Youngblood Brass Band

Youngblood Brass Band
Youngblood Brass Band
Background information
Origin	Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Genres	Jazz; Hip hop; Punk; Punk jazz
Years active	1998–present
Labels	; Tru Thoughts;
Website	youngbloodbrassband.com
Members	D.H. Skogen; Zach Lucas; Tony Barba; Adam Meckler; Charley Wagner; Joe Goltz; Matt Hanzelka; Nat MacIntosh; Conor Elmes; Tom Reschke;
Past members	Arian Macklin (1979-2017); Carl Bartsch; ; Jonah Gaster; Mike Boman;

The Youngblood Brass Band is an American brass band from Madison, Wisconsin that was established in 1998. The band has released six albums and has toured throughout the United States and Europe.^[2]^{[non-primary source needed]}

History[]

The band's founding members, sousaphonist and snare drummer/lyricist both went to Oregon High School in Oregon, Wisconsin and first played together in 1994. The band came together in 1995 as the One Lard Biskit Brass Band, subsequently releasing the album Better Recognize locally. The Youngblood name dates from 1998, the year the group put out their first album, Word On The Street. In 2000 Youngblood released Unlearn, which featured appearances by Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, and Ike Willis. Unlearn, which like Word On The Street was released independently, garnered the band significant attention and led to them being signed to . The band's first album for Ozone, called center:level:roar, came out in 2003. They tour consistently in the United States and Europe, and in 2005 released a live album entitled live. places. on their record label. Is That a Riot? (2006) was supported by multiple international tours and festival appearances. Pax Volumi was released on September 9, 2013 by Tru Thoughts. They released , a compilation spanning the band's two-decade existence, in 2017, and followed it in 2018 with the most recent EP, both released on .

Musical style[]

The Youngblood Brass Band combines the inspiration they took from the traditional New Orleans brass band sound with influences from jazz music, improvised music, a decidedly punk ethos, and a strong hip hop component. More than many New Orleans groups, the Youngblood Brass Band focuses on tight ensemble playing and pushing the boundaries of brass band music beyond its traditional genre, which allows them, even when performing live, to provide solid, diverse backing for Skogen's rapping and McIntosh's virtuosic sousaphone work. Unable to be classified as either jazz, hip-hop, punk or any other existing genre, the band coined the term Riot Jazz. The band acknowledges the debt their music owes to the New Orleans bands, however, with performances of traditional tunes such as "Chinatown, My Chinatown", which they included on their Unlearn album.

In 2004, sousaphonist and primary arranger Nat McIntosh left the group. As NcIntosh’s music was a "main component of the band's sound since inception",^[3] his departure marked a change in sound for Youngblood Brass Band, as chronicled by the release of Live. Places and Is That a Riot?. The band's work during this time features a harder hip-hop edge with stronger punk influences compared to their other work.

McIntosh rejoined the band in 2013, and his playing and songwriting both appear on their most-recent album, Pax Volumi on the Tru Thoughts record label.^[4]

Educational work[]

Band members credit "really good public school system arts-education programs"^[5] for inspiring their love of music, and they make an effort to play for schools as well as at clubs and larger venues. Under the aegis of the , which band members co-founded, they also present musical lectures where in addition to performing, they speak about the history of brass bands and hip-hop. Layered Arts Collective also functions as a record label/publishing house for their family of artists (including Cougar, a group of experimental rockers that also count David Henzie-Skogen as a member). Youngblood has also released sheet music transcriptions of all songs included on their albums, since many university and high school music ensembles have begun including YBB in their repertoire.