Mining nuggets of funk, hip-hop and hi-octane rock from the musical coalface and throwing in a few chunks of Balkan brass, ska and contemporary jazz for good measure, the Hackney Colliery Band is as diverse as the London borough that gave them their name.
Formed in 2008 out of a desire to play music that appealed to the feet as much as to the ears, the Hackney Colliery Band (HCB) take influences including the Youngblood Brass Band and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and add their uniquely East London twist to the growing brass-band phenomenon.
In 2010 with only their first debut vinyl single behind them (Money/What’s the time, Mr. Wasp?) HCB took their powerhouse of brass out to the UK public, including gigs at Lovebox, for Nike at the Leeds Snowdome, The Mercury Music Prize afterparty and a very famous stage invasion from Amy Winehouse for an impromptu version of Valerie at London’s Jazz Café.
With two more highly anticipated singles and their debut album in 2011, this year promises to be even bigger for this jaw dropping nine-piece.
Featuring trumpets, trombones, saxes, sousaphone and marching percussion, the band are totally acoustic and yet able to blow the roof off any room. Hackney Colliery Band’s members have hugely diverse musical backgrounds, ranging from work with cutting edge jazz group Porpoise Corpus to the Bollywood Brass Band, and from Jarvis Cocker to major orchestras. This breadth of musical talent is clearly on display in their eclectic repertoire. Add the fact that the band stays true to its roots by bringing the tradition of mobile marching bands firmly into the 21st Century and you know that every gig’s sure to be unique.
Radio support from Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1), Lauren Laverne (BBC 6Music), Jason Pulaski (Kuci 88.9FM, USA), Markus Milz, Further In Fusion, Ennio Styles (3RRR, Australia), Pete Isaac, Jelly Jazz (Phonic.fm), Phil Lvene (Eclecticjazz.com), Tiago Santos (Radio Oxigenio 102.6FM, Portugal) & Enrique Domenech (Fusionova Radio)