Biography Hot 8 Brass Band ( New Orleans/ Tru Thoughts)
New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band was founded in 1995 by tuba player Bennie Pete,
Jerome “Bay Bay” Jones (trombone) and Harry “Swamp Thang” Cook (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. But 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. Whilst in the UK, Hot 8 Brass Band attracted a
phenomenal buzz, appearing on The Culture Show on BBC 2, recording a Maida
Vale session for Gilles Peterson’s show on BBC Radio 1, and laying down a couple
of tracks with Basement Jaxx. Their music has also featured on a Volkswagen
advert. The phenomenal success of the tour prompted a call from the Big Chill
festival, where they played a crowd-pleasing set in August 2008 and were picked as
a festival highlight by the Observer newspaper, along with a series of other UK dates.
Hot 8 Brass Band have always believed in contributing to their culture by playing in
traditional Second Line parades, expressions of freedom and community through
music and interaction. They have earned a great reputation on the streets, with
seemingly boundless work ethic and energy: Hot 8 have been known to pack in nine
shows in a single day. Having survived one of the worst natural and political disasters
the USA has ever known – Hurricane Katrina – Hot 8 have thrown themselves into
the subsequent relief and awareness projects to aid their community’s redevelopment
and recovery. They have been a key band in “SAVE OUR BRASS!” a local grass
roots project that has brought music to evacuee shelters, temporary trailer parks and
reached out to New Orleanians.
Over the years Hot 8 Brass Band have faced more than their fair share of adversity.
Four band members have died (three of them lost to violent acts on the streets of
New Orleans) and the band are now active figures in the group “Silence is Violence,”
an anti-violence campaign that was founded following the murder in December 2006
of Hot 8 member Dinerral Shavers. “Finding Our Folk” is another organisation which
is a prime concern. It seeks to assist New Orleanians displaced after Hurricane
Katrina. The band members’ focus now lies with keeping the problems of the city on
everyone’s minds as they travel around the country and the world.