On
what would be the 180th birthday of the city of Toronto, I decided
to end the night going to a musical extravaganza.
At
Lula Lounge, both “The Heavyweights Brass Band” and “Street Brass” treated a
packed audience to a rousing Mardi Gras party that made you feel like you were
in the hot shores of Brazil or in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It was a night of feel good music that made
you want to dance, shake your thang, and sing along to a groovy beat.
Street
Brass opened the set by marching to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching
In”, resembling a cross between Salvation Army organized horns and
Pentecostal/Black Baptist church fervor.
After the opening, they would break into another New Orleans staple, “Do
What You Wanna”, before delving the rest of the repertoire into the Latin
American ideologies of Brazil and Colombia.
I really liked the Latin American music since it was fresh, exotic,
danceable, and very intellectually stimulating.
Now
the main event was the Heavyweights Brass Band. Probably a cross between Art Ensemble of
Chicago, Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, Trombone Shorty, and Preservation Hall
Jazz Band mixed and cooked up into one hearty, spicy gumbo. Playing the entire CD set, we were treated to
special guest spots such as soul R&B vocalist (and fellow Jamaican Jay
Douglas), soprano saxophonist and Spirits of Havana advocate Jane Bunnett, and
percussionist Luisito Orbegoso.
Throughout the set I was dancing, getting my groove on, and reliving a
part of my youth over and over again.
If
the Heavyweights Brass Band doesn’t get a Juno (or even a Grammy) for their
stellar, original work on New Orleans jazz, then there must be something
royally wrong with the judges (or I should become a judge myself). Not only they are one of the best and my favourite
local bands to ever come across the scene in Toronto (and the majority of the
members were born in Winnipeg and Vancouver), but they also do a great job of
authentically channeling the black soul and history of the music that they
play. Again, one of the best concerts
of 2014, and one of the best CD’s to start off 2014.
THE
HEAVYWEIGHTS BRASS BAND OFFICIAL WEB SITE:
BELOW: The Heavyweights Brass Band with Jane Bunnett and Luisito Orbegoso performing Christopher Butcher's composition "Misterioso".
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