HONK NYC!: Oct 15 thru 19 2013
Logo by Samantha Tsistinas
On Tuesday, October 15, 2013, brass bands and parade revelers will rendezvous in Brooklyn to kick off the seventh annual HONK NYC! Festival. Encompassing five days and three boroughs, HONK NYC! is an extravaganza of global street music and spectacle. Ensembles from Texas, Illinois, England and Brazil will appear alongside New York artists such as Frank London (The Klezmatics), Hungry March Band, PitchBlak Brass Band, Underground Horns, Batala NYC, Veveritse Brass Band, Djarara and master percussionist Deep Singh. Over a dozen free and ticketed performances and educational initiatives will be presented in NYC schools, concert venues, parks, art galleries and museums. For complete festival details, including information on parade starting locations and ticket sales, visit https://www.facebook.com/HonkNYC and http://honkfest.org/honk-nyc
THE after-party to the Boston-area’s unprecedented HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands (Oct. 11 – 13), HONK NYC! collects musicians and performers from around the world dedicated to playing and preserving the tradition of brass and percussion music and spectacle. Introducing New York audiences to visiting artists annually since 2007, HONK NYC! is proud to present the New York premier of two unique troupes: London-based avant-pop marching band Perhaps Contraption, and funk-rock fusionists Os Siderais, from Rio de Janeiro. Making return visits to the festival are Austin’s Minor Mishap Marching Band, and Chicago-based Environmental Encroachment.
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, October 15: Opening Night Dance Party at Littlefield
622 Degraw St., Brooklyn 11217
Pre-show parade: 6:30pm. Doors at Littlefield: 7pm. Show: 8pm
HONK NYC! commences in Brooklyn with a processional to Littlefield, where the festivities get underway at 8pm with Batala NYC, the all-female Samba Reggae ensemble. Minor Mishap Marching Band follows with a raucous set of punk-ass global brass, on the floor, on the stage, and maybe even on top of the bar. A frequent collaborator in Europe of Amanda Palmer’s, Perhaps Contraption brings their curiously twisted brass-pop to the stage next. Closing the night will be trumpeter Frank London, presenting his new Klezmer-Bhangra collaboration with Deep Singh, SHARABI. Check http://www.littlefieldnyc.com/
Photo by Ro Mo
Wednesday, October 16: 2nd Annual East Village Cavalcade of Pomp & After-Party at DROM; Symposium at The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space
HONK NYC!’s night of simultaneous and convergent parades on Manhattan’s Lower East Side begins at 6:30pm at a soon-to-be-disclosed location and ends with an after-party at 10pm at Drom. In between, a symposium on HONK! will be offered. (See below.) Os Siderais will make their NYC debut at Drom, followed by Underground Horns, known for performing their “Afro-Funk Bhangra Brass Grooves” in MTA stations across town. Environmental Encroachment will deliver their euphoric mash up of brass, pop, standards and originals at the end of the night. Parade coordinates TBA on the HONK! NYC website.
Photo by Ro Mo
Friday, October 18: HONK NYC! Friday Night Gala at Gowanus Ballroom
55 9th St New York, NY 11231
Pre-show Parade: Doors at Gowanus Ballroom: 8pm. Show: 9pm
HONK NYC!’s Friday night blowout begins with a parade around Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood, and ends on the shores of the canal in the cavernous gallery spaces of Gowanus Ballroom. The party starts with sets by visiting bands Os Siderais, Environmental Encroachment and Perhaps Contraption. Three Brooklyn-based bands round out the night. Hitting at the midnight hour will be PitchBlak Brass Band, the hottest hip-hop brass outfit in town. Inspired by the Romany Gypsy music of the Balkans, Veveritse, an irresistible party band, follows. The evening concludes with Brooklyn’s own Haitain rah rah band institution, Djarara.
Photo by Ro Mo
Saturday, October 19: Kids HONK! at Children’s Museum of the Arts
103 Charlton St New York, NY 10014
2 – 3pm [times may change]
HONK NYC! co-presents an afternoon show just for kids at Manhattan’s delightful Children’s Museum of the Arts. Featuring instrument building workshops with museum staff. Environmental Encroachment will perform.
Saturday, October 19: Live Radio Performance with Os Siderais on WFMU
7 to 8pm
Os Siderais plays LIVE on WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradise (TSP). Hosted by Rob Weisberg, TSP is a long-time radio partner of HONK NYC!. Listen online at 91.1 in the NY metro area, 91.9 in Rockland County, 90.1 in Orange County, or to the live stream at www.wfmu.org. The show will be archived here: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/tp.
Special Festival Initiative: HONK NYC! Goes to School
Throughout the course of the festival, HONK NYC! artists will team up with elementary and pre-schools in Brooklyn and Staten Island to present daytime concerts. Partners include Maple Street School, PS 10, and the Staten Island Community Charter School.On Wednesday, October 16 at 8pm, a symposium on the street band scene will be held at The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, on Avenue C. A panel of musicians, journalists, academics, and organizers will be on had to discuss the HONK! phenomenon and network of festivals. “Participatory Dance” lessons will given by members of the Hungry March Band Pleasure Society at every show.
Photos by Mike Shane
Support the festival and get your gala tickets in advance. Check out our Kickstarter, running now. Funds raised go toward supporting artist travel and making it the biggest festival it can be. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1737928085/2013-honk-nyc-festival
Band Biographies
Batala NYC is an all-women’s Afro-Brazilian Samba Reggae band connected to the large global family of Batala bands founded by Brazilian percussionist Giba Gonçalves. There are many Batala ensembles around the world, but few are all women! The music of Batala originates in Salvador de Bahia in North Eastern Brazil. Batala NYC formed in the spring of 2012 and has played at numerous street festivals across the city. batalanyc.com
Djarara has been keeping the Haitian Rara tradition alive in the United States for almost 20 years. Djarara performed on Wycleff Jean’s 1997 album, “Carnival” and their 2007 song “Why” was named one of the top carnival songs of the year by Afropop Worldwide. They are they subject of the documentary “The Other Side of the Water,” and play every Sunday during the summer in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. othersideofthewater.org
Environmental Encroachment (EE) hails from Chicago, Illinois. One of the oldest HONK! bands, EE uses an artistic approach to the marching band tradition and circus-like theatrics to create a unique performance environment. Inspired by Latin, North African, and traditional American rhythms, EE songs are folkloric fusions that incite audiences to be childlike, curious, happy and free. The band has appeared at South By Southwest, Lollapalooza and the Chicago World Music Festival, among others. EE’s Bunny Parade at Burning Man draws huge crowds every year and is one of the festival’s most popular events. encroach.net
Hungry March Band, New York City’s very own, boasts 15+ years of bringing live musical spectacle to the people of the city and beyond. Founded in Brooklyn in 1997 for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, HMB embodies the spirit of NYC’s streets with their inimitable brass sound and inspired eclectic dance. HMB has shared their creativity with audiences around the United States, South America and across Europe, where they’ve been enveloped into a longstanding community of brass bands. A unique sonic voice has emerged from the recording of their four self-released albums, one that melds their musical knowledge of big band, traditional and free jazz with punk rock and global brass influences. hungrymarchband.com
Minor Mishap Marching Band (MMMB) is Austin’s renegade circus-punk-brass band. Members of MMMB are organizers of HONK!TX, a yearly festival summoning over twenty community street bands to capitol city of the Lone Star State. The Austin Chronicle named MMMB “Best Marching Merrymakers” for 2011, writing, “Nothing compares to the gesamtkunstwerk of a Minor Mishap show, with members parading around like anarchist, psychotic bumblebees on Adderall, blowing music outta variously-sized sound holes, standing atop bars, stages, and one another. The vibe is so, so very celebratory, even the crustiest curmudgeon would crack a grin.” minormishap.com
Os Siderais, from Rio de Janeiro, materialized on Earth with the mission to defend social and ecological needs, and warn human beings that if we act now, there’s still hope. They propose to occupy public space, and remind each artist, and any person that works in communication with the public, that if you don’t assume a position, you’re supporting every big problem of your planet.
facebook.com/Os.Siderais
Perhaps Contraption is a brass, voice, woodwind and drum powered avant-marching band which draws upon art pop, progressive rock, oompah and contemporary classical elements such as polyrhythm and post minimalism. Since June 2011, they have performed over 160 times at numerous events including Glastonbury, The Secret Garden Party, Bestival, Artisti in Piazza (Italy), Wilderness, Lovebox, Durham Brass Festival and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. By blending unique and intricate instrumentation with choreography, costume and exuberant choral sections, an exciting, nascent contemporary performance troupe has been assembled. They create experiences that are simultaneously accessible, astonishing and wholly entertaining. Their most recent album Listening Bones embodies this bold new sound. The music touches upon the joyous and irreverent, the dark and piquant, the oom-pah and the sublime. It will make you move, it will make you think. At the heart of their work lies a passionate desire to create strikingly original, eccentric music that can be presented in a range of versatile outlets. Whether it’s situationist street parades, educational workshops or full scale theatrical collaborations with dancers and lighting designers, Perhaps Contraption immerse and surprise by breaking down traditional performer/audience boundaries, and by promoting the use of unique instrumentation in popular music. perhapscontraption.co.uk
PitchBlak Brass Band is a Brooklyn-based 10-piece band whose style and sound represents hip-hop from the 1980s to present day. A collective of young musicians, composers and artists, PitchBlak embodies the contemporary and vibrant undercurrents of New York City. PitchBlak’s members have incredibly diverse musical backgrounds, allowing them to infuse hip-hop driven music with funk, rock, jazz and classical genres, resulting in a style as fresh as their dreads, shades and dashikis—rich brass harmonies, lyrical hooks, tongue-twisting raps, and rhythms that make your blood race. In addition to performing at such prestigious venues as Brooklyn Bowl and 92YTribeca, PitchBlak trains and mentors young musicians in community outreach programs and classrooms throughout the country. PitchBlak is set to release its debut album, You See Us, in Fall 2013. pitchblakbrassband.com
SHARABI is one of the many projects generated by acclaimed NYC-based trumpeter and composer Frank London, “The Mystical High Priest of New Wave Avant-Klez Jazz.” A collaboration between London and master percussionist Deep Singh, SHARABI is an experiment in cross-cultural dance grooves and trans-continental harmony. franklondon.com and deepsoundz.com
Underground Horns is a Brooklyn-based brass band playing Afro-Funk, Bhangra, New Orleans grooves and beyond. AllAboutJazz called their 2009 debut, Funk Monk “kick-ass dance music…that brushes up against psychedelia…with shots of funky brass juice.” In 2010, they recorded their second album, Big Beat. Writing in The New York Jazz Record Ken Waxman called them “An unapologetic party band with brains…with tonal inflections from the Big Easy, central Africa, the Maghreb and the Baltic states.” Underground Horns performed at the 2011 NYC Winter Jazz Festival and has toured internationally in Brazil, Egypt and Germany. In the big city, they make people dance in subway stations, parks and at their numerous club dates. undergroundhorns.com/index
Veveritse Brass Band finds its inspiration in the drama of the Romany (Gypsy) music of the Balkans. With an eye to the powerful exactitude of these melodies, Veveritse makes room for play. Slippery, even squirrelly, they may start off running almost too fast, only to drop the bottom out. What begins sonorous and jagged straightens up, carrying audiences into the night dancing, sighing. With two trumpets, a saxophone, four mid-horns, a tuba, and two drummers, they are ten deep, creating not a wall of sound, but a colorful tapestry. With it’s theatrical bent, Veveritse has already scored two different films, played benefits, parties and clubs. facebook.com/pages/Veveritse-Brass-Band/342515906992