Richmond-based five-piece collective Butcher Brown officially announce their forthcoming big band album Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey featuring Tennishu and R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND, which is released on September 16th via Concord Jazz. The album was originally written and produced by the band’s MC and multi-instrumentalist Tennishu as a hip hop album, complete with an ode to The Notorious B.I.G., and has since evolved into Butcher Brown’s own eclectic ode to big band jazz, their first foray into this format. Butcher Brown Presents Triple Trey is both trailblazing in its approach to classic jazz, bringing the band and the R4ND4ZZO BIGB4ND together to lay down a collage of jazz suites for a hip-hop album, and simultaneously mashing together elements of the soul, funk, and rock influences that has formed the band’s musical identity.

Alongside the announcement, the band shares the project’s lead single “Liquid Light,” which follows their one-off single “BLACK MAN” featuring fellow Richmond rapper and songwriter Michael Millions, which was released last month to widespread acclaim and is currently on the BBC 6Music playlist. The new song is coupled with an accompanying video directed and animated by Oriane Rondeau.

Describing the group’s journey for this project, bassist Andrew Randazzo says: Over the years, everything about this band has become more refined and mature — from the playing and producing to recording — but the soul was there from the beginning… We already had the spark.

The new project marks Butcher Brown’s first body of work since they graced NPR’s Tiny Desk (At Home) series with a performance straight from a Richmond rooftop last year, and collaborated with Alex Isley on a cover of Patrice Rushen’s “Remind Me.” Following a tour run supporting Kamasi Washington in 2019, Butcher Brown released their eighth album #KingButch in 2020, which features the stand-out track “Tidal Wave”.

Vinyl will be available on November 11th in standard black and “Opaque Blue” as a limited pressing of 2000 for Indie Retail. The 12” Vinyl includes a 7” with two bonus tracks “Guitarmy” and “Peace.” The album’s cover art was created by famed designer Lou Beach (designer of Weather Report’s 1977 classic, Heavy Weather and Butcher Brown’s most recent album #KingButch).

Miles Davis once quipped, “I’ll play it first and tell you what it is later.” Butcher Brown has released forward-thinking and expansive hybrids of jazz and hip-hop since 2013. Today, they have an apt descriptor for their songs: solar music. Drawing inspiration from every sound under the sun, the Richmond, VA band adds elements of funk, soul, and rock to their foundational mix. The result is a Southern-leaning, sometimes psychedelic fusion that feels fresh yet familiar. Simultaneously working within and defying genre conventions, Butcher Brown is a jazz festival mainstay that could tour with Tyler, the Creator as easily as Khruangbin.