The Hot 8 Brass Band is a New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 based brass band

Brass band

A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...

 that blends hip-hop, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 styles with traditional New Orleans brass sounds. It was formed by Bennie Pete, Jerome Jones, and Harry Cook in 1995, the merging of two earlier bands, the Looney Tunes Brass Band and the High Steppers Brass Band.

Since June 2007 the band has been signed to the UK's Tru Thoughts

Tru Thoughts

Tru Thoughts is an independent record label. It was formed in Brighton, UK in 1999 by Robert Luis of Deeds Plus Thoughts and Paul Jonas.It became, in one decade, one of the most famous and well respected labels in independent music world.- History :...

 label, that label's first U.S. act.

Music

The Hot 8 Brass Band plays in second line parade

Parade

A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...

s hosted Sunday afternoons by Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs; in the New Orleans metropolitan area

New Orleans metropolitan area

New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner, or the Greater New Orleans Region is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...

 they also play at traditional jazz funeral

Jazz funeral

Jazz funeral is a common name for a funeral tradition with music which developed in New Orleans, Louisiana.The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New Orleans musicians and practitioners of the tradition...

s and at local jazz nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

s.

They play regularly at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana...

 and have played in the Zulu

Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club

The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club is a Carnival Krewe in New Orleans, Louisiana which puts on the Zulu parade each Mardi Gras Day. Zulu is New Orleans' largest predominantly African American carnival organization known for its blackfaced krewe members wearing grass skirts and its unique throw...

 Parade, San Antonio Zulu Association Festival, the City of New Orleans New Year

New Year

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....

's Celebration and Mo' Fest, the Tom Joyner

Tom Joyner

Thomas "Tom" Joyner is an American radio host, host of the nationally syndicated The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and also founder of REACH Media Inc., the Tom Joyner Foundation, and BlackAmericaWeb.com.-Early life:...

 Morning Show, and the Master P

Master P

Percy Robert Miller , better known by his stage name Master P or his business name P. Miller, is an American rapper, actor, entrepreneur, investor, and producer. He is the founder of the popular label No Limit Records, which went bankrupt and was relaunched as New No Limit Records through Koch...

 music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 "Hootie Hoo". The Hot 8 Brass Band has also toured in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

, the Hot 8 Brass Band was propelled to wider prominence by an appearance in Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

's 2006 documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

When the Levees Broke

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana due to the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed in late August and early September 2005, and premiered at the New Orleans Arena on...

. Because of this appearance, according to National Public Radio, "A new legion of fans caught onto the band's mix of traditional marching music, hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

, and R&B."

In 2009, the band add its unique New Orleans style to a Iko Iko

Iko Iko

"Iko Iko" is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1953 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans. The story tells of a "spy boy" or "spy dog" "Iko Iko" is a...

 cover song of the Swiss band Schtärneföifi who rerecorded their Swiss German version from 1995 "Heicho - Ohni Znacht is Bed" together with The Dixie Cups

The Dixie Cups

The Dixie Cups are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for their 1964 million selling disc, "Chapel of Love".-Career:...

 in New Orleans. The song was released on the new album "Wältberüemt".

Membership

Four members of the band have died since its formation. Past and present band members include:

• Bennie "Big Peter" Pete (tuba and band leader)
• Terrell "Burger" Batiste (trumpet)
• Harry "Swamp Thang" Cook (bass drum)
• Jerome "Baybay" Jones (trombone)
• Alvarez "B.I.G. AL" Huntley (trumpet)
• Dinerral "Dick" Shavers (snare drum)
• Raymond "Dr. Rackle" Williams (trumpet)

• Keith "Wolf" Anderson (trombone)
• Jereau "Cousin" Fournett (trombone)
• Wendell "Cliff" Stewart (saxophone)
• Demond "Bart" Dorsey (trombone)
• Jacob Johnson (trumpet)
• Joseph "Shotgun Joe" Williams (trombone)
• Gregory "Koon" Veals (trombone)

Discography

In October 2007, the band released Rock with The Hot 8, their first studio album, on the Tru Thoughts

Tru Thoughts

Tru Thoughts is an independent record label. It was formed in Brighton, UK in 1999 by Robert Luis of Deeds Plus Thoughts and Paul Jonas.It became, in one decade, one of the most famous and well respected labels in independent music world.- History :...

 label. Hot 8 Brass Band was featured on Down in New Orleans

Down in New Orleans

Down in New Orleans is a gospel album by The Blind Boys of Alabama, released in 2008. It won Best Traditional Gospel Album at the 51st Grammy Awards...

, the 2008 album

2008 in music

2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...

 by the Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind at Talladega, Alabama in 1939. The three main vocalists of the group and their drummer/percussionist are all blind....

.

Violent deaths of group members

The band has also been mentioned in the U.S. media because three of its members, all of whom were between the ages of 17 and 25, have died over the years due to handgun violence

Gun violence in the United States

Gun violence in the United States is an intensely debated political issue in the United States. Gun-related violence is most common in poor urban areas and in conjunction with gang violence, often involving juveniles or young adults...

.

In 1996, seventeen-year old trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 player Jacob Johnson was found shot execution-style in his home.

In 2004, trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

 player Joseph "Shotgun Joe" Williams was shot dead by police in controversial circumstances. According to a local news source:

According to New Orleans Police Department

New Orleans Police Department

The New Orleans Police Department has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts....

 (NOPD) accounts, officers were stopping 22-year-old trombonist Joe Williams for driving an allegedly stolen vehicle when Williams slammed the white Ford F-150 into reverse, accelerating into an NOPD squad car and officer. His actions, says Deputy Superintendent Marlin Defillo, caused officers to fear for their lives and thus open fire, killing Williams.

The same source reported that several eyewitness

Witness

A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...

es say that police shot Williams while he was unarmed and his hands were in the air.

In 2006, drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Dinerral "Dick" Shavers

Dinerral Shavers

Dinerral "Dick" Shavers was a jazz drummer and educator from New Orleans, Louisiana.Shavers was best known musically as a founding member of the Hot 8 Brass Band...

 was shot and killed while driving with his family. According to The Times-Picayune:

Dinerral Shavers, 25, died from a gunshot to the back of his head at about 5:30 p.m. while behind the wheel of his black Chevrolet Malibu

Chevrolet Malibu

Malibus and all other Chevelles were completely restyled for 1968 with semi-fastback rooflines on two-door hardtops and wheelbases split to on two-door models and 118 for four-door sedans and station wagons. Engine offerings included a new V8 rated at that replaced the V8 that had served as the...

in the 2200 block of Dumaine Street… His family was not injured… Although critically wounded, Shavers continued driving four blocks up Dumaine before stopping. By 6 p.m., Shavers lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street just outside the open driver's side door… Shavers was taken to a hospital, but died within an hour.

Police said the bullet was intended for Shavers's fifteen-year old stepson. The Hot 8 Brass Band played at Shavers' funeral.