On the Spot

The Hot 8 Brass Band have experienced more hard times than most of us can ever imagine: gun-toting gangs and police have decimated the band while illness and accidents have also taken a toll. And Hurricane Katrina rendered them homeless. Yet after so many tragedies The Hot 8 Brass Band continue to play music of great joy and verve. Indeed, by recording for Brighton’s Tru Thoughts label they have gone on to make the most enjoyable New Orleans brass albums of the last decade (and adopted a work ethic that finds them constantly touring and delivering roof-raising live performances). On the Spot is their fifth album and they sound remarkably fresh, the music full of greasy street-funk grooves (alongside a desire to show off a softer side). In other words, The Hot 8 Brass Band sound hot! Opening tune ‘8 Kickin’ it Live’ is raw New Orleans party music. ‘St James Infirmary’ finds them doing an epic eight-minute transformation of this perennial Crescent City standard. A subtle take on Sade’s ‘Sweetest Taboo’ is likely to get them some radio play but it’s really the loose party anthems such as ‘Keepin’ it Funky’ and ‘Working Together’ that show just how hot Hot 8 are.