How Now Brown Cow

Michael Venn, contributor

There’s something effortlessly cool about organ based jazz combos that always makes me perk up and want to listen, especially when the drummer is relentlessly groovy and locked deep in the pocket. Which is exactly why my first listen to the Seattle based group, How Now Brown Cow’s sophomore album, Don’t Drink the Milk – It’s Spoiled, immediately got my foot tapping and my head boppin’ along in the car.
 

It’s a live recording full of jams, improvisation, and overall jazzy explorations that instantly conjured up visions of the late-’90s and early-2000s downtown New York City jazz scene. That was an era when artists like John Zorn, Medeski Martin & Wood, Joshua Redman, and even jam bands like Umphrey’s McGee and Galactic frequented clubs like The Knitting Factory and Tonic, helping define a period of jazz that felt less about fitting into a genre and more about discovering your own sound, even when your influences came from all over the musical map. Being inspired as much by The Meters and Herbie Hancock as by MMW and Galactic.
 

Recorded live at Seattle’s Sea Monster Lounge, Don’t Drink the Milk – It’s Spoiled leans heavily into spontaneity instead of sounding polished or over produced. The band has its own distinct groove, and that gives the entire record a refreshing personality. It has that same rainy night indie jazz club vibe, where genres blur together naturally. Jazz, soul, funk, and jam-band improvisation are all present without ever feeling forced or self-indulgent.

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My favorite tracks are “Not My Monkey, Not My Circus” which brings to mind the spirit and rhythmic unpredictability of Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” along with “Pippity Poppity” and the title track, “Don’t Drink the Milk – It’s Spoiled,” both of which carry a Medeski Martin & Wood-meets-’70s funky soul energy.
 

What I like most about this record is that it understands vibe and musicianship are not opposites. A lot of modern instrumental records can feel technically impressive but emotionally cold. This doesn’t. It feels like musicians who have spent years playing together live and instinctively know when to push, when to hold back, and when to simply let the groove relax, breathe, and take hold of the room.
 

How Now Brown Cow’s core lineup of Dave Kurtiak on bass, Donovan Pfeifer on drums, Kerry O’Connor on Fender Rhodes and keyboards, along with longtime collaborator Brad Schrandt on saxophone and flute, manages to straddle the line between jazz and funky soul beautifully. The grooves feel rooted somewhere between vintage Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, The Meters, and John Coltrane, conjuring the kind of jam sessions where the musicians are clearly having as much fun as the audience.
 

Fender Rhodes tones swirl around thick basslines, the drums stay deep in the pocket without ever sounding robotic, and the sax adds just enough melodic chaos to keep everything moving forward. It’s funky without trying too hard to be “funky,” which is much harder to pull off than most people realize.
 

This is an album absolutely worth checking out, and I personally hope to catch How Now Brown Cow live at one of Seattle’s local clubs someday soon, where I’m fairly certain they’ll bring the house down and the audience to their feet.