The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are eight brothers from the south side of Chicago. They come from an extraordinary musical family. Other sisters and brothers are professional musicians, their mothers are singers, and Philip Cohran, their father, has roots running back to Mississippi, his time in the musical hothouse of 1940s St Louis, and his seminal role with Sun Ra in Chicago in the 1950s. The HBE's were wakened at 6 a.m. every morning for several hours’ music practice before going to school and from an early age they were a central part of their father’s Youth Ensemble, while at night they used to sneak under the covers and listen to NWA and Public Enemy. By the end of the nineties, with everyone out of school, they brought together their musicianship, their jazz roots and their hip hop sensibility, and made a living busking on the streets of Chicago. Crucial to the mix was their burgeoning skills as composers, which meant the music they played really was their own. (They wrote all of the tracks on this album except Alyo, written by their father, and Rabbit Hop, written by Moondog.) Eventually the group transferred to New York City, and after playing out relentlessly, including gigs with Mos Def and Erykah Badu, and some particularly incendiary shows in Europe, they have come to be known as one of the hottest and most individual bands around! Features Flea, Damon Albarn, Tony Allen, Malcolm Catto from The Heliocentrics.
Features the mighty 'Sankofa' with Tony Allen! Fans of El Michels Affair, Mulatu & The Heliocentrics, The Dap Kings, Bronx River Parkway etc will love this!