New blood youngblood brass band live biography

Youngblood have headlined countless tours worldwide, selling out dates in over 20 countries. Their festival résumé reads like a list of the most important music events in the world: Roskilde, Glastonbury, Lowlands, Pukkelpop, SXSW, CMJ, North Sea Jazz,WOMAD, ad infinitum. Incendiary live shows have secured the band’s status as an incredible group to witness, whether in an intimate club setting or in front of thousands on a festival stage.

YB’s debut album ‘Unlearn’ was released independently in , featuring collaborations with Talib Kweli (spawning the underground smash ‘Ya’ll Stay Up’), Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly, and Frank Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. The attention garnered led to a signing with Ozone Music NYC, the revolutionary avant-hip hop label that introduced the poetic talents of Saul Williams, Company Flow (El-P), Antipop Consortium, and Mr. Lif, among others. The acclaimed follow-up (and Ozone debut), ’s ‘center:level:roar’, saw the band globetrotting to sold out audiences.

Youngblood then released two more albums on Layered Music – ’s ‘Live. Places.’ and ’s ‘Is That a Riot?’ – both of which accelerated the band’s notoriety. They also continued engaging in frequent educational work, stopping at high schools, universities and institutions to offer workshops on New Orleans music history, jazz improvisation, hip hop culture and the creative impulse.

It is through this work that Youngblood has acquired cult status among young musicians, and it can probably be said that no other band has achieved such market infiltration without ever having major media, industry or publicity backing behind them. Perhaps the world secretly desires a music that is honest, intense, danceable, intelligent, and devoid of the self-consciously vain irony that prevails in most current entertainment. Perhaps there is also something to be said for nine small-town high school kids from Wisconsin getting together and deciding to make radically explosive new music with

Youngblood Brass Band flouts convention in an ecstatic, raucous, incendiary fashion, taking the form of a New Orleans brass band and morphing it into a punked-out hip-hop behemoth of groove and purpose. The ten-member ensemble, born in Madison, Wisconsin, has been unleashing their crash course in genre-bending worldwide since What other band can claim the honor of having their music spun by DJs like Questlove (The Roots), working with hip-hop luminaries like Talib Kweli, having their original compositions performed by student marching bands/jazz ensembles around the globe, and still not be out of place at a dance-punk festival?

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YBB has headlined countless tours in the States and abroad, selling out dates in over 20 countries. Their festival résumé reads like a list of the heaviest music events in the world: Roskilde, Glastonbury, Lowlands, Pukkelpop, SXSW, CMJ, North Sea Jazz, WOMAD, ad infinitum. White-hot live shows secured the band’s status as an incredible group to witness, whether in an intimate club setting or in front of thousands on a festival stage.

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YBB’s debut album, Word On The Street (), set the tone for the years to come, and saw the band beginning to tour the states. The follow-up, Unlearn (), featured collaborations with Talib Kweli (the underground smash “Ya’ll Stay Up”), Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly, and Frank Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. Attention garnered led to a signing with Ozone Music NYC, the revolutionary avant-hip-hop label that introduced the poetic talents of Saul Williams, Company Flow (El-P), Antipop Consortium, Mr. Lif, etc. The band's Ozone debut, ’s center:level:roar (which also spawned the now-ubiquitous instrumental anthem ‘Brooklyn’) saw the band globetrotting to sold out audiences.

Youngblood released two more albums: Live. Places. () and Is That a Riot? (), both of which accelerated their notoriety as the world’s preeminent live brass band. YB

One Lard Biskit Brass Band is a frankly shocking name for a band (“we were somehow convinced that every good band name had a number and a food item in it, but I can’t think of a single band, there’s no ‘Sandwich ’”), so thankfully vocalist, drummer and general band manager David Henzie-Skogen saw the light and the Youngblood Brass Band was born with a new direction. “The sounds were coming out of New Orleans’ brass band music but also incorporated all of the influences of things that are important to us.” And that turns out to be not just brass music, but a diverse range of other genres too. “I think people would be surprised if they looked at our personal playlists, very little of it is brass band music. That’s just in our blood, no pun intended. We usually look elsewhere for inspiration, there’s a lot more hip-hop influence, maybe a little more aggressive punk vibe, it has occurred to us that it would be disingenuous to just try to mimic what NOLA brass bands do, being that as much as we grew up with that music and spent time in NOLA, it’s not where we’re coming from %.”

So where are they coming from? Wisconsin is the answer, a mere 1, miles from Louisiana, but Youngblood have been knocking about in fellow brass band Hot 8’s hood, soaking up the NOLA vibe for many years. In fact, older bands from the city – the likes of The Dirty Dozen and Rebirth – served as Youngblood’s idols in their formative years, which has resulted in an authentic sound with a slightly faster and more hip-hop beat, with some breakneck rapping tying it all together.

The band have always had a DIY ethic, in more ways than one (“most of us teach outside Youngblood too”); David runs their own label, but having joined the Tru-Thoughts label alongside Hot 8 and other groups such as Bonobo, Nostalgia 77 and Spanky Wilson, things are that much easier now, not that Youngblood are all about the dollar. “You’ve chosen your path, and that path is music that is really fun to play and has this conne

Globe-trotting riot jazzers Youngblood Brass Band are focused on creating progressive, raw, acoustic, modern, dance-til-you-mean-it music. The ten-member ensemble, born in Wisconsin, now hails from all over the US (New York NY / Nashville TN / Minneapolis MN / Chicago IL / Madison WI).

They have been touring throughout Europe, the States and beyond for the past decade, performing in over twenty countries, and being featured at the biggest music festivals in the world: Roskilde, Glastonbury, North Sea Jazz, Blue Note, WOMAD, etc. Their intense on-stage aesthetic secured their status as an incredible group to see live, whether in intimate club settings or on international festival stages. 

YBB's debut album 'Unlearn' was released in , featuring collaborations with Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly and ex-Frank Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. This led to a record deal with Ozone Music (NYC), the revolutionary avant-hiphop label that introduced the poetic talents and radical aims of Company Flow (El-P), Mike Ladd, Antipop Consortium and Saul Williams, among others. Their follow-up, Center:Level:Roar, was released to international acclaim and had them trekking around the globe to sold-out audiences everywhere. YoungBlood's next album, Is That a Riot? (), was their most aggressive, experimental music to date, featuring new players, all original compositions, and the music being taken to its dynamic, timbral and beat-driven