Bruce Hornsby and the experimental chamber ensemble, yMusic, have come together to form a new project, dubbed BrhyM. They’ll release their first album, Deep Sea Vents, on March 1st via Zappo Productions / Thirty Tigers. As a preview, the lead single,”Deep Blue,” is out today.
First meeting at the Eaux Claires Festival in 2016 — where they performed back-to-back sets — Hornsby and yMusic have been collaborating for several years now, releasing tracks and appearing live together. Deep Sea Vents, though, will be their first full-length collaborative effort, and if the single “Deep Blue” is any indication, fans can expect the album’s 10 tracks to present inventive arrangements, blending funk, folk, soul, and orchestral instrumentations.
For example, “Deep Blue” is carried by its funky bassline, but colored by melodic interjections from pianos, strings, and even an electric sitar. Speaking about the track Hornsby said: “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?”
Explaining the meaning of the track, Hornsby said: “In eighth grade we had a poetry section in English class, and Stephen Crane (The Red Badge Of Courage) was on the list. 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 [Moose] and CJ [Camerieri] took over from there.”
Moose and Camerieri are both members of yMusic, along with Nadia Sirota, Gabriel Cabezas, Hideaki Aomori, and Alex Sopp. The group was first founded 16 years ago, and has since collaborated with other major artists, such as John Legend, Paul Simon, and more. Moose co-produced Deep Sea Vents along with Hornsby, and the album will feature guest appearances by jazz greats Branford Marsalis, Mark Dover, and Chad Wright. Pre-orders are ongoing, and you can check out the artwork and tracklist below.
Get Bruce Hornsby and yMusic Tickets Here
Meanwhile, Hornsby and yMusic are gearing up to take BryhM on the road later this year for a 15-date tour kicking off on March 7th in Urbana, Illinois. Check out the full list of dates below, and grab tickets here.
Deep Sea Vents Artwork:
Deep Sea Vents Tracklist:
01. Wild Whaling Life
02. (My) Theory Of Everything
03. Platypus Wow
04. Phase Change
05. Foreign Sounds
06. The Wake of St Brendan
07. Deep Blue
08. The Baited Line
09. Barber Booty
10. Deep Sea Vents
Bruce Hornsby and yMusic 2024 Tour Dates:
01/31 – Glasgow, UK @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (Celtic Connections) *
03/07 – Urbana, IL @ Foellinger Great Hall
03/09 – Carmel, IN @ Center for the Performing Arts
03/10 – Evanston, IL @ Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
03/12 – Des Moines, IA @ Hoyt Sherman Place
03/14 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
03/15 – St. Charles, MO @ J. Scheidegger Center for Saint Charles University
03/20 – Wilmington, NC @ Wilson Center
03/21 – Newport News, VA @ Ferguson Center for the Arts
04/04 – Carmel, CA @ Sunset Center Theater
04/05 – San Francisco, CA @ Herbst Theatre
04/07 – Santa Rosa, CA @ Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
04/09 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Cal Poly Performing Arts Center
04/10 – Thousand Oaks, CA @ The Bank of America Performing Arts Center
04/21 – Seattle, WA @ Benaroya Hall
04/23 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
* = Bruce Hornsby without yMusic
Revisit Hornsby’s 2019 interview on Kyle Meredith With…
