Rock With The Hot 8

"The Hot 8 set out to heat things up, and they certainly delivered: the sound was as hot as the day was, and the groove was instantly felt by the audience, who danced to the group's funky sound, mixing funk, jazz and even rap. They freestyled on Michael Jackson's "Rock With You", rendering the song almost unrecognizable, and closed by coming down from the stage and marching into the audience, having everyone follow them "New Orleans style"."
- AllAboutJazz.com

The first US signing to Tru Thoughts is the authentic Hot 8 Brass Band, the real deal, walking the streets of New Orleans and playing their tunes. They are seriously something special!!!

The ten members of the Hot 8 Brass Band are all from New Orleans and formed in '95. They have an unmistakable jazz spirit and a significant story to their work. They recently appeared in Spike Lee's poignant documentary 'When the Levees Broke' {'06}. The film captures the anger and despair surrounding one of the most horrific natural disasters in US history.

Hurricane Katrina in '05 broke a lot of boundaries between generations and class divides. This is apparent in the sound of The Hot 8, who bring elements of modern, traditional and urban music together and create a unique new class of brass music.

The band embodies the hip hop culture and energy in the New Orleans music scene. For example, they are involved in local second-line parades - these are music battles or face offs with local jazz bands on the streets. Brass bands fight it out for the largest crowd listening to their music and the one with the most feet moving at the end wins.

The Hot 8 are also part of anti violence campaigns and use their vibrant, energetic music to project this message. Tragically four members of The Hot 8 have died during their time together - two because of violent acts on the streets of New Orleans. The Hot 8 Brass Band's struggle has fuelled their passion and they have formed a deeply relevant musical style. This is credible music for so many reasons.

Their energetic big brass version of the Marvin Gaye classic, "Sexual Healing" was previously released on a small label in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. After the hurricane the label never fully recovered and the track was pushed underground until it was brought to the attention of Tru Thoughts A&R Robert Luis when Quantic started dropping it in his DJ sets. People have been swapping CDRs and MP3s to get hold of the track ever since and it has received a remarkable response, with even DJs like Gilles Peterson and Coldcut getting in touch with Tru Thoughts eager to get hold of their own copy.