NEW YORK (July 10, 2020): Bright Dog Red (BDR), an improvising collective from Albany, New York, will release Somethin’ Comes Along, a double album, on Ropeadope, September 25, 2020. Somethin’ Comes Along, marks the ensemble’s third release for the influential Philadelphia area music, clothing, and culture imprint.
Somethin’ Comes Along, the most ambitious of BDR’s three Ropeadope albums, features two hourlong sides culled from three discrete sessions. The first side, Somethin’, features the “fiery, free-flowing” improvisation for which Bright Dog Red has increasingly become known (Glide Magazine). The second side, Somethin’ Else, builds on the more abstract, “spaced out” tendencies of the ensemble (Jay Hunter).
The collective’s two previous Ropeadope releases, 2019’s How’s by You? and 2018’s Means to the Ends, have at once bemused and beguiled critics, fans, and music industry observers. Louis Marks, CEO of Ropeadope explains: “Bright Dog Red is perhaps the most unique band to grace the halls of Ropeadope, and that’s quite an accomplishment. Bright Dog Red hits the stage without charts or set list – they simply start playing and improvise, taking cues from each other and from the audience and room. It’s adventurous, and due to the skill and rapport of the players, surprisingly cohesive.”
Ropeadope, long at the nexus of jazz, hip hop, and electronica, has proven an apt partner for BDR’s “innovative and psychedelic mesh” of genres (The Alt Weekly). The label’s extensive catalog includes releases from DJ Logic, Snarky Puppy, Christian McBride, Ghost Note, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Christian Scott, Ramsey Lewis, and Eddie Palmieri, among many others.
Since partnering with Ropeadope, Bright Dog Red has enjoyed a widening audience, including increased recognition in North America, the UK, and Europe. Somethin’ Comes Along represents a bold next step for the Albany based collective.
ABOUT BRIGHT DOG RED: “Starting as a jazz-meets-hip-hop jam band with a loosely-defined membership, Bright Dog Red has become a fixture on the NYC jazz and improvisation scene” (Jazz Journal). The band’s performances have distinguished BDR as "as group on the rise" (The Bolg), generating comparisons to “Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Digable Planets” (Paul Schulman), “electronic Ahmad Jamal,” (Don Lucoff), and to other psychedelic, jazz fusion, and hip hop luminaries.
“We'd urge anyone not aboard the Bright Dog Red train to grab a ticket.
Theirs is an unrivalled approach to contemporary jazz” (Blue in Green Radio).
January 22, 2020: The nominees for New York’s Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards have been announced. Bright Dog Red’s 2019 Ropeadope release, “How’s by You?,” has been nominated in the Album of the Year category.
Known locally as the Eddies, the awards nomination process involved 40 members of the Capital Region music community, which represents Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and the surrounding areas. Nominating committee members included local artists, members of the media and others working in the music industry. Roughly 100 local members of the music community have been invited to vote for winners among the nominees.
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