Youngblood Brass Band

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, now hails from all over the US (New Orleans, Brooklyn, Nashville, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles) and has been unleashing their crash course in genre-bending on stages worldwide since 1998. What other band can claim the honor of having their music spun by Questlove, working with hip-hop luminaries like Talib Kweli and Mike Ladd, having their original compositions performed by marching bands and jazz ensembles around the globe, be included in university and national curricula, and still not be out of place at a punk festival?

Youngblood 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.

YBB’s debut album Word On The Street was released independently in 1998 and is still lauded as landmark in the brass band world, with multiple tunes frequently covered and held up as classics. Their next offering—the first to blur the lines between hip-hop, brass band, and future funk—was Unlearn (2000), featuring collabs with Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly, and Frank Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. The attention led to signing with Ozone Music NYC, the revolutionary avant-hip-hop label that introduced Saul Williams, Company Flow (El-P), Antipop Consortium, et al. On their follow-up, 2003’s center:level:roar, the band fully came into their own, spawning the hit brass band anthem ‘Brooklyn’ and seeing YBB globetrotting to sold out audiences.

Youngblood then released two more albums on their own Layered Music imprint: Live. Places. (2005) and Is That a Riot? (2007), both of which accelerated their notoriety as the world’s preeminent live brass band. The band also continued engaging in frequent educational work, stopping at high schools and univer-sities to offer workshops on New Orleans music history, jazz improvisation, hip-hop culture, and the creative impulse. It is through this work that Y oungblood acquired cult status among young musicians. Youngblood’s next album, Pax V olumi (2012), was released with Tru Thoughts, the Brighton UK label that includes a roster ranging from deep soul (Alice Russell) to hip-hop (Ty) to straight-up New Orleans brass band (Hot 8). This album saw the band finally achieving not just its musical but also its production aims, capturing the live intensity of the stage as well as crafting sounds that bang right out of the speakers. In 2017, the band released the compilation 20 Years Young, which included classics as well as unreleased and live material, chronicling two decades of "riot jazz." In 2018, the band released the Covers 1 EP, a reimagining of 6 songs ranging from a latin-funk-inspired take on No Doubt's 'Don't Speak' to an anthemic, driving version of Rihanna's 'Umbrella' to a twist on Tears for Fears' 'Mad World' reconceptualized as a banger. After an extended hiatus during/after the pandemic, YBB is back with a palpable fervor, having recently completed an international tour which saw the group playing to its biggest club audiences yet, as on fire with love for music as ever, and somehow still continuing to sound better. Whichever it is: roof-tearing shows, commitment to education, small town roots, or fist-pumping anthems, Y oungblood Brass Band is an institution—and one that demands to be seen and heard. Of course, rigorous dancing is also acceptable.