Youngblood Brass Band

Youngblood Brass Band
Background information
Origin	Madison, Wisconsin, US
Genres	Jazz Hip hop Punk
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Layered Music
Website	youngbloodbrassband.com
Members
D.H. Skogen Tom Reschke Moses Patrou Jonah Gaster Arian Macklin Charley Wagner Mike Boman Tony Barba Zach Lucas Jerome Harper Matt Hanzelka
Past members
Nat McIntosh Carl Bartsch Joe Goltz

The Youngblood Brass Band is a brass band from Oregon, Wisconsin, United States that was started by students at Oregon High School in 1995 when they were known as the One Lard Biskit Brass Band with the name changed to the current name in 1998.

History

The band's founding members, sousaphonist Nat McIntosh and snare drummer/lyricist D.H. Skogen, both went to Oregon and first played together in 1994. The band came together in 1995 as the One Lard Biskit Brass Band, subsequently releasing the album Better Recognize locally. The Youngblood name dates from 1998, the year the group put out their first album, Word On The Street. In 2000 Youngblood released Unlearn, which featured appearances by Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly and Ike Willis. Unlearn, which like Word On The Street was released independently, garnered the band significant attention and led to them being signed to Ozone Music NYC. The band's first album for Ozone, called center:level:roar, came out in 2003. They tour consistently in the United States and Europe, and in 2005 released a live album entitled live. places. on their Layered Music record label. Their newest album, Is That a Riot? (2006) was supported by multiple international tours and festival appearances. The band is also known for frequent educational visits to a range of public and private institutions.

Musical style

The Youngblood Brass Band combines the inspiration they took from the traditional New Orleans brass band sound with influences from jazz music, improvised music, a decidedly punk ethos, and a strong hip hop component. More than many New Orleans groups, the Youngblood band focuses on tight ensemble playing and pushing the boundaries of brass band music beyond its traditional genre, which allows them, even when performing live, to provide solid, diverse backing for Skogen's rapping and McIntosh's virtousic sousaphone work. Unable to be classified as either jazz, hip-hop, punk or any other existing genre, the band coined the term Riot Jazz. The band acknowledge the debt their music owes to the New Orleans bands, however, with performances of traditional tunes such as "Chinatown, My Chinatown", which they included on their Unlearn album.

In 2004, sousaphonist and primary arranger Nat McIntosh left the group. As Nat's music was a "main component of the band's sound since inception",^[1] his departure marked a change in sound for Youngblood Brass Band, as chronicled by the release of Live. Places.

Educational work

Band members credit "really good public school system arts-education programs"^[2] for inspiring their love of music, and they make an effort to play for schools as well as at clubs and larger venues. Under the aegis of the Layered Arts Collective, which band members co-founded, they also present musical lectures where in addition to performing they speak about the history of brass bands and hip-hop. Layered also promotes free workshops for local Wisconsin youth, brings in national touring musicians and functions as label/publishing house for their family of artists (including Cougar, another genre-bending group of experimental rockers that also count D.H. Skogen as a member).

Members

Youngblood's lineup features

• D.H. Skogen- percussion/vocals
• Tom Reschke - percussion
• Moses Patrou - percussion
• Conor Elmes - percussion
• Nat McIntosh - sousaphone
• Charley Wagner - trumpet
• Mike Boman - trumpet
• Tony Barba - saxophones
• Zach Lucas - saxophones
• Joe Goltz - trombone
• Matt Hanzelka - trombone

Discography

Albums

• Better Recognize* (1997)
• Word on the Street (1998)
• Unlearn (2000)
• Center:Level:Roar (2003)
• Live. Places. (2005)
• Is That a Riot? (2006)

* recorded by One Lard Biskit Brass Band

References

1. ^ from Live. Places. liner notes
2. ^ In Performance: The Youngblood Brass Band, June 14, 2004 npr.org

External links

• Official website
• Youngblood Brass Band on Myspace
• Layered Arts Collective, sponsors and label of the band