Albany’s avant-jazz collective Bright Dog Red (BDR) released their sixth and seventh albums since signing with Ropeadope in 2018. Bad Magic and Hegemonitzed will be issued simultaneously. The band prides itself on a singular inclusive mix of many forms. Even with their engaging severe cultural and political themes, their spontaneity leaves an overriding spirit of elation.
The thematic approach is consistent with past efforts, and the collective’s personnel has remained intact with adding one new member, trumpeter/flugelhornist Martin Loyato. The others, in addition to Joe Pignato and Matt Coonan are Tim Lefebvre (electric bass), Tyreek Jackson (electric bass and guitar), Cody Davies (sounds), Mike LaBombard (tenor saxophone, effects, keys), and Anthony Berman (acoustic bass).
When Bright Dog Red records, collective members listen to the foundational tracks, overdub ideas, and additional layers. Band leader and drummer Pignato then edits these layered improvised performances into tracks in post-production. BDR set out to make one album, Bad Magic, but in doing so, they were on two different sonic planes: a set of ethereal tracks and another more edgy and aggressive. The former makeup Bad Magic, while the latter comprises Hegemontized.
The themes expressed through Coonan’s poetry and freestyling are similar. Bad Magic embraces the prevalence of misinformation, antiscientific thinking, and deception around online platforms, and one especially searing discourse on gun violence, “Thoughts and Prayers.” With Hegemontized, the political ranting ratchets up a level, especially concerning corporate greed and ongoing culture wars.
Bad Magic has ten tracks, five containing lyrics. While Coonan’s lyrics are often more abstract than direct, the mid-tempo opening title track rants on the culture of lies with expressive tenor in the first half and bluesy guitar joining the saxophone in the second. “Bone to Pick” rails on the growing assault on democracy yet “Thoughts and Prayers” is this album’s most memorable cut. It’s a scathing, sarcastic attack on the lack of empathy from the extreme right and sensationalism in the media in response to gun violence against the underserved.
In “Cicada,” he draws political analogies with the massive invasion of insects, which is soon to occur. Instrumentally, the four-track sequence of “On (dis) Information and (dis) Belief,” “Halcyonica,” “Ever Be,” and “Just Because I’m Hidden” introduce trumpeter Loyato who inevitably conjures mid to late electric Miles Davis, especially when conversing with Jackson’s guitar in the first of the four and phat funky bass lines in ‘Halcyonia”. Yet, the ensemble is at its improvisational best in “Dustpan” with LaBombard’s tenor and Jackson’s guitar holding sway, building to peak moments with a peaceful, fading exit through the dizzying electronica.
Hegemontized is filled with mostly lyric tracks, seven of the nine. It begins with the title track filled with blurring electronics and horns as if filtered through a blender until we hear dissonant (vs. bluesy) guitar – signaling the tone of the album. “Free America, My Contradiction” is spoken from the point of view of an insanely wealthy, arrogant protagonist over ornery, menacing music, the trumpet alone akin to Miles’ Agharta/Dark Magus period.
Guillotine” speaks to division and recent diatribes on immigration, while “Hope is Bleeding” attacks corporate greed and Big Pharma over the haunting, swirling, cacophonous ensemble. “Zigzag” is a scalding attack on online conspiracy theories over tenor leading infectious riffs that grow increasingly frenetic and perhaps Coonan’s most honest, direct line – “When I rhyme, I vent, I’m vexed.” “How Much Gold” decries the thirst for power, privilege, and greed, brought to a head in the closing “Dinner Table. The most impactful musical moments are in the instrumental “View from (t)Here” with its trumpet led, enveloping, reverberating sound morphing into alternating grooving cadences. Also, BDR ends in a fitting finale as guitar, electronics, and percussion convene with one grand whooshing chord on “Dinner Table.”
Having a second horn certainly enhances the ensemble sound, and Matt Coonan has taken a huge step forward in his political discourse. While the two albums differ slightly, they share the signature common thread that is BDR’s alone.
