THE BRASS FUNKEYS AT THE JUNCTION
The Brass Funkeys set the Cambridge Jazz Festival on fire tonight. What a remarkable line up to launch with. Nineof the noisiest liveliest punchiest of musicians blasted their fabulous synchonized sound at a switched -on rapturous, packed audience at the Junction. This was a cool crowd - now primed to embrace the grooviest of jazz bands.
New Orleans inspired, they could have been from the soulful sixties or even the traditional twenties, but the fabulous Brass Funkeys do more than channel a genre of jazz - they re-invent the dazzling days of America’s sound revolution and turn out a concert everyone could join in . Some of the numbers relied on audience participation ( of a cunningly coordinated style) but others blasted instruments last heard in the heart of orchestras. There was a suzaphone. I mean who would choose to wear their own instrument? It remains wrapped around its player for the whole set. The most inspiring Cambridge Suzophone practitioner Andrew, Housto still playing the wondrous thing, set off to New Orleans when he couldn’t source one in England - and returned with a renovated remake of the ancient all enveloping horn six months later. He plays in the amazing ensemble of brilliant players scheduled for this year’s Festival.
Back to Brass Funkeys: they truly wowed their mostly youthful audience in the wonderfully adaptable Juction. What better to way to shake the jazz world and lay on a band so brilliantly communicative -than to engage a vibrant set of the truly funkiest musicians many of us have every heard?
Energy was the core of this band. They didn’t stop the groove all set long. One manoeuvre had the entire room, doing a sway and jump routine - them too, but they had to swaying jump whilst playing trumpets.
They lived up to their name. Book Brass Funkeys and they do what you hope - give a brilliant night out where the entire audience danced and swayed on cue from the band’s front man . They also gasped with appreciate astonishment that a massive brass ensemble could hold it together long enough to express the most vibrant lovable artistic musical rendition we haven’t heard for years.
If the Festival offers this level of fun, and it does , time to get out the programme and become a Jazzer.
CAMBRIDGE JAZZ FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY
