Imagine the raw, skeletal energy of a New York basement show meeting the ancient, modal heat of the Sahara. 75 Dollar Bill creates music that feels both prehistoric and futuristic, stripping rock down to its most elemental components: a steady, thumping pulse and a guitar that wanders through notes you didn't know existed. It is music that doesn't just play; it vibrates and occupies the room.
What makes them truly distinctive is their use of microtonality and unconventional percussion. Che Chen’s guitar work, influenced by Moorish traditions, uses intervals that sound 'between' the keys of a piano, creating a tension that feels both alien and deeply soulful. Rick Brown provides the heartbeat not with a standard kit, but with a resonant plywood crate, giving the music an earthy, wooden thud that grounds the shimmering guitar explorations.
Start with 'I Was Real' to hear their sound expanded into a rich, ensemble-driven tapestry. It captures the duo's transition from a minimalist street-performing unit into a powerful, shape-shifting collective that can hold a groove for twenty minutes without ever losing its grip on your attention.
75 Dollar Bill is a musical duo formed in New York City in 2012. Its members are Che Chen (guitar), formerly of True Primes, and Rick Brown (drums), formerly of V-Effect and Curlew. Sasha Frere-Jones described their music as displaying "a certain kind of formal fullness and technical freedom," which he said has helped introduce jazz to a new generation. Other critics have noted that their music shows signs of Mauritanian influences, because Chen studied Moorish music in Mauritania with Jheich Ould Chighaly in 2013. Their first full-length album, Wooden Bag, was released in 2015 by Other Music Recording Company. Their second album, Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock, was released in 2016 on the Los Angeles-based label Thin Wrist. For their 2019 album, I Was Real, they expanded to a larger ensemble of players, which the Guardian described as "adding yet more depth to their placeless, gripping grooves". The Wire named I Was Real the number one album on their year end list for 2019. Since then they have self-released a series of live recordings through Bandcamp, including Power Failures and the Social Music at Troost series.
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