"に関してコメント。

大絶賛された『Solar Music』(2023年)に続く2年ぶりの作品で、チェサピーク湾からニューヨーク、東海岸からフロリダ、そして海外のヨーロッパまで、目的地と影響を受けた場所を巡る音楽の旅へとリスナーを誘う。

Virginia quintet Butcher Brown follow a pair of Grammy nods and a Newlin Prize for 2024s Solar Music with Letters from the Atlantic, their 12th album. It was recorded with Alex De Jong in Richmond. The title reflects the sets intention. The group sought to project the feel of an exploratory and celebratory trip down the East Coast to Florida, and eventually the Caribbean and Europe, and to illustrate their recording process by offering music inspired by those cultures. They intersect seamlessly with house music, contemporary jazz-funk, hip-hop, dub, 21st century samba, and Afro-Latin grooves. Its cast includes illustrious vocalists including Melanie Charles, Yaya Bey, Leanor Wolf, Mia Gladstone, Victoria Victoria, and Neal Francis. Jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton also appears on one track. "Seagulls" is a brief, airy soundscape with guitars, synths, breaking snares, and bird sounds delivered in a manner that recalls the Brazilian jazz-funk pioneers Azymuth with wavy chords fed into a broken-beat groove. It segues into jazz-house on "Unwind," featuring Charles rapping atop Marcus Tenneys swirling flutes, DJ Harrisons soulful, in-the-pocket keys, syncopated snares and tom-toms from Corey Fonville, Andrew Randazzos chunky bassline, and the smooth, sophisticated guitar of Morgan Burrs. The instrumental "Backline" recalls the 70s-era music of Ray Ayers sans vibes. This nocturnal jazz tune offers stellar keyboard work from Harrison inside dubby production. "Change in Weather" is a laid-back soft rock tune that features Gladstone classily crooning upfront. The mix seamlessly weaves keys, guitar, and layers of pillowy reverb into lithely funky Caribbean-tinged drums and spacious, elegant production. Butcher Brown cover Brazilian composer Ivan Lins "Dinorah Dinorah"; its inspired by George Bensons smash 1980 version. While Burrs playing is certainly up to the task, the melodic, dubwise horns, four-on-the-floor live rhythm track, atmospheric keys, and wordless vocal choruses add dreaminess to a dancefloor fantasia. Bey takes on "I Remember," a late-night chill house groove with silvery guitars underscoring her classy, souled-out vocal. The neo-psychedelic dub in the instrumental "Ibiza" is a humid jazz-house tribute to the Balearic island. The carnivalesque bass and keyboard vamp in "Montrose Forest" is carried by guest Nicholas Payton and Tenney; they trade fours with the rhythm section in an old-school soul-jazz approach. New Orleanian Neal Francis claims the lead vocal in "Something New About You" an uptempo yacht rock jam with juicy guitars, airy keys, and a hard-pumping dancefloor rhythm. The set closer is a wonderfully re-envisioned reading of Wayne Shorters "Infant Eyes," complete with junglist drums, swirling keys, and graceful, airy wah-wah guitars responding to the bassline as Tenneys saxophone claims the fore, then soars before piano brings it back to earth in a gently swinging cadence. While this version reveals reverence, it pays greater tribute to Shorter in its innovation. In sum, the musically restless Butcher Brown deliver something special on Letters from the Atlantic: it will resonate on club dancefloors globally, yet still registers as a perfect summer soundtrack. ~ Thom Jurek