Performers

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (USA)

First act of a double bill with Henry Threadgill's Zooid (USA).

Eight brothers, all playing brass instruments, make up this remarkable group.  Their father, Chicago trumpeter Phil Cohran, played in the Sun Ra Arkestra and was instrumental in the founding of the AACM - two institutions that have long been celebrated by the Guelph Jazz Festival.  By the time Cohran's sons were big enough to hold trumpets and trombones, however, he committed himself to teaching them to play these instruments, convening early morning music lessons and steeping them in the jazz tradition hours before they were off to school each day.  Meanwhile, these brilliant young musicians were also absorbing the gamut of popular music on their own, especially hip-hop, funk, and R&B, influences that the group's music regularly reflects.  By the late 1990s, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble started performing under that name, initially on the streets of downtown Chicago, and now at major theaters and festivals around the world.