Today I decided to cruise around the KEXP Seattle website, and looked through their Song of the Day feature. I clicked on October 1, 2020; I suppose drawn in by the name “Long in the Tooth,” a song chosen by DJ John Richards, host of The Morning Show with John Richards. The track title was a reminder I have a second COVID-19 birthday coming up next month. Another year older… that sure beats the alternative!
“Long in the Tooth” comes from the 2020 album of the same name by The Budos Band, an instrumental group from Staten Island, New York, USA. They describe themselves as a “doom rock Afro-soul big band with a ’70s touch.” Their biography on the online music database AllMusic says, “Their multivalent approach bridges musical universes from trippy psychedelia and Afro-funk to ’70s hard rock and late-’60s soul. Their choreographed stage show is at once intense, spontaneous, humorous, and geared toward audience participation.”
The Budos Band sounds like a fantastic act to see performing live. But for now, we’re limited to listening to music at home and occasionally finding and enjoying music videos that captured past live performances. Only now do we appreciate just how vital such concert archives are until we can gather again for live shows.
I don’t listen to many instrumental groups, but I was glad to discover this piece serendipitously. I believe I have heard other pieces of theirs on KEXP.
The track, particularly the saxophone part, reminds me of a piece on a mixtape a friend made up for me in the 1980s. I can’t recall the song name, but I will have to dig that tape out and figure out which one from it today’s selection brought to mind.
Now you know a little about why this is my song of the day for today. Thanks for joining me here, and please enjoy.
Here’s the video for the song from Daptone Records’ official YouTube channel:
Speaking of live performance videos, I didn’t find one for today’s selection, but here is The Budos Band playing four other pieces live on KEXP in 2019.
Song of the Day for Today 