HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE / “Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Mixtape”

hypnotic brass 01.jpg This is a nine member band: 8 brass horns and a drummer. Just so happens that the eight horn players are related. They are all the sons of legendary Chicago musician Phil Cohran. The line up is: Gabriel Hubert ("Hudah") - trumpet Saiph Graves ("Cid") - trombone Tycho Cohran ("LT") - sousaphone Amal Baji Hubert ("Baji" or "June Body") - trumpet Jafar Baji Graves ("Yosh") - trumpet Seba Graves ("Clef") - trombone Tarik Graves ("Smoov") - trumpet Christopher Anderson ("360") - drums Uttama Hubert ("Rocco") – baritone hypnotic brass 05.jpg They were mainly a street band before making their first record in 2004. Since then they have performed with a wide variety of artists and released a number of albums and singles either independently or on small labels. hypnotic brass 06.jpg When I first heard them, it reminded me of some of the gospel brass ensembles out round Virginia/DC. Although they resemble a New Orleans brass band on the surface, they are not really a jazz band and they tend to play straight rhythms, heavy backbeat. They pay a lot more attention to ensemble harmony than do many of their New Orleans counterparts but on the other hand they don’t have the jazz chops nor the secondline rhythm syncopation that’s second nature down in the Crescent City. Additionally, almost all of their music consists of original compositions unlike New Orleans brass bands who draw on a common repertoire of traditional music, popular tunes and one or two originals. I’ve gathered a quick sampling of Hypnotic’s music and ended with a selection from a live broadcast that features afrobeat drummer Tony Allen sitting in with Hypnotic. tony allen & hypnotic.jpg Needless to note, the excitement level receives a significant boost with Tony Allen driving the beat. Tony is amazing, amazing, amazing—not loud nor bombastic, not flashy nor thunderous solo happy—but simply, coolly amazing. I’ma stop. Yall got ears—you can hear. Yall got feet—you can dance. You know Tony Allen and Hypnotic are a significant variation of black musical expression. Enjoy. —Kalamu ya Salaam Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Mixtape Playlist hypnotic brass 11.jpg 01 “Venus” - The Brothas 02 “Toussaint” - The Brothas 03 “Baji” - The Brothas 04 “Tarik” - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble New York City Live 05 “War” - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble New York City Live 06 “Jupiter” - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Enhanced 07 “Sankofa” - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Enhanced 08 “Marcus Garvey” - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Enhanced 09 Concert excerpt: Tony Allen & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble @ Cargo, London

This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 3:01 am and is filed under Contemporary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


3 Responses to “HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE / “Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Mixtape””

Erinn Says:
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:11 am

Wow. I’m really impressed with these young brothas. Thank you for sharing.


Declan Says:
October 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm

Came across your site searchin info on Coltrane’s Africa/Brass & stumbled upon the Hypnotics & they sound superb – very uplifting. Totally agree with what you’re sayin about Tony Allen. Lovin your words about Coltrane too. What a great site you have – inspirational! Will revisit. Thanks, Declan


Rocco from hypnotic brass Says:
March 27th, 2014 at 1:08 pm

We appreciate all of the fans
Of our music
We do it for the worlds
We love u guys
Keep listening
also check out our latest
Project “fly” and our two upcoming
Projects


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