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Bright Dog Red

Bright Dog Red (BDR), an improvising collective from Albany, New York, released Under the Porch on May 20, 2022. Under the Porch, marks the ensemble’s fifth album since signing with Ropeadope in 2018.

Under the Porch features twelve tracks, recorded part by part, layer by layer, edit after edit, over a period spanning late 2020 to late 2021. The album, arguably BDR’s most accessible to date, features a new take on the ensemble’s “signature sound” a mix of “free-form jazz, funk, rock, and hip-hop” (Glide Magazine).

Bright Dog Red, celebrated for “sublimely marrying jazz with hip-hop, funk, and electronic music" (JazzTimes), has long been “a fixture on the NYC jazz and improvisation scene” (Jazz Journal). The group’s "proudly unanchored improvisation" (Downbeat) has been described as “part Ornette Coleman and Prime Time, part Lounge Lizards, part A Tribe Called Quest” (JazzTimes). Others have compared the group to “Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Digable Planets” (Paul Schulman), “Romantic Warrior era Return to Forever” (Rimas e Batidas), and “electronic Ahmad Jamal" (Don Lucoff).

Founded by Joe Pignato, BDR is comprised of a rotating cast of players. In addition to Pignato (drums, percussion, concepts), Under the Porch features Eric Person(soprano and alto saxophones, flute, effects), Tim Lefebvre (electric bass), Tyreek Jackson (electric bass and guitar), Cody Davies (sounds), Mike LaBombard (tenor saxophone, effects), Anthony Berman (acoustic bass), and Matt Coonan (poetry, freestyling, voice).

Awards

2022 Jazz Artist of the Year Nominee, Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards 2022 Album of the Year Nominee, Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards 2021 Album of the Year Nominee, Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards 2020 Album of the Year Nominee, Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards


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Radio & Podcasts

Top Ten Tracks from 2019 to help You Get Through The Day

Read "Top Ten Tracks from 2019 to help You Get Through The Day" reviewed by Nick Davies


As 2019 passes into 2020 it is a time to look back at some of the best records from the previous year. 2019 saw some very good jazz releases many of which were featured on the Crazeology Radio Show and it was really hard to decide a top ten. After many hours of deliberating with records being put in and taken out a list was drawn up. These may not be the greatest releases but each had an impact in ...

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ON UNDER THE PORCH

JazzTimes:

Bright Dog Red, the Albany-based avant-everything octet piloted by drummer extraordinaire Joe Pignato, has mastered the art of the groove. The rhythmic wizardry BDR effortlessly cranks out is the foundation of its raucous, all-embracing attack, and Under the Porch, a 12-song, electronics- and effects-laced workout, takes that attack to a new level, thanks in part to the group’s newest member: Tim Lefebvre of David Bowie’s Blackstar band fame and formerly of Tedeschi Trucks Band, who joins Tyreek Jackson and Anthony Berman in a troika of rock-solid bassists. The heavy-hitting BDR once again proves impossible to pin down: They can potentially appeal to jam-band, funk, rock, or hip-hop devotees ready to raise the roof….Few free-improv groups can lock in so deeply while being completely off the cuff.

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