Meet Butcher Brown: five groove merchants delivering a heady home-brew of jams and jazz, rhymes and beats—a funky, musical mix that makes one question why great music needs to be labeled as this category or that. The hybrid moniker “jazz/hip-hop” only begins to cover it. Their balance of raw energy and smooth sophistication, edgy improvisation with a generous dose of Southern roots (South coast hip-hop to Southern rock) reveals how equal opportunity they are in employing a wide range of musical styles, and how authentically they’ve absorbed it all.

Collectively, one could say they are a jazz ensemble—in the instruments they play, and the way they feel the music as one, building a performance together, with grace and grit. Individually, they are: producer / keyboardist DJ Harrison; drummer Corey Fonville; bassist Andrew Randazzo; trumpeter / saxophonist / MC Marcus “Tennishu” Tenney; and guitarist Morgan Burrs. The story of Butcher Brown is rooted in Richmond, Virginia—a.k.a. RVA—was one of the first to be established in colonial America, and is today home to a thriving musical scene, a blend of jazz and blues, funk and hip-hop, homegrown traditions and outside influences. Neo-soul pioneer D’Angelo famously hails from RVA, and the members of Butcher Brown take pride in their common musical birthright.

Their eighth album—#KingButch—was recorded in late 2019 in Jellowstone Studios for Concord Records, and is the culmination of twelve years of dedicated focus, and commitment. It stands out as a bold step forward for the group in establishing their own sound, a choate, confident production that features the best that each member has to offer—including rhymes for the first time, showcasing Tenney’s skills as a lyricist and MC. The album also benefits from the group’s ability to create different music in a number of ways, all equally well. “There’s beats, there’s jazz tunes with solos and there’s tunes with rock vibes,” says Harrison. “Also, there’s road-tested material that we got together while touring, and studio-written material. It’s a big mixing pot of all the stuff we’ve done up to this point, which is cool because it shows who we are right now.”

“King Butch comin’ like a freight train/In the left lane/150 miles an hour—kind of insane,” raps Tenney on the album’s title track. Not only does #KingButch show where Butcher Brown is now—creating some of the most exciting, original and authentic grooves of today—but their music points to where they are heading, and where many are sure to follow.