Funk and Bluegrass = Chicken and Cow

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

By Aaron Davis

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - There’s an anomaly in our music scene, and its called Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit (JBNFU).  Born out of living room jams on Fish Creek Road in Wilson and progressing into focused compositions and big stage sets, the trio now offers the world its debut album—Brown Chicken Brown Cow—supported by a CD Release show this Friday. 

Bassist Brad Corbin, acoustic and electric mandolin picker Tim Farris and drummer Scott Barrett have developed a sound incomparable to any other band, though its influences glisten: Les Claypool, Bill Monroe, Matt Flinner, Phish and The Meters. As an all-instrumental band (i.e., no lyrics), JBNFU uses catchy hooks, frequent stops and transitions, and schizophrenic funk-grass diversions to keep the listener involved.

“I think our writing style has morphed,” Farris explained of the band’s progression. “Our first group of songs were basically a funk section with a stop then a bluegrass section and a stop to a bridge and back to the funk or whatever. But now I feel that our new stuff is a real blend of the two styles and songs are much more cohesive and flowing.”

Brown Chicken Brown Cow not only bridges the obvious two genres, but incorporates rock, electronica and plenty of head-bobbing groove confidently led by Corbin and Barrett. Take for instance “Funky Tractor in a Cornfield Hoedown,” which opens with a heavy, Phishy funk groove before transitioning to a square mandolin melody with a bluegrass backbeat, complete with a tightly woven section of slap bass.

Other standout tracks include the patiently arranged and well developed “Cumulo Nimbi,” the calculated bass and duel mandolin interplay on “Sneakin’ Mary Through the Prairie,” the contagiously hooky “Chicken Breakdown” and the gong intro  “Get Off the Roof Cleutus!” kicks off the disc with a hi-yah ninja bow and one of the band’s best performances. Farris carries most of the melody load, and does so in veteran fashion.

Tracking began in 2009 at Ben Winship’s Henhouse Studio, who also adds mandolin harmony to several tracks. The bass is both thick and punchy throughout, the acoustic mandolin especially warm, though what I occasionally missed was a fatter drum kit when the music leaned more on rock than grass. That doesn’t take away what is evident here—these guys have matured into the real deal, a particular cohesiveness instilled through hours of playing together. JHW

Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit will celebrate its CD release at 10 p.m. on Friday at the Stagecoach in Wilson. $5. 733-4407.


PERMALINK:
Funk and Bluegrass = Chicken and Cow | Planet JH News Article: Music Box

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