the Hot 8 Brass Band touring the UK with new album: Vicennial – 20 Years of the Hot 8 Brass Band

Posted on 23 October 2015
By Khyle Deen
  • Share:

Transcending genres and trends, Hot 8’s party rocking sound and indomitable energy have become renowned across the world.

The band have performed with a wide range of artists, from Lauryn Hill to Mos Def, and their incredible story was featured in Spike Lee’s two New Orleans documentaries When The Levee Broke and The Creek Don’t Rise. They played themselves in David Simon’s hit series Treme, and in 2013, were nominated for a Grammy award for their album The Life and Times Of…

Vicennial draws on songs from that album – as well as 2007’s ‘Rock With The Hot 8’, and 2013’s ‘Tombstone’ and fresh new material – but it isn’t so much a best-of as a birthday celebration. Old friends drop by, lyrics are changed to reflect the band as they are now, and new songs are debuted which sit comfortably with the band’s most celebrated work.

The album exemplifies Hot 8 Brass Band’s ability to honour their city’s musical traditions while forging their own powerful legacy. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” is a favourite that they played from early on in Second Line and street parades “Our whole thing then was to create our own distinctive sound, and this song helped us to that”, says band leader and sousaphone player Bennie Pete. Their iconic, exuberant version of “Sexual Healing” is reprised here, as well as the more heartfelt likes of “We Shall Walk Through the Streets of the City”, now sung by late trumpet player Joseph Williams’ grandmother.

Vicennial reconceptualises these covers alongside equally impressive originals, allowing The Hot 8 Brass Band to tell the story of their lives, their career and their city like only they can.

“[Hot 8] has helped galvanise its community since 2005; captures both the edginess and transcendent beauty of life in its city” – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Incendiary” – THE OBSERVER
“Peerless” – METRO
“They’re sick – smashed it!” – TWIN B (BBC 1XTRA)
“Absolutely crucial” – CRAIG CHARLES (BBC 6MUSIC)

‘VICENNIAL’ 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR DATES

OCTOBER
23rd/24th CORK Cork Jazz Festival
25th DUBLIN The Sugar Club
26th MANCHESTER Band on the Wall
27th CAMBRIDGE Junction 2
28th NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
29th WHITSTABLE Duke of Cumberland
30th COVENTRY The Kasbah
31st BRIGHTON Coalition
NOVEMBER
1st NORWICH Norwich Arts Centre
2nd LONDON The Garage
3rd BRISTOL The Lantern
4th BIRMINGHAM Hare and Hounds
5th LEEDS The Wardrobe
6th SHEFFIELD O2
7th EDINBURGH La Belle Angele
8th NEWCASTLE The Cluny
9th LIVERPOOL Arts Club
10th LONDON The Garage

www.hot8brassband.com

Author