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Subway Gawdz

This post reflects on Too Many Zooz, Moon Hooch, Youngblood Brass Band, and other various nonsense popular brass ensembles.

I've loved Youngblood Brass Band since my freshman year of high school, when a trumpet player in the band started blasting it in his car when we were driving around. Nat Mcintosh's playing, and the bombastic nature of the band (with its New Orleans influences) kept me dancing around the basement like a good high school kid should. I tried transcribing and imitating Nat's playing, got a couple right notes down for the trumpet and trombone parts in a few songs, and was eventually invited to play sousaphone on Brooklyn with my high school's jazz band. I remember being terrified, but I did alright for a high-energy high school kid looking at a wall of unfamiliar ink and chord changes on the solo section.
My hype song in Junior year was YBB's Under Your Influence. I still haven't figured out the lyrics entirely.

Since then, I've joined a Dixie band and Brass Tower, one of the resident brass funk/pop bands here in Iowa City. It's been tremendously fun playing for both bands - I learned how to read lead sheets and play in a few styles I was completely unfamiliar with. Brass Tower plays arrangements from bands like Too Many Zooz, Youngblood, and Lucky Chops, another crazy subway brass group.

Despite the repetitive nature of the piece, one of my favorite charts we play from Too Many Zooz has been Kings Avenue. I lay down the bassline while trumpet and trombone imitate the recording, soloing like crazy over just one chord. We played Clinton Street Social Club and people got DOWN.
 
We also play their version of Funkytown/I Feel Good. Playing with the group I'm in has helped my sense of time, it's given me reason to work on scoops/glisses/weird multiphonics and acrobatics on the horn, and given me the outlet to just play really loud on occasion.
It's been good for my playing, to say the least. I firmly believe all brass musicians should dabble in this kind of fun playing. Take yourself too seriously and you lose the opportunity to get better in ways you didn't expect.

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