Can You Dig It?

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is highlighted by a celebration of Black music in cinema featuring Butcher Brown, Naima Burrs and the Richmond Symphony.

Breakout local jazz/funk band Butcher Brown, and rising young conductor Naima Burrs, along with a flurry of guest artists, are the key attraction in Richmond Symphony Pops celebration of Black music in film this weekend [a long weekend for many due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday]. Local entrepreneur James Crump-Wallace, co-founder and creative director of The Spot RVA, conceived the program. Rapper Chauncey “Chance Fischer” Jenkins and B Nicki will host and provide background on the film selections.

A symphony pops concert delving into the Black film scores seems at once an admirable focus and a heady selection challenge. The explosion in African American cinema since the mid-20th century embraces virtually every genre of film, from the crime-centric Blaxploitation era to romantic comedy, musicals, historical drama, to the modern racially aware horror of Jordan Peele (“Get Out”). The composers influences are equally diverse; from Terence Blanchard’s jazz scores for Spike Lee’s “joints,” to the dozens of stylistically variant soundtracks of Quincy Jones and the complex hip-hop songs Kendrick Lamar wrote for “Black Panther.”

The function of a pops concert is to attract people who are not the current core audience for orchestral concerts. Presenting familiar or otherwise accessible work with the sonic power of massed live strings, woodwinds and horns will at least reach new ears, and maybe even new audiences for other work.

Naima Burrs. Photo credit: Joey Wharton

But the point of crossovers is for everyone to meet on unfamiliar territory.

“It’s a complex thing,” says guest conductor Burrs. “There is a different language on both sides” [i.e., classical and popular music.] You are getting a bunch of people who are used to reading what is on the page and getting them to have a groove and improvise in their own little ways. It really helps to have Butcher Brown, with the rhythm section of drums, and electric guitar and bass, as a nucleus. And Trey Pollard understands both sides and really does a good job of arranging for strings.”

Pollard, composer and co-owner/house arranger of Spacebomb Records, is no stranger to bringing together musical worlds. He wrote arrangements for the previous appearance of Butcher Brown with the Symphony, as well as for multiple other RSO crossover appearances featuring local artists. And he wrote the lion’s share of the arrangements for the upcoming concert.

Noted arranger and musician Trey Pollard.

“I did ‘Superfly,’ ‘Purple Rain,'” Pollard says. “There are some epic medleys that were big undertakings. The hip-hop one has a lot of little snippets from various songs. The jazz medley has music from ‘The Color Purple’ and some Bill Lee [Spike’s father] stuff from some of the Spike Lee movies. There is a Maxwell tune from the nineties. And there is a Babyface tune called ‘There You Go’ from the Eddie Murphy movie ‘Boomerang.’ I saw the movie but did not remember the song. It is actually my favorite of all.”

Navigating between classical and modern sonorities is Pollard’s specialty.

“You write to the strength of the orchestra. You want to bring out the orchestral colors, some of which are in the original. There is a difference between jazz in film and straight-up jazz. The Symphony players are so good, you want to give them something to do. That is the challenge and the fun part. There are moments that are so cool and surprising they make me laugh. When there a hip-hop thing and there are oboes and bassoons playing the melody, the juxtaposition is appropriate, but I have never heard that sound before.”

The presence of Butcher Brown allows for a lot of freedom.

“It’s such a great idea,” Pollard says, “because they can play like the hip-hop stuff, they can play the kind of R&B stuff, and they can play actually play the jazz stuff for real. You have Corey Fonville playing this New Jack swing beat, the oboes and bassoons playing those figures, it is fun. You are not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Everyone is doing what they do well, and creating this big sound you never heard before.”

Butcher Brown bassist Andrew Jay Randazzo said “it felt really great” when they played with the Richmond Symphony before.

“Everyone did a good job,” he recalls. “I know what they are doing is mostly written in the score, and 99% of the stuff we do is off the page, but it works. Everyone brings something to their playing.”

Andrew Randazzo leading the R4nd4zzo Big Band, December 2023

The key to crossing genres is finding the essential integrity in the moment. Last October, Randazzo played bass at Miramar’s concert with the Richmond Symphony.

“It is hard to put into words, I have minimal experience with boleros, but by working with Marlysse [Simmons] and Laura Ann [Singh] I get a feel for the vernacular,” he explains. “I listen to their music and try to chameleon myself in. And I have played tons of gigs with DJ Harrison and Corey [Fonville] and that is a different vernacular for the hip-hop side of things.”

He adds that with Black American Music in general, he can let the drums take the lead and fit into their sound. “With Latin music, the bass has the opportunity to jump in and drive a little more,” adds. “But at the core I am interpreting what is on the page, adding in my personality, and hopefully what comes out in my playing is not going to sound too much like I am reading.” The truth in the music lies between the notes.

Naima Burrs at the former Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond.

Prince’s “Purple Rain” promises to be one of the emotional highlights of the evening. Arranged as an instrumental, Morgan Burrs will play the epic guitar solo. The Butcher Brown guitarist, now based in Los Angeles, is the brother of conductor Naima Burrs. This is the first time they have shared a stage together, although they came close during the Black Lives Matter protest where Butcher Brown and Naima led a classical ensemble on opposite sides of the now-gone Lee Monument.

“I am really looking forward to it,” Naima says. “It is going to be a lot of fun to collaborate with the Symphony and so many great Richmond people. The show hosts will supply background about the pieces, and there will be some surprise, special guests that have not been announced. Lots of friends and family. It is going to be a really cool night.”

Guitarist Morgan Burrs of Butcher Brown fame is setting up shop in Los Angeles for more musical opportunities.

And, given the success of previous concerts like this, it should be a popular night, too. Don’t sleep on tickets: Based on the website, the orchestra and mezzanine sections are already sold out.

“Pops: A Celebration of Black Music in Film” featuring Naima Burrs, Butcher Brown and the Richmond Symphony takes place at the Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Energy Center-Richmond Symphony on  Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 at 8 p.m. There will be a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. Available tickets are $32-69. 

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