badnewsjones

Reviewer: CD Baby
"Somewhere in the blur, hope became a four-letter word, but not in my world, I refuse to unfurl, refuse to unravel," raps Badnewsjones. And he's absolutely right. Not only did "hope" become impractical, but somewhere along the line, holding oneself to high standards and celebrating the positive side of the coin also got associated with elitism. Badnewsjones does a damn good job of setting these type of matters straight. With jazzy, soul-bred tapestries, echoing masters like the Roots, Common, the Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5, the album is not only a lyrical enigma but shines with professional quality beats and grooves- some of the best alternative hip hop you'll find on the site.
- cdbaby.com

Bad News Jones jazzes up hip-hop

March 18, 2005

BY DAVID JAKUBIAK




Chicago's hip-hop band scene is expanding with the vigor of something that refuses to be slept on, and near the top of the swell, along with bands like Abstract Giants, Treologic, Small Change and Contriband, is the septet Bad News Jones.

As much progressive jazz as it is hip-hop, the band's music comprises a backbone of lively rhythm provided by Andrei Chahine on keys, Tim Lincoln on bass and Daniel Crane drums that's complemented by Josh Burke on sax and the word play of the three MCs, Jed Spiegelman, James Occhipinti and Jordan Taggert.

Like their colleagues in this emerging genre that pairs a live band with hyper-driven rappers, the intrigue of Bad News Jones is that their sound is pick-it-yourself fresh. In fact, it's so much so that the cliches that have come to define mainstream hip-hop -- things like grimy, jiggy and crunk -- not only don't apply, they can't begin to convey the energy of the sound.

Spiegelman, who also plays trumpet, explains that part of the ability to avoid cliches comes from the jazz training of the instrumentalists in Bad News Jones.

"There are definitely safety areas that you can fall into," he says. "But one of the things about working with such talented musicians is that they can say, 'Hey, guys, let's not do that. Let's go a different way with that.' There are so many ways to express things with sound, and we are able to get more colorful."

And this isn't merely about the indisputable fact that comparing the sound of live instrumentation to that of sampled loops is akin to comparing the starting five of an NCAA tournament No. 1 seed to the bench of a 16 seed. It's about musicians who are creating rather than duplicating.

"This music is limitless," Spiegelman promises. "We bring new energy. If everybody stayed where it was when it started, we wouldn't go anywhere."

One of the keen understandings that makes Bad News Jones a treat to take in is their development of sets for the stage that are different than those of their studio sessions.

"With a live show, you want a whole different sound than you have in the studio," Spiegelman says. "And one of the nice things that we, as MCs, can do when we have live instrumentation is step back to showcase the musicians."

Bad News Jones began when Spiegelman and Occhipinti were students at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.

"I only played trumpet than and didn't really rhyme," Spiegelman says. "But James convinced me to. We put together some janky beats and did show and everybody went crazy."

Eventually, the pair went with live instrumentation and the band was born.

"We started coming down here and people really liked our sound," Spiegelman says.

Bad News Jones is working on an EP.

Sunday's Abbey Pub show also features fellow local live band Small Change, the incredibly talented and addicting Psalm One, and the rapidly rising Twin Cities crew Heiruspecs.

- Chicago Sun-Times, March 18, 2005