Combining elements of a traditional brass band with a heady, raucous mix of jazz, soul and funk, spliced with a bit of hip hop swagger, the Hot 8 Brass Band are one of many great acts to emerge from New Orleans’ rich musical landscape.
Whether playing their funked out originals or putting their own spin on a well-loved track (they’ve taken on Snoop Dogg, The Temptations and The Specials, to name a few), their party rocking performances have become the stuff of legend. The line-up has shifted over the years but whichever incarnation of the band you get, the soul, energy and undiluted passion of the group always shines through.
It’s often said that they play like their lives depend on it – which makes a lot of sense when you learn about the band’s history. This month, the Hot 8 visit Cambridge in support of their recently released best of album, Vicennial – which coincides with their 20-year anniversary as a band. It’s a hard-won milestone for the group, who’ve pushed through barely imaginable adversity to get to where they are today, including the murders of three band members, the fatal heart attack of another and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
But they power on, an indefatigable force, their uplifting and life-affirming music providing the soundtrack to an incredible, and incredibly tragic back story. The Hot 8 have blazed a trail too: their energetic blend of traditional and contemporary paving the way for a crop of thoroughly modern brass bands to come to the fore, a scene among which you’ll find the likes of the Hackney Colliery Band, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Youngblood and Riot Jazz. And people can’t seem to get enough of them – pop along to a gig by any of the above and you’ll see people (of all ages and from all walks of life) losing their minds to the riotous din of screaming trumpets and roaring horns.
There’s no question that brass bands are back in vogue – but why this sudden revival? Bennie Pete, founder of the Hot 8, reckons the answer is pretty simple.
“It’s just a beautiful thing. It’s feel-good music, and everybody wants that at some time or another. Everybody wants an escape sometimes… Or even if you’re feeling good already it’s like a breath of fresh air when you have the energy that comes with this kind of music. So I guess people feel inspired by it and they want to join in and they want to continue it. They want to play their part. And we really do welcome that, and we’re glad that people are even taking an interest and appreciating it.”
The Hot 8 hail from the Tremé, the fabled New Orleans ghetto which is heralded as giving birth to jazz, and was also home to legendary performers including Louis Armstrong. The group was founded by tuba player Bennie, together with Jerome ‘Bay Bay’ Jones (trombone) and Harry ‘Swamp Thang’ Cook (bass drum), all of whom had grown up immersed in New Orleans’ spirited music scene and playing in school marching bands from a young age.
“We wanted to start the band because it gave us something to do and it kept us out of trouble,” explains Bennie. “It kept us out of what was going on with the inner city of New Orleans. It was kind of a way out – an extracurricular event to keep us from doing what we saw going on around the neighbourhood.”
In the early days, the local park was the only option for rehearsing (“it was kind of hard to practise round anyone’s house – it was just too much noise, too loud!”), and that’s where they played for years, building up an ever-growing following.
“People would be getting off from work in the evening, getting off the bus or going to the store or whatever, and they’d see us in the park practising, and they’d grab some seafood and a beer and come sit out and listen to us. We were getting better and better and people would see that. They were our first fans.”
Their fanbase on the streets of the neighbourhood was growing all the time, but a tipping point came when Robert Luis, a DJ and record label owner from Brighton, picked up their joyous cover of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing and started playing it in his sets.
“There would literally be queues of people asking me what the track was,” he said in an interview at the time. “No amount of hype, PR or twerking can buy that kind of real and heartfelt dance floor reaction for a track.”
He signed the Hot 8 to his Tru Thoughts label, the track become a regular fixture in the vinyl collections of tastemaker DJs, and the Hot 8 started gaining fans far beyond their native New Orleans.
“The Sexual Healing thing just put the icing on the cake,” recalls Bennie. “It kind of tipped it and sent it over the edge.”
Shortly after, the band put out their Rock with the Hot 8 album to widespread acclaim, performing their first UK tour dates a few months later (gigs which won them an army of new fans), as well as having their music featured on a Volkswagen advert, laying down tracks with the Basement Jaxx and performing a Maida Vale session for Radio 1. They’ve gone on to play all over the globe, touring with Lauryn Hill and appearing in HBO drama Treme, as well as earning a Grammy nomination for their album The Life & Times Of. In short, a lot’s changed from those days in the park, but Bennie is quick to stress that fame has had little impact on the way they live.
“We’re still regular New Orleanians, we’re still regular people here in the city. It’s not like we’re walking around with bodyguards or anything,” he says, laughing his huge, infectious laugh.
“Everything is still the same, but a lot of people appreciate us and a lot of people are happy to see us – happy to see our accomplishments, especially the people who were there when we were younger. They’re happy to know us, and have a sense that they met us when we first began, to see us continue through all the struggle and all the tragedy that we went through.”
And what a lot of tragedy it’s been. In addition to Hurricane Katrina obliterating their cherished home city (and taking some of the band members’ homes in the process), the group have experienced an inconceivable amount of devastation and heartache in their 20 years together. Jacob Jacobson, the Hot 8’s 17-year old trumpet player, was tied up and shot in the head in his home in 1996; in 2004, trombonist Demond Dorsey died of a heart attack and a mere two months after that, band member Joseph Williams was killed, in controversial circumstances, by the police whilst driving to a gig.
In 2006, meanwhile, trumpet player Terrell Batiste was involved in a horrific car accident in which he lost his legs, and a few months later, drummer Dinerral Shavers was shot in the back of the head as he was driving his car – the result of a case of mistaken identity which cost the young teacher his life.
Bennie speaks openly and from the heart when questioned about the enormous struggles the Hot 8 have endured and his resolute desire to keep going to honour his friends and band mates who have passed.
“Every time it happened it hurt us,” he says gently, his voice cracking. “And it still hurts us every day, but we deal with it in our own way. But I tell you – us continuing to go on, and achieve some of the goals and accomplishments that we set when we all were together and we all was still living – that helps us go on. Any goal that we reach – because we all had that same common goal when everybody was together, it kind of fills the void a little bit you know… That’s the big reason that we continue to do it. We have to do it for them. We gotta continue.”
Whatever else fate might throw their way, it seems safe to assume that the Hot 8 will persevere and continue to win people over with their life-affirming music and irrepressible energy. But what does Bennie hope for the future of the band?
“I would say success, but along with success, just for us to be a blessing to others and to know that our struggle wasn’t in vain,” he says. “If we can bless others, and help them get through some of the situations we’ve been through, and help the world be a little bit better place for the youth and the future – you know that would be one of the biggest things that would bring everybody in the band the most joy. We want to inspire people.”
The Hot 8 Brass Band play Cambridge Junction on 27 October. Tickets are £18
