Bruce Hornsby and experimental chamber ensemble yMusic have launched a new collaboration, BrhyM, with the single “Deep Blue”, and announced their debut album, Deep Sea Vents.
Due out March 1st via Zappo Productions/Thirty Tigers, Deep Sea Vents was produced by Hornsby and yMusic cofounder Rob Moose and features contributions from jazz legend Branford Marsalis, Mark Dover, and drummer Chad Wright. The album cements a partnership several years in the making. Hornsby and yMusic initially crossed paths in 2016 at the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival, where they were scheduled to perform back-to-back sets.
Hornsby was impressed by the ensemble’s performance, which was a collaborative program with English folk trio The Staves. CJ Camerieri, who cofounded yMusic 10 years earlier, “had never seen anyone enjoy live music the way Bruce Hornsby did,” according to press materials. The musicians connected after the set, with Hornsby inviting the group to his FunHouse festival in Virginia, and three years later, they reunited to record Hornsby’s 2019 album, Absolute Zero. Just prior to the pandemic, they teamed up once again for a joint tour, where they collaborated on stage at the end of every show on a song they wrote together, “Deep Sea Vents”—the album’s title track.
“Deep Blue”, the first official release from BrhyM, showcases the experimental nature of the new collaboration, combing a steady Roy Hargrove-inspired groove with piano, jazzy horns, contemporary classical strings, and electric sitar, played (for the first time on record) by Hornsby. The lyrics are a meditation springing from a poem Hornsby first encountered in junior high.
“In eighth grade we had a poetry section in English class, and Stephen Crane (‘The Red Badge Of Courage’) was on the list,” said Hornsby. “For some reason some of my friends and I thought two of his poems were a scream so we never forgot them, and I couldn’t get them out of my mind after creating this track so just started singing them- voilà. The rest fairly much wrote itself, and Rob and CJ took over from there. yMusic may be the funkiest, groovingest chamber group in all the land!
“Plus- I’m making my recorded debut as an electric sitarist on this piece- I have a limited range and not much ability, granted, but I feel it added a wry, exotic and soulful texture to the song, so why not?”
CJ Camerieri further described the creation of the tune, adding, “Bruce started the writing process for ‘Deep Blue.’ When he sent sketches our way, we immediately fell in love with the vibe, and got excited about how this song would fit on the album. We love stretching the limits of our ensemble, working to sound like many different kinds of groups without changing instrumentation, and ‘Deep Blue’ presented a great opportunity on that front. We ended up using the bass clarinet in a bass guitar-ish role, the trumpet as a Roy Hargrove-inspired rhythmic element, and the strings to take it home with a feature that goes to wildly unexpected, virtuosic, and contemporary places.”
To celebrate the release of their debut album, Bruce Hornsby and yMusic will hit the road as BrhyM this spring, with shows starting in March and extending to the end of April. Click below to view a full list of tour dates. Hornsby is also set to perform at Celtic Connections on January 31st at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and will kick off BBC Radio 2’s Piano Room month on the 29th, performing live from the Maida Vale Studios with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Vernon Kay’s mid-morning Radio 2 show—the most listened to radio program in the U.K.
Listen to “Deep Blue”, the lead single from BrhyM’s debut album, Deep Sea Vents, below or on your preferred streaming platform, and click below to view the album tracklist. Pre-save/pre-order Deep Sea Vents here.
BrhyM – “Deep Blue”