Virginia quintet
Butcher Brown
follow a pair of Grammy nods and a Newlin Prize for 2024's
Solar Music
with
Letters from the Atlantic
, their 12th album. It was recorded with
Alex De Jong
in Richmond. The title reflects the set's 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 Tenney
's swirling flutes,
DJ Harrison
's soulful, in-the-pocket keys, syncopated snares and tom-toms from
Corey Fonville
Andrew Randazzo
's 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.
cover Brazilian composer
Ivan Lins
' "Dinorah Dinorah"; it's inspired by
George Benson
's 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
and
Tenney
; they trade fours with the rhythm section in an old-school soul-jazz approach. New Orleanian
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 Shorter
's "Infant Eyes," complete with junglist drums, swirling keys, and graceful, airy wah-wah guitars responding to the bassline as
's 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
deliver something special on
: it will resonate on club dancefloors globally, yet still registers as a perfect summer soundtrack. ~ Thom Jurek