{"id":1780,"date":"2020-10-25T23:07:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T04:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=1780"},"modified":"2021-06-24T17:01:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T22:01:21","slug":"king-butch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/king-butch\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Butcher Brown&#8217;s &#8216;#KingButch&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here\u2019s a tip for whoever is reading at the Richmond, Virginia Chamber of Commerce: when you produce your next showcase commercial, make sure that Butcher Brown does the soundtrack. Better yet, license &#8220;For the City,&#8221; the penultimate track on the band&#8217;s newly released <em>#KingButch<\/em> (Concord Jazz, 2020).<br><br>The song&#8217;s hook is, &#8220;We&#8217;re known for the city, yeh yeh. Yeh yeh.\/And we all about the city, yeh yeh. Yeh yeh.\/RVA that&#8217;s the city. Yeh yeh.\/The city known as RVA. Yeh yeh.\/And you know we all about it, yeh yeh. Yeh yeh.\/Don&#8217;t you ever, ever doubt it, yeh yeh.&#8221; That&#8217;s the kind of hands-in-the-air singalong verse that makes commercials producers giddy.<\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=3815631462\/album=237461454\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s plenty to make ordinary music fans giddy on <em>#King Butch<\/em>, the Richmond band&#8217;s eighth release and major-label debut, beginning with the crackling rhythm team of bassist Andrew Randazzo and drummer Corey Fonville, who might be the best known of the band&#8217;s five members through his tenure in bands led by Nicholas Payton and Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (&#8220;Broad Rock&#8221; could almost be lifted from an Adjuah set). With elements of neo-soul, disco, Minneapolis funk, Southern rap, and a dash of rock, Butcher Brown seems to be merging into the Roots&#8217; we-can-play-anything lane. Add strong jazz solos and an ear for the underappreciated late 70s work of masters such as Herbie Hancock, and Butcher Brown can come off like a Piedmont version of the West Coast Get Down minus the spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But mere pitch-meeting descriptions (&#8220;P-Funk meets jazz at halftime on a football field&#8221;) don&#8217;t do justice to the way Butcher Brown effortlessly throws the genre code-switch, often several times within a song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take the closing &#8220;IDK,&#8221; the title of which might be a cheeky answer to the question \u2018What genre is this song?\u2019 It starts with a rock beat for the A and B sections and a bridge that gives to a boppish trumpet decoration by hornman (he also plays gritty tenor saxophone) and MC Marcus \u201cTennishu\u201d Tenney. The song downshifts into a slow, almost ceremonial, four, then back to the opening rhythm for Morgan Burrs&#8217;&nbsp; ice-pick-y guitar solo. The process is repeated for loopy synth acrobatics by DJ Harrison.<\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=1885378519\/album=237461454\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the last of 13 cuts on a swift, 42-minute program, you could read &#8220;IDK&#8221; as a sly reminder that for all the danceable grooves and chest-pounding verses, Butcher Brown&#8217;s members have an encyclopedic grasp of musical styles of the past half-century and formidable chops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And wit. It&#8217;s hard to think of the record&#8217;s first single &#8220;Cabbage (DFC)&#8221; as a fond homage to Herbie Hancock&#8217;s <em>Man-Child<\/em>-era Headhunters, right down to unison, Tom Tom 84 horn riffs, and the Wah Wah Watson guitar jabs on the upbeat (Watson was also an RVA native). It\u2019s pitch-perfect, but also fabulously tight and well played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Hopscotch&#8221; is a too-brief showcase for the versatile Tenney who delivers his verses over a&nbsp; hustling, rolling six-beat rhythm, then picks up his tenor to deliver a guest verse. He&#8217;s a one-man posse cut.<\/p>\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=1271195023\/album=237461454\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the album\u2019s title track, Tenney raps, \u201cKingButch comin\u2019 like a freight train\/In the left lane\/150 miles an hour\u2014kind of insane,\u201d Yes, and insanely fun, too. <em>#KingButch<\/em> is unapologetically a party record, and couldn&#8217;t we all use a party right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeh yeh. Yeh yeh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/butcherbrown.limitedrun.com\/\"><em>#KingButch<\/em> is available now on CD, LP, digital, and on streaming services.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tracklist: (1) Fonkadelica, (2) #KingButch, (3) Broad Rock, (4) Cabbage (DFC), (5) Gum In My Mouth, (6) Frontline Intro, (7) Frontline, (8) 1992, (9) Love Rock, (10) Hopscotch, (11) Tidal Wave, (12) For The City, (13) IDK<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personnel: Fly Anakin&nbsp; (guest MC on &#8220;For The City&#8221;), Morgan Burrs (guitar), Corey Fonville (drums), DJ Harrison (production, keyboards), Andrew Randazzo (bass), Marcus \u201cTennishu\u201d Tenney (MC, trumpet, saxophones).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a tip for whoever is reading at the Richmond, Virginia Chamber of Commerce: when you produce your next showcase commercial, make sure that Butcher Brown does the soundtrack. Better yet, license &#8220;For the City,&#8221; the penultimate track on the band&#8217;s newly released #KingButch (Concord Jazz, 2020). The song&#8217;s hook is, &#8220;We&#8217;re known for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":40,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/1597058813.75356006621.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-sI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1950,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/alcorn-pedernal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":0},"title":"Review: Susan Alcorn&#8217;s &#8216;Pedernal\u2019","author":"John Chacona","date":"November 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Geography isn\u2019t destiny, but it might explain some things about pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and her new release, Pedernal (Relative Pitch Records, 2020). Alcorn is based in Baltimore, a place where the strange, unexpected and contradictory thrive. It is the birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe, Frank Zappa and John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/0021677624_10.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/0021677624_10.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/0021677624_10.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/0021677624_10.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5964,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/clouser-mexico-city-experiment\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":1},"title":"Conduit : A Conversation with Todd Clouser on The Mexico City Experiment","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"June 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The fifth outing in Ropeadope\u2019s\u00a0Experiment\u00a0series is markedly different from its predecessors. While all releases to date adopt a general ethos of giving maximum freedom to its participants, an ad hoc collection of those from the host city, prior output has primarily emphasized a particular native subsect of music.\u00a0The Philadelphia Experiment\u00a0(Ropeadope,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/a4176533136_101.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/a4176533136_101.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/a4176533136_101.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/a4176533136_101.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/a4176533136_101.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/dave-liebmans-expansions-groups-earth-album-reviewed\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":2},"title":"Review: Dave Liebman\u2019s Expansions Group\u2019s \u2018Earth\u2019","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists estimate that the earth vibrates at varying frequencies between 7.83 and 33.8 Hz. Of course, music also consists of rhythmic waves, though they are limited to our unaided hearing range from 20 to 20,000 Hz. As a result, many of our planet\u2019s tones are wholly incapable of being perceived.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dave Liebman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dave-Liebman-pic-COTA-e-P9093688-300-dpi-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dave-Liebman-pic-COTA-e-P9093688-300-dpi-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dave-Liebman-pic-COTA-e-P9093688-300-dpi-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dave-Liebman-pic-COTA-e-P9093688-300-dpi-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dave-Liebman-pic-COTA-e-P9093688-300-dpi-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11347,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/binney-crane-the-isle\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":3},"title":"La Belle Ville: A Conversation with David Binney and Tommy Crane on \u2018The Isle\u2019","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"November 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Music has always pulsed through Montr\u00e9al\u2019s DNA, from its origins to the present. Legend tells that when the city's founder, Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve, battled loneliness in the then-frontier outpost by picking up a lute. Seventeenth-century missionaries spread faith through the territory by relying upon choral singing and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1723.jpg?fit=1186%2C790&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1723.jpg?fit=1186%2C790&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1723.jpg?fit=1186%2C790&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1723.jpg?fit=1186%2C790&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1723.jpg?fit=1186%2C790&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3587,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/anthony-dean-harris-favorite-albums-of-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":4},"title":"Anthony Dean-Harris\u2019 Favorite Albums of 2021","author":"Anthony Dean-Harris","date":"December 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"[Editor\u2019s Note: We are excited to have Anthony Dean-Harris join us again for our year-end lists to share his 25 favorite \"jazz\" albums and 10 \"other\" albums of 2021. Anthony is a skilled writer whose credits include being a contributor to Downbeat and serving as the former Editor-in-Chief of Nextbop.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of Lists&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of Lists","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/lists-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BeFunky-collage-8.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BeFunky-collage-8.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BeFunky-collage-8.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BeFunky-collage-8.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4235,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/prophets-bogie-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":1780,"position":5},"title":"Out Into the World: A Conversation with Stuart Bogie (Part One)","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"March 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The big band concept has existed for well over a century. Throughout that time, dance has always been an essential part of the music. In the 1910s, artists used the format to support polka and waltzes. Thirty years later, the big band was the essence of the rage of swing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cover-art-e1648692341190.jpg?fit=751%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cover-art-e1648692341190.jpg?fit=751%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cover-art-e1648692341190.jpg?fit=751%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cover-art-e1648692341190.jpg?fit=751%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1780"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1797,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780\/revisions\/1797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}