Blindfold Test: Butcher Brown

Interview, From the Magazine, Butcher Brown

By Gary Fukushima I Aug. 19, 2025

Butcher Brown, clockwise from top left: Marcus Tenney, DJ Harrison, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville and Andrew Randazzo. (Keyboardist Harrison couldn’t make the gig, so special guest Jacob Mann sat in with the band at the Reno Jazz Festival.)
(Photo: Jacky Flav)

The band known as Butcher Brown has enjoyed the last half-decade basking in the glow from the twin engines of critical acclaim and popular appeal. The band got to that spot through a unique blending of soul-jazz with funk, R&B and hip-hop, the latter thanks to saxophonist Marcus “Tennishu” Tenny’s secondary gift of verbalizing his rapacious knowledge of the spoken word. In April, the band headlined the Reno Jazz Festival and took a live Blindfold Test in front of an audience of students and educators. Tenny, along with drummer Corey Fonville, guitarist Morgan Burrs, bassist Andrew Randazzo and special guest keyboardist Jacob Mann, commented on the selections below.

Herbie Hancock

“Steppin’ In It” (Man-Child, Columbia, 1975) Hancock, keyboards; Paul Jackson, bass; Mike Clark, drums; Bill Summers, percussion; DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight, Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin, guitar; Stevie Wonder, harmonica.

Tenney: If this isn’t Herbie, this is someone who loves Herbie.

Burrs: That bass patch gave it away.

All: Stevie.

Robert Glasper

“Think Of One” (Double Booked, Blue Note, 2009) Glasper, piano; Vicente Archer, bass; Chris Dave, drums.

Fonville: It’s Robert Glasper.

Mann: The record is Double Booked.

Randazzo: The song is “Think Of One.” We’re arguing a bit about the personnel over here. We think it’s Vicente Archer on bass.

Fonville: Chris Dave on drums. Christopher “Daddy” Dave.

Randazzo: 2008–’09? It was a big deal when this went public.

Burrs: 5 stars. I love this album. I used to listen to it all the time.

Fonville: I mean, it’s cool … [everyone laughs] 5 stars, for sure.

Randazzo: It’s worth checking out the whole thing on the other side, because it’s Derrick Hodge [on bass], right? The electric band.

Tenney: I’m kind of blown away right now, because this does not sound like Rob at all to me. I had a bootleg of Rob playing “Butterfly.” I listened to that bootleg at least a thousand times that year that I got it. And then I saw Robert [in] a trio in Indianapolis. I’ve been a Rob fan for so long. I hadn’t listened to this particular album, because at the time people were already into him, I guess.

Mann: He has a bunch of older records, like Canvas and Mood — that stuff is amazing. It’s kind of two parts for me. There are two eras of Glasper: a trio era, and then this album is like him stepping over.

Fonville: In between a little …

Mann: Yeah, exactly. My freshman year of college, all I wanted to do was sound like Glasper. And through Glasper, I found JDilla and all the stuff … Yeah, this changed the game, for sure.

Kneebody

“Reach” (Reach, GroundUp, 2025) Ben Wendel, tenor saxophone; Shane Endsley, trumpet; Adam Benjamin, keyboards; Nate Wood, drums and electric bass.

Fonville: Sounds like Kneebody, Jason Lindner, somewhere in that way. I feel like I’m hearing Tim Lefebvre or somebody.

Randazzo: Or it might be Kaveh Rastegar …

Fonville: Yeah, we’re in that room. Nate Wood on drums?

Mann: At first instinct, it was Kneebody. That’s Ben Wendel doing some crazy, distorted sax stuff. And then the bass came in and this weird sense came, like, could that be Donny McCaslin, with Jason Linder doing something? But when the trumpet came, I was like, it’s gotta be Kneebody. Nate on bass?

Tenney: This music sounds like what humans are thinking in April 2025. That groove, different time signatures that feel as common as 4/4. That, to me, is pushing the limits, like watching the difference between Karl Malone and Michael Jordan, watching the difference between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. You see the evolution of it in real time.

Fonville: It also sounds like a group of musicians that spent some time going out to nightclubs. Sounds like Brooklyn at 3 a.m. Berlin in some sick basement club. Yeah, they be tapped into that sound.

Mark de Clive-Lowe/Melanie Charles/Shigeto

“Kanazawa” (Hotel San Claudio, Soul Bank, 2023) De Clive-Lowe, keyboards and electronics; Charles, flute and vocals; Shigeto, drums.

Tenney: Sounds like Melanie Charles.

Fonville: Yeah, you flexin’ … is it Zacche’us [Paul], the piano player?

Tenney: I like it because it brings an energy that doesn’t really exist as much as we should have. Music a lot of times is wrapped up in provocativeness — you know, let’s shoot a video and let’s take all the clothes off. It’s nice to hear a song that’s like riding in a car, going somewhere. When did that become so uncool? Why do I gotta light my television on fire just to get you to listen to my song?

Thundercat

“For Love (I Come Your Friend)” (The Golden Age Of The Apocalypse, Brainfeeder, 2011) Thundercat, bass and vocals; Flying Lotus, producer; George Duke, composer.

Tenney: Oh … got it. [everyone exchanges knowing glances]

Tenney: Shout out to George Duke.

Fonville: Those keyboards sound like water, bro. I feel like I’m in the ocean.

Tenney: It sounds like the ’80s, walking out to the warehouse, gettin’ out the Firebird.

Burrs: This is some bad shit.

Fonville: Man, that year was special, ’cause Brainfeeder just, like, kicked the door open. Cosmogramma came in just before this.

Mann: Cosmogramma in 2010 and this in 2011 — it was like the same two people produced both albums. It was a special time. I moved to L.A. in 2010, and to be there as this stuff was happening … . I’ve had a lot of deep phases with music. I feel like Flying Lotus/Thundercat one was the biggest for me. That’s always going to be my DNA, forever.

Fonville: Shoutout to the late Austin Peralta. [to the audience] Check him out, prolific piano player. He was very pivotal, especially during that era.

Mann: His album came out also in 2011 on Brainfeeder, Endless Planets. DB

The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.