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Jack Brass provides 'party music'

GABBF 2008:

June 03, 2008|MAC MCKERRAL

When Mike Olander of the Jack Brass Band learned that his group would replace "Olympia Brass" for the first time in 19 years as the headliner for the Great American Brass Band Festival, he offered a one-word response.

"Unbelievable," said Olander, who founded Jack Brass nine years ago in Minneapolis, Minn.

"I guess we will just start our own string this year. Hopefully, we can meet people's expectations."

Olander, a native Minnesotan, who started his music career on saxophone, started the group - all Midwesterners - with high expectations established through "exposure to and becoming students of all things New Orleans," he said. He realized the band met those expectations when it got asked to open for the legendary Rebirth Brass Band during The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

"They said, 'Can you play until we get there?'" Olander said. "I guess our music was spot on. People were asking if we were from uptown or downtown (New Orleans). I told them, 'No, we're from Minnesota.' Hearing that kind of question led us to believe we have done our due diligence. We learned to play (New Orleans brass) the way it's supposed to be played."

A mix of old and new

But Olander said the band adds some contemporary spice to that traditional New Orleans sound.

On its MySpace page, the band lists its Influences as, "The brass band family Rebirth, Dirty Dozen, New Birth, Treme, Hot 8, Soul Rebels, Stooges, Forgotten Souls, Lil Rascals, Olympia."

But Olander said the music he grew up with also comes into play, including that of James Brown, Stevie Wonder and groups such as Parliament.

He said the song "Shake Everything You Got," by Maceo "P-Funk" Parker, who led James Brown's band on alto sax for nearly two decades, might best sum up the Jack Brass attitude and sound.

"If people are sitting still, they must not be in earshot," Olander said. "This is dance music. We want to see hands clapping and heads bobbing. If we can do that in Minnesota, a very conservative audience, we can do it anywhere."

Olander said that if people want a brass band with energy, Jack Brass won't let them down.

"When we come out of the gate, we don't hold anything back," he said. "This is party music."

The Jack Brass Band core lineup: Mike Olander, band leader on bass drum and vocals; Andrew Gillespie, snare drum and percussion; Rob Seeger, sousaphone; Scott Agster, trombone and vocals; Gus Sandberg, saxophone and vocals; Zack Lozier, trumpet and vocals; and Andy Hakala, trumpet and vocals.

For more about Jack Brass, logon to: www.jackbrassband.com/band.asp.

To hear Jack Brass, logon to: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=37532820.

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