The Royal Chase

Nation Beat are a new name to me, but a cursory internet search reveals they have existed for more than a decade and this is their third album. Not much information about Nation Beat is available but as their last album was 2011's Growing Stone – a mix of Brazilian vocals/percussion with rap and rock guitar – bandleader Scott Kettner seems to have reinvented Nation Beat for this outing. Kettner is a drummer and percussionist and the rest of the band features trombone, tenor sax, trumpet and sousaphone (a very New Orleans marching band line-up – although the band appear to be based in the north-east). On The Royal Chase they attempt to fuse Brazilian forró with the New Orleans brass band tradition. It's an interesting fusion, as forró is largely accordion lead – closer to zydeco and Cajun – but I imagine the melodies and rhythms are what made Nation Beat believe they could blend. For the most part it works; they are tight and dynamic, and the guest vocals on two tunes by Carolina Mama and Moses Patrou work well. But ‘Hey Poky Way’, a Mardi Gras Indian standard, is too obvious. Still, this is a dynamic, well-recorded effort.