From VA to the A: Butcher Brown brought the noise and the funk at ATL Jazz Fest

Butcher Brown, hailing from Richmond, Virginia, was one of the festival headliners on Saturday. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice The 47th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival took place this weekend and on Saturday, the official day one of the festival, a band from Richmond, Virginia might have stolen the show. Butcher Brown, having come off a tour of their latest album, Solar Music, made sure to save some of the albums hits for a very large crowd at Piedmont Park. Performing some of their hits, “No Way Around,” “Happy Hourrr”, and “This Side of Sunshine”, it didn’t forget to mix in some older work and one the latest singles, “Thirty One”, which does a good job of highlighting the bands many musical gifts. They opened the set with “I Can Say To You”, the version without featured artist Vanisha Gould. It’s the version the band played at their most recent NPR Music Tiny Desk appearance and it set the tone for a stellar evening. By the way the crowd was instantly vibing with the band, one could tell there was some recognition of the music mixed with curiosity. Butcher Brown occupied the 5 p.m. slot and took full advantage of...