Download: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble “War”

(from the self-titled album out now on Honest Jon’s)

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is the eight sons of Sun Ra trumpeter and songwriter Phil Cohran, who trained them to play together starting at the age of three. As adults they made a name for themselves on the streets and subway platforms of Chicago, until they moved to New York City to play with Mos Def and Erykah Badu. From there, the HBE established a fan base that includes Barack Obama and David Byrne, so it’s probably just a matter of time before God has them on his iPod.

Oh, and Madlib is gonna DJ.

:: melt ::

Show info and press release below.

VTech and Mochilla present:
Friday November 6th, 2009

Live Performances by:
HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE [video: http://vimeo.com/3010228]
MIGUEL ATWOOD-FERGUSON QUINTET

DJ Sets from:
MADLIB
COLEMAN
B+

Hosted by:
ALOE BLACC

The Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles Ca 90026

$15 presale :: $20 at the door
Presale tickets available at the Mochilla HQ’s from 1pm-7pm
[4124 Verdugo Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90065]
+online at: http://ticketweb.com
21 + wiser | 9pm-2am

*for more information please visit: http://music.vtechphones.com

Dig Deeper…

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are a family, literally. They are the heirs to the great musical tradition of Chicago. Their father Phil Cohran trained them from age three to play hard, fast and together. They boast a fan base as wide and eclectic as Barack Obama, David Byrne, Q-Tip, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, Jools Holland and thousands more. Now with the news that they along with Mos Def and drummer extraordinaire Tony Allen will form the new Gorillaz outfit, you realize that this is no ordinary collective.

The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (HBE), a band comprised of eight brothers, all sons of Sun Ra trumpeter and songwriter Phil Cohran, have been playing since they were three years of age and have inherited a lineage deeper than most bands will ever attain. Raised on the south side of Chicago, their musical heritage is rooted in their genes. They have brothers and sisters that are professional musicians, their mothers are singers and their father, Phil Cohran, a legendary visionary and teacher has music experiences from the 1940s in St. Louis to his seminal role with Sun Ra in Chicago in the 1950s.

As Sun Ra moved to the east coast in 1960, Cohran stayed behind in Chicago to be with his family. As his children grew, Cohran worked as a musical activist and educator, which led to the establishment of the Sun Ark in a warehouse behind their family home. At night while the children slept, they would hear their father rehearsing with his band the ‘Circle of Sound.’ At six in the morning, they were awoken to practice music for several hours before going to school. From an early age they were a central part of their father’s Youth Ensemble. At night they listened to NWA and Public Enemy, and Ice Cube and Eazy-E were their heroes.

By the end of the nineties, with everyone out of school, they concentrated on their music full time. With a mix of their jazz roots and their hip-hop sensibility, they made a living for themselves on the streets of Chicago. While performing on a subway platform, they stumbled upon their name when a man who watched them for hours, missing train after train, proclaimed that he has been “hypnotized” by their music. With their composer skills aiding them to create a sound wholly their own, the group moved to New York City where they played with Mos Def and Erykah Badu.

From a chance encounter in November of 2005, and support from numerous artists, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble has released an album brimming with musical magic. Recorded on the back of the Africa Express trip to Lagos last October, during a three-day stop-over in London, with the drummer’s stool shared by Malcolm Catto from the The Heliocentrics, Sola Akingbola from Jamiroquai, and the one and only Tony Allen, and other musical luminaries Flea and Paul Simenon, this album is all that is cracked up to be and more.

In May 2009, Blur and Gorillaz’s frontman Damon Alburn’s Honest Jon label dropped the Hypnotic’s first official full length studio album to accolades the music world over. With the sound, form, and structure in their musicianship and songwriting, the HBE have the ability to put on live shows that would put veteran bands to shame.

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE AND MIGUEL ATWOOD-FERGUSON QUINTET WITH DJ SETS FROM MADLIB, COLEMAN, AND B+, ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BLVD, LOS ANGELES, 9PM, $15 PRESALE/$20 AT DOOR, 21+. ATTHEECHO.COM