- Hot 8 Brass Band, Kay Meek Centre, Thursday, Feb. 14, 8 p.m. Tickets: Adult $39/$36/$12 from the Box Office 604-981-6335 or visit kaymeekcentre.com.
THE Hot 8 Brass Band produces a lively gumbo of sound capable of satisfying even the biggest musical appetite.
Founded in New Orleans in 1995 by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones and Harry Cook, the group is composed of eight marching band veterans who play traditional brass band music infused with their own modern-day edge.
"We play different repertoires of music. We have new gospel, we play traditional, we play contemporary, we even play R&B, maybe even a little hip-hop all stirred into the set," says Pete, the bandleader and tuba player. "It's very uptempo, upbeat, exciting."
The group is accustomed to playing their instruments in the Southern heat in front of a lineup of parade-goers. Between international tours, the band continues to participate in traditional second line parades on Sunday afternoons. Second line parades are descended from New Orleans' famous jazz funerals. The first line of a funeral consisted of the people who were an integral part of the ceremony, such as the family and friends of the deceased, while the second line originally referred to people who were attracted to the music.
Next Thursday, residents of the North Shore will get a taste of true Mardi Gras culture when The Hot 8 Brass Band makes a tour stop at Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver.
Joining Pete onstage will be fellow tuba player Travis Carter, trumpeters Terrell Batiste and Raymond Williams, trombonists Larry Brown and Jerome Jones, Clarence Slaughter on saxophone, Harry Cook on bass drum and Samuel Cyrus on snare drum.
"We have a big, bold sound," explains Pete. "It's like new Orleans the city, but being expressed in a musical form."
They will be playing songs from their second studio album The Life & Times Of., released last November as a tribute to their deceased band mates and featuring album artwork by graffiti artists Banksy.
Over the years, four group members have died, two of whom were lost to violent acts on the streets of New Orleans. Today, the group plays an active role in Silence is Violence, an anti-violence campaign that was founded following the murder of Hot 8 drummer Dinerral Shavers. He was shot and killed in late 2006 while driving with his wife and child in New Orleans.
The band has also dedicated much time and energy to relief and recovery projects after Hurricane Katrina devastated their hometown in 2005.
"A lot of members lost everything," says Pete.
Members of the band were featured in Spike Lee's 2006 documentary When the Levees Broke and its 2010 follow-up If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. They were also involved with Finding Our Folk, an organization which sought to assist survivors who were displaced after the storm struck, and Save Our Brass!, a grassroots project that brought music and instruments to shelters, temporary trailer parks and communities across the Gulf Coast.
Hot 8 was also featured in the second season of the HBO drama series Tremé, which chronicles life in New Orleans post-Katrina.
"Everyone knows what this band has been through," says Pete. "Our story is the story of the New Orleans streets. This album just tells those stories to the world."
Although their music maintains a boisterous, energetic sound, the bandmates' tragic experiences with street violence and natural disaster are reflected on their latest record. The track "Let Me Do My Thing" expresses the tale of one member's past struggle with heroin, while "Can't Hide From the Truth" was written as a message to New Orleans police, who shot and killed Hot 8 trumpeter Joseph Williams in 2004.
"Everything we go through, we put all the expressions into the music," says Pete. "It's our heart and soul and our everyday lifestyle."
The Life And Times Of. is the first part of a two-album project. The next instalment is due for release this spring.
The Hot 8 Brass Band performs at Kay Meek Centre (1700 Mathers Ave., West Vancouver) on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39 or $36 available at tickets. capilanou.ca.
