Artist

The Budos Band

US instrumental band

Staten Island, United States • Formed 2005

The Budos Band is a music group from Staten Island, United States, active since 2005. Their discography on Gatefold includes 11 records.

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Albums tracked

129

In collections

2005

Since

Biography

The Budos Band is an "Instrumental Staten-Island Afro-Soul" outfit recording on the Daptone Records label. The band has eleven members (up to thirteen members at times) who play instrumental music that is self-described as "Afro-Soul," a term and sound which - in a recent interview - baritone saxophone player Jared Tankel elucidates as, being drawn from Ethiopian music the band had been listening to that had a soul undercurrent to it, which the band then "sprinkled a little bit of sweet 60's stuff on top" of.

The Arc of The Budos Band

The pivots — what forced The Budos Band to reinvent.

The Daptone Blueprint
From 2005 through 2010, the band stayed locked into the tight, dry production style that Gabe Roth perfected at Dunham Studios. These three self-titled records focused on the interlocking rhythms of Afrobeat and the eerie melodies of Mulatu Astatke, tracked live to eight-track tape with almost zero headroom. You hear the restraint of a band trying to honor a tradition, keeping the horns sharp and the percussion front-and-center while the guitars played second fiddle to the groove.
The Fuzz Renaissance
Burnt Offering in 2014 was the moment the wheels came off in the best way possible. They moved into their own studio, Diamond Mine, and Tom Brenneck started piling on the distortion pedals and Farfisa organ grit. The influence of 70s occult rock took over, pushing the horns to play stoner-rock riffs instead of soul stabs. It was a darker, meaner sound that prioritized heavy atmosphere over dancefloor compatibility, alienating the soul purists but winning over the metalheads.
The Long in the Tooth Polish
After years of pushing the red on every channel, the band circled back to a more cinematic, widescreen production style for their later releases on Daptone and Diamond West. The tracks became shorter, punchier, and more focused on tight arrangements rather than sprawling jams. They started incorporating more synthesizers and sophisticated layering, creating a sound that felt less like a basement session and more like a lost soundtrack to an Italian crime thriller from 1974.

Influences

Mulatu Astatke — The band has cited his 1960s and 70s arrangements as the primary DNA for their early minor-key melodic structure. You hear it in the haunting, vibraphone-heavy textures of 'TIB' and the specific Ethio-jazz scales used across their first three LPs. They basically took his 'Tezeta' vibe and cranked it through a New York street filter.
Fela Kuti — The interlocking percussion and the relentless, driving duration of their rhythm section are ripped straight from Tony Allen’s work with Africa 70. Brian Profilio’s drumming on the early records mimics that circular, non-linear Afrobeat pocket. They’ve covered 'Expensive Shit' live enough times to prove it’s their foundational rhythmic text.
Black Sabbath — Thomas Brenneck has repeatedly noted that while the band is rooted in soul, their hearts are in the Birmingham riffs of Tony Iommi. This comes through in the 'sludge' of the bass lines on Burnt Offering and V. The brass section often abandons traditional stabs to play heavy, unison riffs that function more like metal guitar leads.
Charles Bradley — The Budos Band served as the primary backing group for Bradley’s debut, No Time for Dreaming, which was produced by Brenneck. Working as his session players forced them to tighten their arrangements and understand the weight of a single, powerful soul hook. That discipline kept their later, more experimental instrumental tracks from falling into aimless noodling.
The J.B.'s — The band was built on the disciplined, military-style funk foundation of James Brown’s horn sections. You hear this in the aggressive, percussive delivery of the saxophones and trumpets, which prioritize rhythm over melody. They operate as a single unit rather than a collection of soloists, a direct carryover from the Stubblefield/Brown school of thought.