More than 20 years into its career, the Budos Band is touring in short bursts and keeping things loose and relaxed.
“When we’re down (in Atlanta), that’ll be part of a weeklong run, and I think that’s a sweet spot for us,” said baritone saxophone player Jared Tankel during a recent Zoom call from his Seattle home. “A few days in, we’re really cranking it and hitting our stride.”
The instrumental band will bring its indefinably funky blend — which includes elements of soul, hard rock, Afrobeat and jazz— to Variety Playhouse for a Thursday performance in support of its new album “Budos Band VII.”
The record is the group’s first full-length offering released on a label other than longtime home Daptone, the New York soul powerhouse also associated with the late singers Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. The band’s benevolent exit coincided with the founding of Diamond West Records by Tankel and Budos guitarist Tom Brenneck, with a studio based in the latter’s adopted home of Pasadena, California. It’s another change for the group, with some members now living far away from its traditional base of Staten Island.
“We’re going for real career artists and artistry, so we’re selling physical product, and vinyl has had a resurgence for sure,” Tankel said about Diamond West’s vision.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Budos Band/Sean Sweeney
Credit: Photo courtesy of Budos Band/Sean Sweeney
Brazilian singer Rogê has joined the Budos on the label, and has built momentum on radio and at record stores despite the challenge of being a Portuguese-language singer in North America.
“The label’s new and growing — that’s pretty exciting,” Tankel said. “We’ve got three (more) records that we’re priming for release over the next 12 months.”
The band — which includes organist Mike Deller, trumpet players Andrew Greene and Dave Guy, drummer Brian Profilio, bassist Dan Foder, trombone player Ray Mason and new percussionist Rich Terrana — enjoyed the experience of recording outside of New York for the first time, especially because it was away from home for all members except Brenneck.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Budos Band/Sean Sweeney
Credit: Photo courtesy of Budos Band/Sean Sweeney
“We went to the studio every day and just cranked it out,” Tankel said. “Everybody had a few ideas but nobody had a fully written song yet, so it was just long days. It was an awesome experience.”
Group members visited a deli close to the studio frequently enough that it ran out of its monthly beer supply a few days into the month.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Diamond West Records
Credit: Photo courtesy of Diamond West Records
That intense five-day session resulted in “Budos Band VII,” 11 tracks that capture the musical mayhem long featured in its shows. Think of Black Sabbath (minus Ozzy Osbourne) collaborating with Fela Kuti’s horn section and the Animals’ organist on scores for a range of films: a giallo (stylized Italian mystery-thrillers), a Blaxploitation movie and a ’70s detective thriller. That’s an approximation of the sound.
“Night Raid” could be the soundtrack to a movie police chase, complete with snarling guitar and blaring trumpets. Opener “Thrice Crowned” is fast, with brass and bongos smashing into a fuzzy guitar lick. The organ-driven, Afrobeat-influenced “Curse of the Ivory Fang” boasts a repeated bass groove that keeps things moving.
Fantasy fiction aficionado and art teacher Profilio concocts the creative song titles (“Lair of 1,000 Serpents” is another song on the record) and also created the album artwork (assisted by Terrana) depicting a wizard figure summoning a bolt of lightning. It fits the music perfectly.
Profilio worked with an animator to make the video for epic track “Overlander” based on the cover. “Brian’s artwork has become such a part of our overall visual aesthetic that we really wanted to lean into that a little bit and get a full video out of it,” said Tankel.
Geographic and label moves are not the only changes for Budos Band members since the group’s formative years in the mid-2000s.
“Coming up in New York with Daptone was, to say ‘life changing’ almost minimizes it,” Tankel said. “It set me on the path that I’m still on, and it was incredibly important just socially with the guys, and I met my wife (artist and label manager Austen Holman) through Daptone.” Everyone in the group has a day job; like indie rock band the Ocean Blue’s David Schelzel, Tankel is a music industry lawyer.
“I like being busy and doing a lot of different things,” he said about balancing his law practice with label, band and family responsibilities. “I consider myself lucky to be able to have an all-immersive music experience.”
Tankel, whose baritone saxophone influences include ’90s Boston trio Morphine and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s horn section, is ecstatic about his band’s busy 2025 and what’s to follow.
“From here on out until the end of the year is one of our busier touring years, which, twenty-some years in, is great,” he said. “The band sounds awesome, so it really feels like there’s no end in sight, which is really exciting.”
Since recording “Budos Band VII” in late 2023 (with a few overdubs added in 2024), the group has returned to Pasadena to record some tracks for an eighth album.
“Hopefully next year sees the release of ‘Budos Band VIII’,” Tankel said, “and we just keep going, and we get to ‘Budos Band X’ before too long. I think that would be a great achievement.”
CONCERT PREVIEW
The Budos Band
8 p.m. Thursday. With special guest Benny Trokan (of Spoon). All ages. Doors open at 7 p.m. General admission, $41.32. Reserved seats from $61.49. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. NE, Atlanta. variety-playhouse.com.
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