This ringing endorsement was found scrawled on the inside of an Austin bathroom stall, and it neatly sums up the position The Urban Achievers Brass Band now holds at the forefront of a new and burgeoning Austin Brass Band scene.

 

For almost two years now, they've been filling the dance floor at Austin's favorite new east-side honky-tonk, The White Horse. There and at many other places around town, they've been winning over diverse crowds with their unique mix of traditional and contemporary New Orleans brass band music, fused with ten-gallon Texas sensibilities, and an ever-increasing selection of original tunes and creative arrangements of early 90's radio hits.

 

Transcendental Brass Band

[BRASSED OFF] In New Orleans, the Transcendental Brass Band could well be spotted on any given corner as street musicians—nine old dudes blowing the kind of crazy, funked-out sound that provides the perfect soundtrack for swilling bourbon in the Big Easy. In Portland, they let 'em inside. Transcendental’s sound harks back to the glory days of brass bands while providing funkadelic basslines to get asses shaking. It’s a timeless sound, revamped into the present with an immediacy that makes it fresh as a steaming po’ boy. AP KRYZA.

 

The Transcendental Brass Band is a west-coast take on the classic New Orleans Tradition: funky street bands for processions, parties, and parades. A rhythm section of tuba, drum line, and guitar form the funereal pyre, ignited by the incandescent holy trinity horn section of trumpet, trombone, and saxophone. Although the fiery, consummately danceable result is the group's trademark, these flexible, trained professionals have sufficient depth and fluency to encompass many musical genres, from jazz to heavy metal, all the way to the most tender ballad. This, and the eclectic mixture of songs, from the Beatles to Mingus, has a wide, multigenerational appeal.

Influences: The Dirty Dozen, Treme, Olympia, and Rebirth Brass Bands The Meters Duke Ellington Miles Davis The Grateful Dead Charles Mingus The World Saxophone Quartet The Skatalites The Beatles The JB's Dollar Brand Professor Longhair Maceo Parker Galactic Horace Silver

The Urban Archievers Brass Band