Bad Cactus Brass Band is a funky brass band from Phoenix, Arizona. With trumpet (John Michael Sherman), saxophone (Vince Kaufmann), trombone (Jon Dhuse), sousaphone (Benjie Messer), keyboard (Chris Peña) and drums (Ethan Baxley), they blast through joyful street beats and soulful grooves while holding onto their roots in New Orleans jazz, gospel, and second line. Bad Cactus Brass Band began in Phoenix in 2009, and within a year their unstoppable energy and second line parades had made them one of the busiest bands in town, bringing their Mardi Gras party to festivals, parties, weddings and funerals. In 2011, they founded theDowntown Phoenix Mardi Gras Parade and Festival, and in 2012, the New Times named them Phoenix’s best traditional New Orleans brass band. The six-piece now tours regularly throughout the southwest United States. Their latest album, #musicbombing, is a collection of original funk that keeps audiences shaking on the dance floor and still gets played on jazz radio.

Always on the lookout for new experiences and able to perform just about anywhere, Bad Cactus Bass Band has specialized in bringing a party to unlikely venues. They have performed on street corners, on the light rail, on escalators and in elevators, in hot tubs and cemeteries. In 2012, after winning a music video contest sponsored by Southwest Airlines, they performed on an airplane in flight. Musical guerillas, they have paraded uninvited into clubs, stores, bars and breakfast establishments. In 2013, Bad Cactus Brass Band collaborated with the Italian artist collective Lu Cafausu to create the participatory art processional “The Celebration of the Living (who reflect upon death), 4th edition.” They have played polkas at Oktoberfests, klezmer at Jewish weddings, and TV and video game themes at pop culture conventions. Most unlikely of all, they’ve proved that New Orleans funk and soul can grow in the Arizona desert.