Artist:The Hot 8 Brass Band
Song:New Orleans (After the City)
Album:The Life & Times of...
The Hot 8 Brass Band is a modern incarnation of a New Orleans street band. I saw them live at the 2019 Toronto Jazz Festival. They are very similar to bands like Dirty Dozen and Rebirth. The one thing they have in common is they are very entertaining live. The Hot 8 Brass Band was formed in 1995 by sousaphonist Bennie "Big Peter" Pete, trombonist Jerome "Baybay" Jones and bass drummer Harry "Swamp Thang" Cook. This was a merger of The Looney Tunes Brass Band and The High Steppers Brass Band. The other members come and go. They record for the British label Tru Thoughts which is mainly a DJ label. You may have seen them in the 2006 Spike Lee documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the HBO series Treme. They were playing New Orleans clubs but they started touring after those appearances. Three members have been killed by gun violence and they still continued. A remix of their 2008 cover of Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing was a dance club hit. New Orleans (After the City) is from the 2012 album The Life & Times of... The song was written by trumpeters Terrell Batiste, Chadrick Honore and Alvarez "Big Al" Huntley. They perform a mix of original and traditional songs and they self produce. Trombone Shorty made a guest appearance. The album is available as a budget CD. They last released an album in 2019. Sadly, founding member Bennie Pete died of COVID in Sept. 2021. But The Hot 8 Brass Band still has their residency at Howlin' Wolf's in New Orleans. They will tour in 2025 and a new album Big Tuba will be released on Feb. 28. Be sure to check them out if they are coming your way. Here's The Hot 8 Brass Band performing New Orleans (After the City) at the 2012 Pickathon Festival in Portland, OR.
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