The Brooklyn NY based brass blowers known as the Lucky Chops, offer up their similarly titled EP showing off their interlocking bad ass playing. "Buyo" begins the EP on a mellower tip though as the band works up their lungs over some crisp progressions.
"Hymn" messes with the time arraignments and feelings of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" moving it from a shuffle to a funky get down to stand and salute pageant in a few measures. The percussion shines on this one as the tempo flies around with wild abandon.
The drums kick off the ode to the brassiest town out there with "Bourbon Street", their take on the Crescent City staple. This version of the track gets sultry and celebratory about 3 minutes in showing what Lucky Chops do best; take tradition and funk it up in their style.
The Latin beats clog the dance floor for "Dance Of The Tiger" which will have couples grinding while "Going Home" will put a damper on the evening with marches towards the exits. The closing cover of the classic "Lean On Me" highlights the trumpets as the group keeps things creatively casual to end things.
While perhaps not as instantly infectious as their previous release the band still gets funky and fresh with their horns, if a bit more soulful/melancholy on Lucky Chops. Maybe it has to do with dropping that brass weight off their name, any which way, fans of funky stuff should give them a whirl.
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After a bit of a rock break with Glide Magazine reviews we get back to the brass. We excitedly reviewed Lucky Chops previous EP last Jazz January, and are pumped they are here yet again with another offering. We dig these fellows and will have much more from them before the month is out so stay tuned, until then...
Support the band here, buy/stream the album here or below and watch some kick ass video of them:
Recorded just a month before the Covid-19 virus locked down the country Live In L.A. by the Lucky Chops is a testament to the band's pure joy of making music for their fans and just how much we have lost during the pandemic.
The New York City based brass band captured their February 7th 2020 show at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles, playing to a very excited crowd who the outfit interact with often. The band, Josh Holcomb: Trombone Daro Behroozi: Tenor Saxophone/Bass Clarinet Joshua Gawel: Trumpet Adrian Condis: Baritone Saxophone Dr. Reginald Chapman Jr: Contrabass Bugle Patrick Simard: Drums, get the most out of their performance with their bright originals, cover insertions and amicable energy.
Smooth opener "Without You (4 Tonite)" sets the early tone but it is the blaring trumpet from Gawel, the pumping horns and drums during "Traveler" delivers an early highlight finding the band clicking. Other fantastic brass work colors the disco funk of "Memories", the vibrant "Familiar Places" and the great ska like groove from "Coco" which may just be the best of the bunch.
What is really the biggest stand out however is the bands interaction with the crowd. A year into a live music shutdown it feels utterly foreign for Lucky Chops to urge the fans to introduce themselves to each other and slap hands during "Best Things"; after so much social distancing this urging feels dangerous, which is odd.
The band also leads the crowd in deep exhaling and singing from everyone in the theater as an attempt to bond with fans during "Hoodoos at Sunrise" but in these times, the only fear is that no one was spreading disease during these last days of normalcy. Of course it is silly to see these interactions in these terms, but it just proves how much the last year has changed with how we perceive everything, even live albums.
The players do a delightful job delivering the dance party during both "A/B Jam" and "Danza 2020" complete with "I'll Fly Away" and "Eye of the Tiger" teases respectively, while the excellent "Full Heart Fancy" pumps out the jams before the fantastic closing cover combo of "Funkytown/I Feel Good" brings down the house with the best interplay on the record.
Live In L.A. from the Lucky Chops reminds us all how interactive live music can be and unfortunately, how far removed we currently are from those carefree times.
Brass Bands are one of the most consistently exciting live acts one can see but tend to become a bit dull when entering the studio, thank god The Lucky Chops Brass Band is here to kick things up with Lucky Chops Vol 1 if only for about 15 joyous minutes. The 5 Piece NYC based brass blowers mix up a range of styles to create an output that has traditional roots yet sounds awfully god damn fresh in today's fleeting music market.
The opening "Sk-Ba" covers The Skatalites track blowing with energy propagating a "get up and dance" swag. "Longa" takes its name from Eastern styled music and that is clearly the vibe going on here, great clashing rhythms and horn runs add a spice to the sound.
The traditional "Bourbon St. Parade" acknowledges the groups spiritual center but creatively jams out over funky drum beats and sousaphone toots before solos start jamming up to a full out rave, ending things gloriously. This kind of improv/traditional combo keeps Lucky Chops sounding vital.
They give that same flash and substance to "This Little Light Of Mine" closing the all too short EP with a flourish fading out just when the dancing seems to be getting started.With a formula this rich we can only hope Vol 2 is on its way soon as more of this brassy goodness is needed.
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We had the privilege of seeing this band up close and personal at a wedding we attended and were amazed. They had it all and this EP proves it, if only a sampler of their styles it is still a great edition to Jazzy January here at RtBE.
Buy it/Stream here, support the band here, peep some video below and def catch them live when you can.
Lucky Chops Josh Gawel: We formed many a moon ago when we were all in high school. We were classmates at LaGuardia Arts High School in Lincoln Center and we met (no surprise) in band class. We used to play in Central Park after school, exploiting the cuteness of a kid brass band to get some nice pocket money. Eventually we all went to college and starting performing in other bands and delving into various styles of music. In 2013 we began taking the band seriously again and we used the new tools gathered in college to create the current Lucky Chops sound. We're now a six piece band consisting of Sousaphone, Drums, Tenor Sax, Bari Sax, Trombone and Trumpet. Here's to the future!
RTBE: You do a lot of playing for free especially in the subway's how has NYC influenced what you guys do? Does playing next to a rumbling train change things up musically for you?
LC: In 2014 we were admitted to the MTA's Music Under New York program, granting us legal permits each week to perform in the subway. We love the job and it brings us back to our roots performing in Central Park. Our main tenant as a band has always been to bring joy to a city that often times seems joyless. What better place to brighten up someone's day than the subway? It's great to get crowds of all sorts of people randomly gather for a dance together. That's what we're all about.
RTBE: You seem to be very comfortable putting your own spin on songs, whether it is the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" or a Michael Jackson tune, I am interested in the decision making process of whether to do a straight up cover or a "Lucky Chops" version of a tune?
LC: We love playing covers! It's a great way to connect with audiences, and a great outlet for our creativity. Since we're an all acoustic band with no lead singer, we enjoy the challenge of covering vocal songs and making them both recognizable and funky. Our covers of current top 40 pop songs are usually pretty straight forward, and they come and go with the new hits. We like to be more experimental with our covers of classics though, since they've withstood the test of time and can remain in our repertoire. We draw from a very wide range of styles and time periods to find our covers, from Ottoman Empire Arabic music to Tchaikovsky to The Spice Girls and beyond. Everything is on the table for us.
RTBE: There is a clear groove/funky element to your sound, have you collaborated with any MC's or are there any plans to delve into hip-hop?
LC: We went through a phase of collaborations with various MCs back in 2012. We wanted to go in more of a hip-hop direction and had some great shows, we even opened for Snoop! We discovered that our band vibe wasn't in fact suited for hip hop though and decided to leave that behind. We still incorporate elements of hip hop in our music, but we don't often work with MCs anymore
RTBE: As with most brass bands the city of New Orleans is all over you guys (We can not get enough of the town and 2015 Jazzfest can't come soon enough for us) what influence has it had on the band?
LC: We love NOLA and we've all been down there before. A number of us have jazz backgrounds and I particularly have studied early jazz history extensively. The sound of 1920's and early 30's jazz is a big part of my playing and I like to add those sounds to the big chops "gumbo"
RTBE: What's in the immediate future for the band?
LC: We are currently working on some really big projects that we're not at liberty to discuss... but stay tuned!!
RTBE: If you guys had a dream gig what would it be?
LC: Hmmm.... we've always wanted to live on a sailboat and play all day and night, just for ourselves. We'll see what happens with that!
Sail On Sirs! You should make it a point to catch the band live as they are a joy, we danced all night last Friday to their sounds out in Brooklyn. Thanks to Josh and the fellas for their time and the fantastic music.
One of NYC's best brass bands and an RtBE Favorite who we also had the privilege of interviewing back in 2015, are about to release their first studio full length album in two weeks.
Lucky Chops have dropped the first single from that album titled "Full Heart Fancy" and you can watch it here:
The full length will be available on the 27th of September and you can pre-order it now. Below are some live clips from the band to get you even more pumped up:
Our favorite NYC based brass band Lucky Chops have come out with their most recent video
It is an instrumental cover of Ariana Grande's "Problem" check it out below:
Needless to say if you follow this site at all you will know we like this version much better then the original.
We really dig this band having recently interviewed them during Jazzy January and reviewed both of their EP's. For those of you in NYC they are playing the next few Thursday nights on the Upper East Side at Five Mile Stone 9-12:30 so check them out because they cook. We hope to get up there tonight and a few more times this spring/summer.
Before we leave here's some more of the fellas getting down below ground in the subway doing a few older covers that you will recognize:
One of our favorite NYC based brass outfits put out a new single on their bandcamp page. It is a cover of The Beatles classic "Helter Skelter".
We have written about the band a few times before, seen them live a bunch and even interviewed them. The group seems to have some new members in it, but the band hasn't lost any of it's fire as this cover is damn good.
Next month we are going to showcase bands playing Jazzfest and we wish these fellas made the journey south to play the best festival in America. Thanks to Billy for sending this over.
Thanks to Billy for sending this over, oh and buy all of their digital music on the bandcamp site.
The newest release from Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet is a live album captured at their Thursday night homebase, Vaughn's in the Bywater. The directly titled, Live at Vaughn's from Louisiana Red Hot Records, drops the listener in the small bar with the band as the party music rolls out for over an hour.
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