What’s Up Newp sat down with a trio of young artists at the Newport Jazz Festival last weekend. We met Matthew Whitaker, Julius Rodriguez and members of Butcher Brown at the festival. Here’s what they had to say.
Butcher Brown
Butcher Brown, a band of five artists from Richmond, Virginia, played the Quad Stage at Newport on Friday afternoon August 4. The five members of Butcher Brown are producer/keyboardist DJ Harrison, trumpeter/saxophonist/MC Marcus “Tennishu” Tenney, guitarist Morgan Burrs, drummer Corey Fonville, and bassist Andrew Randazzo.
Butcher Brown has toured Europe, toured with Kamasi Washington, and played an NPR Tiny Desk Concert with over half a million views. Their music weaves together jazz, soul, and funk-inspired sounds. They have a new album coming out October 6th titled Solar Music, with two tracks out now.
We caught up with DJ Harrison and Marcus Tenney of Butcher Brown after their set. Given that this year was the first time Butcher Brown took the Newport stage, we asked Harrison and Tenney how the experience was for them. “In a sense, I mean just coming up studying jazz, this is always a staple in the sense of where a lot of the great played. To be able to somewhat be a part of that lineage? I think it’s dope,” said Harrison.
“I feel like it’s an honor and it is insane to have played the same stage as so many of the musicians I grew up studying. These musicians include Miles Davis and Charles Mingus,” said Tenney.
Tenney shared a unique experience he had on the Newport stage, saying, “There’s a computer that was right by the stage, and the screensaver is playing different photographs from different artists from different years of Newport Jazz… Right before we started the set, I saw Miles Davis from ‘69, and then at the end of the set was Charles Mingus from 1962… Now we’re on the same stage they were on. It’s kind of like, OK – you wanted to do this, here you go. What are you going to do?”
When asked about their upcoming album Solar Music and what they’re most excited for people to hear, Harrison said, “I’m looking forward to all of it, for everybody to hear the whole package altogether. They all kind of have a special place to me, but I would say maybe “No Way Around It,” there’s a couple of collabs that aren’t out yet, and I think those are going to be the strongest, too – one in particular… a song with Jay Prince.”
Tenney said he’s also looking forward to people hearing the Jay Prince song, as well as “Move” and “Eye Never Know,” which features Siifu and Keyon Harrold. Tenney called that record a piece of art, adding, “If it was physical, it would go up on a wall in the MoMA.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Butcher Brown’s first album, All Purpose Music, came out in 2014. We asked Harrison and Tenney about their musical influences since then. Harrison told us that one major influence is “the development of the internet and being able to find something that is good and cool to you, but maybe not widespread.” With these resources, “You can cultivate your own taste,” he said.
Harrison and Tenney both credited their friends for helping them find and discover influential sounds, and Tenney said he has an appreciation for “sounds that come from places that are unknown.”
Harrison and Tenney also shared what they get out of the music and what they hope the audience gets from it. “When everybody is having a good time, we can all feel it – it’s like a certain spirit in the room, and that’s what we try to bring to ourselves and to the people,” said Harrison.
Tenney hopes the concept of teamwork is something people get from the music. “You don’t know everything, you can’t do everything – teamwork is how things get done, how things grow, how things move. So, the team and the song is the most important – not the individual,” said Tenney.
On the experience of playing in front of an audience, Tenney told us, “The thing that I get out of it is the information of how do certain sounds hit certain people – that’s the part that I’m the most interested in. How the song forms can grow more complex emotions in a person through like a five-minute experience, but then also, just the timing of a known sound can be a little unorthodox and change the whole framing in which you’re looking at the song. So, all that stuff that makes the framing of things is what I’m more or less addicted to. So that’s what I’m interested in… How people take stuff.”
When asked what stages Butcher Brown might like to take next, Harrison told us, “Well, we did the Hollywood Bowl recently, I still can’t believe it. It just feels good to be able to honor the people that came before us in this music and being able to follow the same lineage playing those stages. Hopefully bigger stages to come. Hopefully we come back here next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.”
“For me, one of the biggest stages for me to play would be like a late night T.V. show stage, or, something like the Super Bowl – that would be crazy, just to feel the energy of one of the larger [stages]. I think the music can connect on that level, but it takes a lot to get to that level, so we’ll see what happens,” said Tenney.
Solar Music will feature Pink Siifu, Braxton Cook, Jay Prince, Nappy Nina, Keyon Harrold, Michael Millions, Charlie Hunter, and more. Solar Music, can be pre-ordered here.
Matthew Whitaker
Matthew Whitaker, a 22-year-old pianist, kicked off Sunday’s Newport Jazz Festival on the Harbor stage. This was Whitaker’s second time at the festival, as he took the Storyville stage with bassist Jake Leckie in 2018.
Whitaker, who was born blind, was drawn to music at a young age. He began taking piano classes with teacher Dalia Sakas at the age of five, and still works with her to this day. Despite his young age, Whitaker has been in the spotlight for some time now. He has performed on the Ellen Degeneres Show, been featured on 60 Minutes, and toured countries across the world. While his breadth of experience comes through on stage, Whitaker’s star has only just begun to rise.
While on the Newport stage, Whitaker drew a large crowd. He and his bandmates were fully synchronized and energetic. Whitaker made the audience feel as though they were part of the performance, acknowledging them as they grooved and clapped along during the set.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Whitaker after his performance. “It felt amazing to be on stage – shout out to everyone that was there, and everyone for making it possible. We really appreciate you. It’s my second time back here, so it’s good to be back here after a long time,” Whitaker told us.
When asked if there is a dream venue he hopes to play, Whitaker said, “Whatever happens, happens.” He shared that he feels blessed to be performing at all because “There are people who don’t ever get the chance to perform in front of an audience.”
As far as new music goes, Whitaker said we can expect an organ tribute titled On Their Shoulders to be released soon. Some of the organists that will be honored by the tribute include Jimmy Smith, Rhoda Scott, and more. When asked what advice to give to young musicians, Whitaker told us, “Follow your dreams. Do not let anyone tell you [that] you can’t do something, always have fun, and keep working on your craft.”
Julius Rodriguez
Julius Rodriguez is a 24-year-old jazz musician from White Plains, New York, who took the Harbor Stage on Friday. This was Rodriguez’s first time performing at the festival, but his second time on a Newport stage, as he accompanied Remi Wolf at the Newport Folk Festival the week prior.
Rodriguez’s debut album, Let Sound Tell All, came out in June of last year.
We caught up with Rodriguez after his set. On his experience on the Newport stage, Rodriguez said, “We had a good stage, good show, and good crowd – couldn’t ask for more.”
Rodriguez told us he could feel the history of the Newport Jazz Festival while he was on stage. “I’ve listened to live in Newport records and watched any footage I can get to see how the music moves the crowds at this festival specifically,” said Rodriguez, adding his intention to “try and just channel that and embody that in what we play.”
“I mean, the music is me expressing myself – for me, it feels relieving always to play music and let it out, and I am hoping that the audience can have an experience unique to them,” Rodriguez said, when asked what he hopes the audience gets from the music.
When asked how he’s grown since his 2022 release Let Sound Tell All, Rodriguez told us, “Life has been crazy since we released that record. Moved across the country, and I’ve basically been on the road ever since. As busy as I am, I am learning a lot about myself and what I want to be doing in the future.”
Rodriguez has cited Harry Connick Jr.’s soundtrack for the film “When Harry Met Sally” as an influence. “I could definitely see myself scoring for film or T.V. someday,” said Rodriguez, when asked if he might be interested to compose a film score in the future. The first song on Rodriguez’s album, “Blues at the Barn,” begins with a muffled applause from what sounds like a 20th century jazz recording, before it breaks to a more modern take.
We asked Rodriguez what influenced this experimental introduction to “Blues at the Barn,” and he said, “For me it was listening to all of my references and noticing, hey, there’s actually a sonic difference between the music from then and the music from here. What if we use this to our advantage rather than just trying to make everything sound as new and sterile as possible – to try and make art out of those sort of techniques.”
Having signed with Verve Records and worked with renowned artists such as Roy Hargrove and ASAP Rocky, we wanted to know what keeps Rodriguez grounded. “My friends and my family – just trying to cultivate my relationships outside of music and stay grounded and stay in a sphere with regular people who aren’t doing what I’m doing all the time, since you’ve got to have a separate perspective to know what’s going on,” he said.
Rodriguez told us that two of his major musical influences lately are PinkPantheress and the new Rosalia album.
What’s the hardest part about performing for Rodriguez? “The hardest part is stopping – stopping on time. A lot of performances you could just go on forever and ever… Just trying to figure out what to fit in a set,” he said.
Rodriguez also shared the most important quality when it comes to working with other musicians, which is “to be true to yourself.”