hypnotic brass ensemble
Brooklyn, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
At the start of the film Brothers Hypnotic, we see seven young black men walking leisurely along rusted train tracks carrying musical instruments -- four with trumpets, one with a trombone, one with a baritone horn, and another with a huge tuba over his shoulders. What are they doing and where are they going?
For the next 84 minutes, we travel with this incredible group of musicians -- the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble -- from the streets of New York to concert halls in Europe, interspersed with footage of their early days growing up in Chicago as the sons of legendary jazz musician, composer, and activist Phil Cohran. It is a remarkable journey. First-time documentary filmmaker Reuben Atlas captures the group's inspiring human, musical, and political evolution, viewing them as individuals as well as a "band of brothers," dedicated to each other and to their blend of jazz, hip-hop, and funk music. - Peter Dreier
I was pretty short in energy these last few days, I needed something strong, something hot, something colourful to get things going. Healthier than any kind of vitamin supplements crap, an evening with the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble seemed like a much more promising prescription. Well…it was. - Published by JmSelector
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a family of 7 blood brothers, sons of jazz trumpeter/composer Phil Cohran (Sun Ra, co-founder of AACM, mentor to EARTH WIND & FIRE), who were raised on the south-side of Chicago under the rigorous training methods their musically talented parents. From an early age it was clear the brothers of Hypnotic were born for the stage.
By 1999, a few of the younger brothers began playing on the streets of Chicago to rave success. They subsequently formed the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and after finding a drummer, began to collectively write original tunes in order to create a record with their very own sound "The Flipside". Initially their only aim was to bring horns and live instrumentation back to mainstream music, but after taking to the streets of United States' major cities HBE enjoyed the independent success of over 65,000 units sold direct to fans and also attracted the attention of Kanye West mentor NO ID. In 2003, Hypnotic cut the horns for his current production "Metal Lungees" that featured on Wu-Tang MC Ghostface Killah's "Pretty Toney" album for Def Jam Island. At the same time HBE had begun to record & self-produce their sophomore effort "Jupiter", the band moved to NYC to promote and sale their latest project solo.
Hypnotic spent the next few years performing at clubs, festivals, even the streets displaying their signature brand of live music infused with the elements of hip-hop, jazz, soul, reggae, & rock that allowed them to cross genre lines and build a massive grass roots fan base. Following the release of band's third LP (NYC Live), Hypnotic pressed two 10 inch vinyls and self-distributed them as far as London Portabello Road, where Atlantic Records CEO listened to one of them & developed interest about the band. Bad management led to poor communication and in the end HBE turned down the artist deal offered by Atlantic. The band briefly performed as the MOS DEF BIG BAND in 2007, backing up hip hop legend Yasiin Bey. Also at this time Hypnotic inked a promotional agreement with denim icons GSTAR RAW for outfitting and event performance that resulted in the band's first tour overseas to Europe.
International touring became a good fit for band & audience alike as HBE graced the stages of the Glastonbury in the UK, North Sea Jazz Fest in Holland, Banlieues Bleues in Paris, & Novarra Jazz Fest in Italy before finally moving to London and signing an artist deal with UK indie Honest Jons in 2009 for a "Best of Hypnotic Brass" album featuring original tunes from the band's previous 3 releases. Although the brothers of Hypnotic rarely performed backing up Mos Def by this time, they had seen firsthand how well they mixed with feature artists and continued by collaborating with Maxwell (Pretty Wings), Erykah Badu (Honey remix), & Tony Allen (Lo Sun) among others. The band's big collaboration came with their integral work with Damon Albarn on The Gorillaz' LP: Welcome to Plastic Beach in 2010 (5.2 million sold), in the studio and on stage at the world tour that spanned the globe covering five continents. While on tour with the various artists from the Gorillaz entourage Hypnotic got inspired to add new components to the live sound, and when they moved back to NYC this new sound found life in the first release by band's new imprint (PHEELCO ENTERTAINMENT) "Bulletproof Brass" 2011 which spoke of "Parliament Funkadelic" influences as opposed to the usual comparison to an introspective Earth Wind & Fire. Since then HBE has toured Europe backing up Prince (NPG Fest 2011), featured live on "Jools Holland Show" in UK, landed an original song in Hollywood blockbuster "Hunger Games", and headlined the Sydney Opera House to a sold-out crowd. Lately, there is a PBS documentary film about the band "BROTHERS HYPNOTIC" that tell's the story of a musical legacy that is not yet complete. This film has debuted at various film festivals across the US, Canada, Mexico, Holland, UK, and France. It also premiered on US national television (PBS), on the "Independent Lens" series in April 2014. HBE continues to grow musically and artistically. Releasing "Fly the Customs Prelude" in 2013 (PHEELCO ENTERTAINMENT) to provide something new for fans as they continue to tour the world biggest festivals and small venues. The band is currently working on new music to fit the brand new sound which emerged from pure evolution and mental growth. The band has introduced more lyrical prowess to current music to ensure marketable music for the ever evolving music industry. Inspired by independent thinking, the band continues to be a beacon of light for younger artist's following their dreams.
Links
