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No BS! Brass

No BS! Brass Band is a powerful brass band that embraces the spirit of New Orleans into its original East Coast modern funk. Their danceable arrangements are outstandingly well thought-out and organized, drawing inspiration from funk, jazz, klezmer, calypso, and Led Zeppelin. Nearly every member has had conservatory training, holding various Bachelors and Masters degrees in music. Based in Richmond, Virginia, this band has quickly earned a reputation as a premiere band to see for an evening of heart-pounding energy and uncontrollable dancing.

Getting their start in early 2006, founders Reggie Pace and Lance Koehler knew that they had something special. In casting the members of the group, it was essential to include only the strongest players in the city. Each member needed to have high skills and a definably unique persona. The result is a 13-piece band made up of Richmond’s heaviest sounds and biggest names. Nearly every player holds a Bachelor or Master of Music degree, having studied an in-depth curriculum of all aspects of music with some of the nation’s most influential professors.

The musicians of No BS! Brass Band knew that the sound and music of No BS! Brass Band had to live up to the name. In putting together the compositions and arrangements, the writers stripped away all of the “b.s.” to give the audience something solid, unique, organic, real, and powerful. The resulting music is a true definition of the “Richmond sound.” This instrumental funk music has strong influences of jazz and rock, like Led Zeppelin played by a brass band. Being a 13-piece brass band, they have the look of New Orleans with the raw sound of East Coast funk. The music is extremely danceable and high-energy. Peter McElhinney of Style Weekly writes that “the best advice for their CD is to play it loud,” and that “The No BS! Brass Band had no problem riveting the attention of a capacity crowd.”

The musicians and the music of No BS! Brass Band are refined, polished, organic. The music is stripped away of all the fluff, leaving the audience with a sound that is raw and real. Since their incarnation in 2006, the band has earned a reputation as one of the city’s most wanted bands. Having grabbed the attention of the public and music industry representatives, this group of stellar musicians is now taking their act to the next level. Their newest CD release, Where is Stefan? can be found at Plan 9, CD Baby, and iTunes. They can be found on the web at www.myspace.com/nobsbrass, and can be contacted via email at Nobsbrass[at]gmail.com.

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on No BS! Brass Band

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on No BS! Brass Band

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring the No BS! Brass Band, who are returning to St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, August 1 at the Old Rock House. Coming out of Richmond, Virginia, the NBBB offers their own take on the classic New Orleans brass band tradition, adapting popular contemporary tunes from a variety of genres for the format, and performing their own originals as well. They've released five albums to date, the most recent being ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Fourth annual Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert, Gerald Albright, No BS! Brass Band, and more

Jazz this week: Fourth annual Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert, Gerald Albright, No BS! Brass Band, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a concert raising funds for music scholarships in honor of a much-loved local jazz supporter; gigs from a popular, groove-oriented saxophonist and a New Orleans-style brass band, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, June 14 The third annual Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert will take place at Jazz at the Bistro, featuring drummer Matt Wilson, members of Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass ...

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Music Industry

Jazz this week: Kenny Barron & Stefon Harris, No BS! Brass Band, Branford Marsalis, and more

Jazz this week: Kenny Barron & Stefon Harris, No BS! Brass Band, Branford Marsalis, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Considering that it's still mid-winter and pre-Mardi Gras, it looks like there's a nice variety of jazz and creative music over the next few days in St. Louis, with everything from intimate duets to roaring big bands on the musical menu. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, February 4 Pianist Kenny Barron and vibraphonist Stefon Harris (pictured, top left) begin a four-night run of duo performances at Jazz at the Bistro. You can get a close-up look and listen to ...

171

Radio

The Jazz Session #240: No BS! Brass (Reggie Pace)

The Jazz Session #240: No BS! Brass (Reggie Pace)

Source: AAJ Staff


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Opinion

Dance Music and the Joys of the No BS! Brass Band

Dance Music and the Joys of the No BS! Brass Band

Source: Inverted Garden by Eric Benson

"Jazz is dance music," Wynton Marsalis wrote in program notes earlier this year. “If it doesn't sound good, people won't want to dance to it. And if you can't dance to it, then it's not jazz." The statement, separating jazz and “not jazz," is the kind of shot-across-the-bow that Marsalis delights in lobbing at hostile parties, potential hostile parties, and imagined hostile parties. Defining “jazz" is Marsalis's great lexical quest, and he's long held central the idea that jazz must, ...

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Recording

No BS! Brass - Alive in Richmond (2009)

No BS! Brass - Alive in Richmond (2009)

Source: RVAjazz

By Roberto CurtisIn their sophomore album, Alive in Richmond, NO BS! Brass Band ventures into a sophisticated territory few bands in Richmond tend go. Thoughtfully composed, recorded and mastered, the surgical precision of these songs set a bar that seems hard to clear.As if the technique of the 11-15 musicians involved (several members have joined or left since it's inception almost three years ago) wasn't something to marvel at, the funky vibe surely is. Stefan Demetriadis ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

No BS!

Self Produced
2010

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