A few years ago while eating a taco I first heard the magnificent sound of brass band music from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Immediately I bought a bunch of CDs and videos. Living on the edge of the Mexican part of sunset park, I was sure that I could find some of this music performed live, just like it is in Chicago and LA. I searched the colorful night club posters up and down fifth avenue. Although I understood no Spanish one thing was clear: none of the bands pictured had enough players to form a genuine acoustic Banda: 14! There is no banda in NYC!
So I called Oscar and we called a dozen of our closest friends and here we are. Featuring my arrangements of classic Banda tunes of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
Press
from the Village Voice
Many of New York's edgier slipstream jazzbos—including saxophonist Oscar Noriega, trombonist Curtis Hasselbring, and drummer Jim Black—are among the morphing lineup of this loud and emotional 14-piece group devoted to the heavy-metal, brass-driven banda sound rooted in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Los Muertos draw much of their weepy repertoire from Banda El Recodo, which gave contemporary Mexican music a kick in the brass during the '40s. - Richard Gehr
