Brassville made an appearance in our recent Best of Nashville issue via their collaboration with rapper supreme Starlito on the aptly titled live LP Starlito w/Brassville. But the dynamic brass-and-more band’s own debut record Welcome to Brassville is a must-listen — at least if grooves to make you move are your thing.
A culinary analogy is appropriate for a group that cooks this hard. The six tracks develop their flavor base from jazz of the period in the late ’60s through the mid-’70s when that tradition was in communion with funk. Hearing from that perspective, you get something that has kinship with hip-hop and the way producers have historically flipped and blended jazz and funk samples. There’s a through line to the way Brassville riffs on Ahmad Jamal’s “Swahililand,” which is a key sample in De La Soul’s “Stakes Is High,” on the introductory “Eggs Is High.”
That’s just the opening statement and there’s so much more to dig into on this record. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but I will say the second track “Dance Junt” is some fascinating and sophisticated stuff. Among other things to recommend the piece, I have no clue how Ashley “Flutebae” Crawford is making some of the sounds she makes here. Winds players, please enlighten me, but that kind of thing blows my mind in the best way possible.
You can find Welcome to Brassville on your favorite streaming services or purchase it via Even. Keep an eye on Brassville’s website and Instagram page for updates.
