The Hot 8 Brass band make a welcome return to Eric’s on Mathew Street on Saturday 20th July, following on from their sold out U.K. tour in March this year. The roof-raising New Orleans band treated audiences to the first live performances of hits from their 2012 album The Life & Times Of The Hot 8 Brass Band, as well as upcoming nuggets from Tombstone, the band’s third L.P. released back in May.
The world-renowned brass band blends hip-hop, jazz and funk styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds with stunning results. Having always attracted attention for their music and their story, including featuring in Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke and the recent US T.V. series Treme.
Their new album Tombstone is a counterpoint to the straight-up party side of the band showcased on The Life & Times Of. Thematically a more sombre, emotional record, it presents another chapter in the history of the Hot 8 Brass Band – a new window onto the lives, the friendships, the heartbreaks, the roots and culture of New Orleans brass music and its players. The majority of the songs are personal dedications, in memory of the four Hot 8 band members, and other musicians and dear friends, who have passed away. Those that aren’t dedication songs are new, original Hot 8 jams, party tunes that remind us – and the band – of why the music is worth it all; setting the scene for where the band are at today, while their city and its people still bear the scars of Hurricane Katrina, and where they are carrying the spirit next.
New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band was founded in 1995 by tuba player Bennie Pete, trombone player Jerome ‘Bay Bay’ Jones and Harry ‘Swamp Thang Cook on bass drum to play brass band music professionally. Although many of the current members began playing together in high school, over time the line-up has inevitably shifted and changed, and continues to do so. However, any incarnation of Hot 8 Brass Band will boast eight or nine players of the highest rate, bringing the passion and noise through a bevy of trombones, saxophones, trumpets, snare and bass drums, all buoyed up by the immense tuba basslines of band leader Bennie Pete. These musicians over the years have been inspired by artists such as Tuba Fats, Leroy Jones, Louis Armstrong, JJ Johnson, Stevie Wonder and Jackie McLean, and have variously recorded and performed with some of those mentioned and more. They also continue to cite each other as influences.
Tickets for The Hot 8 Brass Band are available from Eric’s Box office on 0151 2369994 or online at www.ericslive.com. Tickets are priced at £15.