Hypnotic

Readers in Chicago may well know the sound of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, (or, just Hypnotic). A couple of days ago, they turned up in NY. Having been turned onto them by a friend who knows, I just happened to catch wind of that sound on the down escalator in the Times Sq. subway station that night. There they were, pulling a crowd, selling cds.

Their name is apt. They create an aural hypnosis, with this eerie sound that calls to mind all kinds of horn music (for me, Rebirth, Skatalites) but is entirely its own thing, utterly melodic and chordal. You can get totally lost in it, like I did, standing there for half an hour last night. And when they break it down, the way they bob their horns in unison, that's hypnotic too.

To me, seeing and hearing them in person was out-of-body. But I'm given to that kind of rapturous exaggeration when things hit me on an emotional level. Much of their stuff is...sad. It's mournful or regretful or something amorphous like that that doesn't make you cry or depressed, just makes you all warmly melancholy.

The band is made up of (I think it's) eight sons of Chicago jazz great Kelan Phil Cohran. This track is from their second cd, which, as far as I can tell, can only be purchased direct via phone at 773-264-6573.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Birthday
Buy it! ph: 773-264-6573