BADBADNOTGOOD
BADBADNOTGOOD are a Toronto instrumental trio and production team who bring jazz, hip-hop, soul and psychedelia into the same musical conversation.
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BADBADNOTGOOD’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Home base
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Members
- Chester Hansen, Alexander Sowinski and Leland Whitty
- What they do
- Instrumental band, collaborators and producers
- Early connection
- The Humber College jazz program and a shared love of hip-hop
- Breakout
- Jazz arrangements of Odd Future songs, championed by Tyler, The Creator
Mini bio
How it started.
BADBADNOTGOOD began with Matthew Tavares, Chester Hansen and Alexander Sowinski meeting through Humber College’s jazz program in Toronto. Shared enthusiasm for hip-hop led them to arrange music by artists such as Odd Future. YouTube performances and early support from Tyler, The Creator helped those college jams reach a much wider audience.
Finding their own songs.
The early BBNG releases mixed reinterpretations with original writing. III arrived in 2014, followed by the Ghostface Killah collaboration Sour Soul in 2015. On that record, the band and producer Frank Dukes built live instrumental settings inspired by the recording approaches of the 1960s and 1970s.
A wider circle.
IV brought in voices including Samuel T. Herring, Charlotte Day Wilson and Mick Jenkins, alongside Kaytranada and Colin Stetson. The current trio of Hansen, Sowinski and Whitty continued that collaborative approach on Talk Memory, with contributions from Arthur Verocai, Laraaji, Brandee Younger and Terrace Martin.
Where they are now.
In 2024 they produced Baby Rose’s Slow Burn and recorded Mid Spiral during a week at Valentine Studios in Los Angeles with an expanded group of musicians. Its three suites, Chaos, Order and Growth, return to instrumental jazz while drawing on their love of hip-hop, soul, funk and psychedelia.
Creditschronological, newest first
Albums
- 2024Mid SpiralBand; three suites: Chaos, Order and Growth
- 2021Talk MemoryBand
- 2016IVBand
- 2015Sour SoulCollaborative album with Ghostface Killah
- 2014IIIBand
Collaborations and production
- 2025Found A Light (Beale Street)With V.C.R
- 2025Brazil 45 BoxsetCurators
- 2024Poeira CosmicaWith Tim Bernardes
- 2024Slow Burn, Baby RoseProducers
Awards
Quotes
The key is listening, being open, and trying to be a good collaborator.BADBADNOTGOOD, KGNU Community Radio
Discussing collaboration in an interview aired April 28, 2026: https://kgnu.org/music-posts/interview-badbadnotgood/
Trivia
- Chester Hansen told KGNU that seeing the Wayne Shorter Quartet at Massey Hall remains his benchmark concert experience.
- Alex Sowinski names Questlove as a musical hero, recalling an early Roots show in Toronto.
- Talk Memory also came out as a limited VHS collection of short films.
- “Poeira Cosmica” was their first song sung entirely in Portuguese.
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