The Hot 8 Brass Band
is a New Orleans based brass band that blends hip-hop, jazz and funk styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds. It was formed by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones, and Harry Cook in 1995 [1], the merging of two earlier bands, the Looney Tunes Brass Band and the High Steppers Brass Band. [2]
Since June 2007 the band has been signed to the UK's Tru Thoughts label [3], that label's first U.S. act. [4]
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HOT 8 BRASS BAND TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Hot 8 Brass Band Tickets 5/5 | May 05, 2024 Sun, 10:30 PM | | Hot 8 Brass Band Tickets 5/12 | May 12, 2024 Sun, 10:30 PM | | Hot 8 Brass Band Tickets 5/19 | May 19, 2024 Sun, 10:30 PM | | Hot 8 Brass Band Tickets 5/26 | May 26, 2024 Sun, 10:30 PM | | Hot 8 Brass Band Tickets 6/2 | Jun 02, 2024 Sun, 10:30 PM | |
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Music
The Hot 8 Brass Band plays in
second line parades hosted Sunday afternoons by Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs
; in the
New Orleans metropolitan area they also play at traditional
jazz funerals
[5] and at local jazz
nightclubs.
They play regularly at the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and have played in the
Zulu Parade,
San Antonio Zulu Association Festival, the City of New Orleans
New Year's Celebration and Mo' Fest, the
Tom Joyner Morning Show, and the
Master P music video "Hootie Hoo". The Hot 8 Brass Band has also toured in
Japan,
Italy,
France,
Spain,
Finland,
England, and
Sardinia.
[6]
In the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, the Hot 8 Brass Band was propelled to wider prominence by an appearance in
Spike Lee's 2006
documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
. Because of this appearance, according to
National Public Radio, "A new legion of fans caught onto the band's mix of traditional marching music, hip hop, and
R&B."
Membership
Four members of the band have died since its formation.
Past and present band members include:
- Bennie "Big Peter" Pete (tuba and band leader)
- Terrell "Burger" Batiste (trumpet)
- Harry "Swamp Thang" Cook (bass drum)
- Jerome "Baybay" Jones (trombone)
- Alvarez "B.I.G. AL" Huntley (trumpet)
- Dinerral "Dick" Shavers (snare drum)
- Raymond "Dr. Rackle" Williams (trumpet)
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- Keith "Wolf" Anderson (trombone)
- Jereau "Cousin" Fournett (trombone)
- Wendell "Cliff" Stewart (saxophone)
- Demond "Bart" Dorsey (trombone)
- Jacob Johnson (trumpet)
- Joseph "Shotgun Joe" Williams (trombone)
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Discography
In October 2007, the band released
Rock with The Hot 8
, their first studio album, on the
Tru Thoughts label.
[7] Hot 8 Brass Band was featured on
Down in New Orleans
, the
2008 album by
the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Violent deaths of group members
The band has also been mentioned in the
U.S. media because three of its members, all of whom were between the ages of 17 and 25, have died over the years due to
handgun violence.
In 1996, seventeen-year old
trumpet player Jacob Johnson was found shot execution-style in his home.
In 2004,
trombone player Joseph "Shotgun Joe" Williams was shot dead by police in controversial circumstances. According to a local news source:
[8]
According to New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) accounts, officers were stopping 22-year-old trombonist Joe Williams for driving an allegedly stolen vehicle when Williams slammed the white Ford F-150 into reverse, accelerating into an NOPD squad car and officer. His actions, says Deputy Superintendent Marlin Defillo, caused officers to fear for their lives and thus open fire, killing Williams.
The same source reported that several
eyewitnesses say that police shot Williams while he was unarmed and his hands were in the air.
In 2006,
drummer Dinerral "Dick" Shavers was shot and killed while driving with his family. According to
The Times-Picayune
:
[9]
Dinerral Shavers, 25, died from a gunshot to the back of his head at about 5:30 p.m. while behind the wheel of his black Chevrolet Malibu in the 2200 block of Dumaine Street… His family was not injured… Although critically wounded, Shavers continued driving four blocks up Dumaine before stopping. By 6 p.m., Shavers lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street just outside the open driver's side door… Shavers was taken to a hospital, but died within an hour.
Police said the bullet was intended for Shavers's fifteen-year old stepson.
[10] The Hot 8 Brass Band played at Shavers' funeral.
References
- Brass Band Blowout Weekend: April 11, 2008 from the Tipitina's website
- Biography from the website of the Lowell Folk Festival
- Hot 8 signs to Tru-Thoughts Label from the label's website
- Hot 8 Brass Band from the Tru Thoughts website
- Drummer's Funeral Underlines New Orleans Violence, ''All Things Considered'', 6 January 2007. NPR.
- Hot 8 Brass Band from the website of Baylin Artists Management
- Rock With The Hot 8, from the Tru Thoughts website
- Why?
- Two die in New Orleans shootings
- Teen held in slaying of drummer