Bad and Blue
Boston, MA | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Bad and Blue prefers to let the music speak for itself. With almost no promotion, the seven-member jazz/blues/hip-hop fusion band dropped their new, self-titled album earlier today. When an advance copy appeared in our inbox, it was formatted as just one long song and little other explanation. But don’t confuse the band’s silence on their album’s release with apathy towards their music. They have a lot to say and aren’t afraid to say it. The first track, “A Way” is a drug rap on par with Danny Brown’s Nosebleeds in its unapologetic realness. She is only proud of she when she be rollin’ loud and tree/ Rollin’ on E, raps frontman Cam Flowers on one of his best verses on the album.
The album stays dark in subject matter, with verses from Cam and frontwoman Tammara Gary dealing with heartbreak, loss, and depression (although an expertly crafted cover of Britney Spears’s Toxic stands out as an exception). The instrumentation is a constant flow of jazz and blues rock, begining the album with basic piano/bass/drums arrangements and progressively incorporating saxophones, organs, and guitars.
The progression and flow of the album makes it play like one long jam session. Tracks like “Ain’t Sunday” and “Monsters” play like medleys of multiple songs strung together with improvisational bridges. “Ain’t Sunday” ends with a wild saxophone solo similar to the hyper-speed jazz that Flying Lotus is putting out. Cam blends Black Thought-esque storytelling with vocal inflections and singing that create obvious Chance The Rapper comparisons while Tammara’s voice impressively commands every track, directing the energy of the band. Her verse on “Monsters” is a standout, reminiscent of Janelle Monae’s more recent work; she transitions from a rapid fire, quiet delivery to belting over screaming horns in less than a minute.
The album is not without faults. The songs begin to lose their improvisational energy as the instrumentation becomes repetitive and Cam hops in with an emotionally charged rap often enough that his verses begin to lose their potency by the end of the album. But at just over 35 minutes, Bad And Blue knows when they’ve said all they needed to say.
Best tracks: A Way, Ain’t Sunday, New City - Melisma Magazine
If Chrome Sparks has a hit, “Marijuana” is it. The not-so-subtle stoner ode with synesthetic lyrics (“I feel music in your eyes”) became a Bandcamp sensation and brought a sold-out crowd to an indica-infused Middle East on a Wednesday.
But it was Bad and Blue, the Tufts/NEC-based hip/hop-jazz group, that brought the sativa uplift. It was a tight squeeze for the eight-piece band on a small Middle East Upstairs stage, but there was still enough room for Cam Flowers and Tammara Gary to spread infectious energy. With Cam’s rapping over soul-suffused instrumentals and Tammara’s lively vocals, it was impossible not to feel good.
If you’ve been in a local band, you know it isn’t always easy to get people to come through to a show. It helps if – like Bad and Blue – your band is good, but more important is if your band makes people feel good. Bad and Blue certainly does, and the Tufts-heavy crowd mirrored their love.
Between hip covers – Hiatus Kaiyote’s “Nakamarra” and a soulful rendition of Britney Spear’s “Toxic” – were originals, many from Bad and Blue’s self-titled 2014 release. On “Ain’t Sunday,” a hip-hop infused jazz funk track Tammara’s vocals shone. And on “Monsters,” a jazzy guitar intro with surfy effects led into the disorienting repetition of “Have you ever had a nightmare/This is what a nightmare sounds like,” and a rap over a subtle 7/4 beat.
Bad and Blue was followed by a brief and forgettable set of ambient techno from Moon Diagram, the moniker for Deerhunter drummer Moses Archuleta. There were moments of intrigue, but mostly this was a set scrubbed clean of polyrhythms, melodies, or well, anything of much interest.
The crowd thinned and was renewed for Chrome Sparks – the college-aged friends of Bad and Blue mostly replaced by other college-aged people in tow for the headliner. Jeremy Malvin, the Brooklyn-based producer behind Chrome Sparks, took the stage in an all-maroon getup seemingly straight off an Urban rack. Live drums complemented his arpeggiated synths, creating a surprisingly big sound for two people. Treated vocals were added to the mix at times, but otherwise it was just synths and drums.
The range of different timbres was impressive – Malvin seemed to be a connoisseur of synths. But eventually, the formulaic arpeggiated synths got old. There were occasional moments of complexity and subtlety – ducking synths, treated vocals reminiscent of Crystal Castles, or more intriguing beats – but most tracks followed the same formula.
One standout, “Send the Pain On” (not to be confused with the nü-metal canonical work, “Send the Pain Below”) thrived due to its catchy synth melody, but through most of the night Malvin’s synthlines were unremarkable.
And then came “Marijuana.” Idris Mohammed’s soul jazz classic, “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This,” has become fodder for crate-digging producers like Chrome Sparks and Jamie xx. On “Loud Spaces,” Jamie xx drops the sample over the chorus. In his live performances, apparently newsworthy, he has taken to simply pressing play. But Chrome Spark’s reworking is truly unique. An original melody strutted through the submerged synths and manipulated sample, and the crowd vibed to it.
It wasn’t enough to make the show, but for three minutes there was music in your eyes. - Sound of Boston
Discography
Album: Sea Salt (Single) - June 2016
#1 - Sea Salt
Album: Live @ Wonder Bar - April 2016
#1 - Hello Wonder Bar!
#2 - A Way (Live)
#3 - Nakamarra (Live)
#4 - Monsters (Live)
#5 - Interlude Six (Live)
#6 - Ain't Sunday (Live)
#7 - Interlude 7 (S.T.O.P.) (Live)
#8 - Walls (Live)
#9 - Toxic (Live)
#10 - Sea Salt (Live)
#11 - Title Waves (Live)
#12 - New City (Live)
Album: Bad and Blue - October 2014
#1 - A Way
#2 - Ain't Sunday
#3 - Walls
#4 - Interlude Six
#5 - Toxic
#6 - Monsters
#7 - Interlude 7 (S.T.O.P.)
#8 - Just Play
#9 - New City
Photos
Bio
Started in the practice rooms of Tufts University’s Granoff Music Building in 2014, the music collective known as Bad and Blue quickly grew to be one of the school’s most popular student bands. Then comprised of seven members: Cameron Flowers (MC), Tammara Gary (Lead Vocals), Brian Aronow (Saxophone), Lila Ramani (Guitar), Jesse Brotter (Bass), Chris Hamblin (Keys), and Harry Meyerson (Drums) the group recorded their first album self-titled Bad and Blue. The 9-song album was a quick hit and a best-seller on Bandcamp’s jazz charts during the week of October 21st alongside such acts like BadBadNotGood and Snarky Puppy. Growing in popularity following the release of the album the band played several large shows in the Tufts area including their album release show and a large show with Chicago MC Noname, among several others (temporarily bringing in drummer Dan Fortunato to replace Meyerson). Following this quick rise in recognition and touring in Boston the band needed to make adjustments to their active members and added 5 musicians from the New England Conservatory of Music to the performing line: Sam Fribush (Keys), Ryan Sands (Drums), David Adewumi (Trumpet), Isaac Levien (Bass), and Blake Manternach (Trombone). The band started 2015 with a burst of energy playing a quickly sold out headlining show at the famous Johnny D’s Uptown Restaurant & Music Club in Somerville in November. They then opened for Chrome Sparks in January during a sold out show at the Middle East Upstairs. After playing many different shows at various events in the Medford/Somerville and Cambridge areas, the band headlined in March at the Wonder Bar in Allston, MA with their sister-group the American Symphony of Soul. A couple weeks later the band was called to headline at Tufts again and packed their home stage to capacity playing alongside Brooklyn based MC, Asoh Black and the Boston based Trap Music Orchestra. In April, the band released a live recording on Bandcamp from their Wonder Bar show and headlined again in Cambridge at the Middle East Corner. Closing out on the huge success of their year the band opened a sold-out show in May for ODDISEE during his AlWasta album tour commencement in Cambridge at the Middle East Downstairs. With several of the core members of the band (Flowers, Gary, Ramani, Sands, and Adewumi) graduating from school later that month, the band has begun to prepare itself to transition from Boston to New York City for the upcoming year (2017) and has been focusing recently on recording and releasing new media while booking new gigs for later in the year. They released their latest track Sea Salt to the public in June and were the winners of the Converse Rubber Tracks promotion and recorded the soon to be released song Title Waves in Boston in August of 2016.
Band Members
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