PRESS
ON IN VIVO
"A fantastic live set...genuinely thrilling." - Blue in Green Podcast, UK
“Much is made about improvisation or playing in the moment. While some bands pay casual reference to those phrases, as if to think it will improve their credibility, Bright Dog Red (BDR) makes it their mantra. They are the epitome of in-the-moment playing.
BDR melds the influences of free-form jazz, funk, rock, and hip-hop into their signature sound. Explorative moments transition into spirited, spiritual playing….Yet, none of these sequences last too long before the other members add to the mix. That’s what keeps it interesting, these pieces evolve in ways that even surprise the musicians, let alone the listeners.
Give this one the time it deserves. One complete listen won’t do it justice as you’ll pick up on different aspects each time you hear it. Yes, it’s out there but it holds together coherently and will often have you tapping your foot or nodding your head, as you immerse yourself.” -Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine
"Improvised music captured live of experimental jazz mixed with hip-hop, electronica, and a touch of krautrock: a refreshing discovery." -Best of Jazz
ON SOMETHIN' COMES ALONG
"Best of 2020. How can you NOT love a group that can pair sharp, funny, intelligent lyrics with a borderline-chaotic mix of jazz, rock and hip-hop unmatched by anyone in the game? Bright Dog Red is not a gimmick; it is a force to be reckoned with, and may the reckoning come soon for all of us!" -Nippertown, Albany, NY, US
"Jazz outfit riding creativity high." -Albany Times Union, US
"The most dynamic incarnation of Bright Dog Red yet." -SF Gate, US
"Exciting, mesmerizing...hard-edged free jazz stylings." -Glide Magazine, US
“Ups the ante of free music…bursting with improvisation that defies categorization.” -Dan Ouellette, Jazz and Beyond Intel, US
"Successfully combines freer improvisation with contemporary street culture." -One Man's Jazz, Canada
"Could be album of the year." -Will McGiven, Constellations Radio, UK
"They are the best at what they do."-Nu Jazz Sounds, UK
"Spirited, a full throttle go-for-it charge for the line affair." -Marlbank, UK
"5 out of 5. The music runs a joyous gamut now synonymous with the BDR brand." -UK Vibe, UK
"Packed with improvised and innovative jazz elements, and funk." -The Daily Gazette, US
“Poetry and jazz play together like neighborhood children.” – Radio Ros Brera, Italia
"Could find an important position among the most famous bands playing innovative jazz ." -Jazz in Family, Italia.
"Folds in a generous amount of hip-hop, funk, poetry and freestyling. The fact that the band has opened for Parliament Funkadelic says all we need to know." -A Closer Listen, UK
“With two hours of music, this is the most generous helping of skronk-hop you’ll see this year, dig in.” -Bill Barnett, WVUD Radio, US
“Bright Dog Red is making it up as they go along, literally. All of their music is created in the moment, through free improvisation...brings together hip hop, electronica, psychedelia and noise into a spontaneous soundscape taking the listener on a journey through their spur of the moment process.” -Joy Sounds Pod Cast, US
“It is invention that drives Bright Dog Red, spontaneous and unrepeatable invention, the meeting of brains and lungs, of muscles and hands and throats, of ideas and dreams, of different experiences. Because there is always something that appears, that takes us to some other place. Life, like this music, is made up of a constant flow, with an unstoppable force, like that of the locomotive that adorns the cover of this album.” -Notas Azuis, Portugal
ON HOW'S BY YOU?
“A seamless blend of seemingly disparate influences, creating a post-modern mélange that ranges from the familiar to the surprising…thought-provoking, toe-tapping, boundary-defying...inspired music.” -Modern Drummer, US
“Best of 2019. Experimental and diverse…you ultimately stop trying to comprehend this unravelling psychedelic experience and just learn to accept its mesmerizing nature.” -Blue in Green Radio, UK
“Best of 2019. Absolutely brilliant!” -DJ Nick, UK
“Best of 2019. Boundary-breaking alt-jazz improv.”-Nippertown, Albany, NY US
“Fiery…free-flowing and immersive. Rhyming, noise and electronics weave in and out.” -Glide Magazine, US
“Un chien nourri au hip-hop, à l’electro, au jazz et qui rappe ; assurément un chien d’avant-garde A dope album!” -Radio Le Grigri, France [“A dog fed hip-hop, electro, jazz and rapping; certainly an avant-garde dog. A dope album!”]
“A stellar beatnik odyssey, filled with risks, that grows and unfurls more and more after each spin…a big musical Ouija board.” -The Bolg, Twin Cities, US
“What happens when you mix spontaneous jazz, hip-hop, poetry, psychedelics and noise? Bright Dog Red. Never stops evolving – just like we all should.” -Start-FM 94.2, Vilnius, Lithuania
“Spirited and free forming jazz with a bit of electronica and hip hop thrown in for good measure!” -Nu Jazz Sounds, UK
ON MEANS TO THE ENDS
“Divine madness…a brilliant package of vibrant, intricate, surprising pieces.” -Nippertown, Albany, NY US
“Spirited and inspired jazz that skillfully weaves in additional elements of electronica and hip-hop.” – Blue in Green Radio, UK
“Wild, refreshing, creative music. A sense of mystery because you don’t know where it’s going, where it’s going to end up, but it takes you on a journey. Cracking good music.” – DJ Nick, Radio Winchcombe, UK
“An enjoyable jazz and ‘hip-pop’ hybrid…a seamless and well-crafted product.” -Jazz Journal, UK
“Doesn’t fit into anything, and that’s just fine! So much going on…takes many, many listens before you feel like you’re not getting that one off, ‘this is mine,’ experience… an incredible capture.” -Green Arrow Radio, US
ON BULLET PROOF SHOES
“Exploratory sounds from a group on the rise… Strikes an insane balance of minimal tactile grooves with massive improvisational freakouts on a jazz club hip hop space odyssey.” -The Bolg Blog, Twin Cities US
“This exploratory session mixes Late Night Tales-type grooves with quality rapping and exceptional musicianship.” -B of The Bolg Blog, Twin Cities US
“A lovely journey in fusion and certainly worth a listen or two (if not more).” chressence of The Bolg Blog, Twin Cities US
“Jazz fans who dig hip hop will love the quick trip into the hazy underworld of Bright Dog Red’s Bullet Proof Shoes.”. -JT of The Bolg Blog, Twin Cities US
“Extemporised psychedelic jazz-hop”-Emerging Indie Bands, UK
“Get lost in ‘Bullet Proof Shoes,’ and revel in musical metamorphosis.” -Masked Faces, Austin, TX US
ON BRIGHT DOG RED
"Theirs is an unrivalled approach to contemporary jazz.” -Blue in Green Radio, UK
"Jazz that draws on psychedelic, electronic soundscapes, improvised hip-hop, funk, and more." -Modern Drummer, US
“Smokin’! spaced out.” -Jay Hunter, Jazz2K @ the Saint, Albany, NY, US
“Sonic Groundbreakers.” Nu Jazz Sounds, Frome.FM UK
“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, London UK
“Inventive and Bold.” UK Vibe
“An innovative and psychedelic mesh of jazz, hip-hop and electronica.” -The Alt Weekly, Albany, NY US
“Put Albany’s Bright Dog Red on your radar as this jazzy psychedelic hip hop posse has potential for some progressive golden era goodness.” -Peck and JT of The Bolg Blog, Twin Cities US
“Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Digable Planets.” -Paul Schulman, indie music veteran, US
“Electric Ahmad Jamal.” -Don Lucoff, DL Media, US
“Ahead of the Game” -Jordan Hill, Revolution Radio, US
“Playful.” –New York Music Daily, US
“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.” -Louis Marks, CEO Ropeadope Records, US