PitchBlak Brass Band Takes Hip Hop and Flips It Right On Its Brass

Generally speaking (and all musical ability being equal), a live performance band can stand out from others by mastering two main factors. Big sound and high-energy. This is probably true of many genres, but particularly when the band is backing rap vocalists, there is nothing like an emphatic, well-orchestrated, take-it-to-church backdrop behind fiery voiced MCs to tingle the soul of a music lover in a hip hop world.

Such is the case when witnessing the PitchBlak Brass Band, and even more so in a small, intimate venue, where music can be felt as well as heard.

Few musical assemblies can match the power and grittiness of a brass band, and this 10-piece collective is no different. Trombonists and powerful trumpeters, a flashy saxophonist and a jazzy guitarist, coupled with hard-hitting drums, varied percussion and vocalists that at any moment might spring from behind their instrument and start rapping, the results are often be mind-blowingly eargasmic.

The PitchBlak Brass Band played their debut album release party in the small cavern like environment of Bowery Electric, entertaining dozens in a truly compelling manner. Again, the musical muscle of a brass band is unrivaled, and with this band, with their gloriously emphatic tuba holding court front and center, that power was enjoyably evident.

The percentage of citizens who are brass band connoisseurs is probably pretty low, but few alive would not be able to appreciate a finely choreographed brass band. From parades to college games, marching bands and the like are heard often enough so that the sounds are not completely foreign to us.

What the PitchBlak Brass Band attempts to do, adding the influence of funk, jazz, soul and hip hop, is at the same time unique and, to be honest, gimmicky.

This is not necessarily an insult. In its strictest sense, gimmick is defined as “a trick or device intended to attract attention.” In the case of the PitchBlak Brass Band, device is more suited. However, despite the infectious music, layers of clever arrangement, and passionate delivery of many members of the collective, windows of interest for the band may be shorter than for other types of hip hop and live performance hybrids.

Some of their slower selections can sound a bit plodding, and while many in the crew briefly trade their instrument for a spot in front of the mic, there are simply some in the band who are better rappers than others, which is sometimes, for the hip hop enthusiasts in the room, irritatingly obvious.

However, these bits of critique pale in the comparison to the feeling one receives when they are on.

And make no mistake, they were on.

On several selections, the energy, illustrious arrangements, impassioned delivery, thoughtful lyricism and overall atmosphere provided an truly unmatched listening adventure.

In all, the creative melding of influences from Gregorian chants to jazz, from classical music to hip hop and everything in between, allows the PitchBlak Brass Band to shine in a world where hip hop music is either laughingly stagnant or forward-thinking creative.

Let’s be clear however. This is much more a brass band album than a rap album, and will likely gain no traction with those who word associate Rocko with “U.O.E.N.O.” as opposed to “Modern Life.” To classical or jazz music snobs, this work could either be momentarily cutesy or overtly blasphemous. But to the open-minded across these genres, the PitchBlak crew can undoubtedly find footing.

While the experience that is the PitchBlak Brass Band is difficult to capture in the recorded version, their album You See Us does a strong enough job of representing the intricacies that this project attempts to inject into the listener.

But don’t let the 13-track collection be the sole criterion for determining the band’s ability to kick some major brass.

See them perform, get up close and personal, feel what they are doing, and you will be impressed.

These talented musicians represent some of the best amalgamations of music genres that a 21^st-century world can facilitate, linking generations and genres in enlightening and pleasurable ways.

In fact, by respectfully placing hip hop music on the same level as the hundreds of years of musicality reflected in their work, not only is the PitchBlak Brass Band a damn fine sounding musical collective, but they are conducting a damn fine musical mission.

We see you.

[LISTEN/PURCHASE] PitchBlak Brass Band – You See Us [iTunes]

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