This week’s Hot New Local Single is “Battle Ready,” a collab from Black Market Brass and Obi Original.
Sean reflects on the single:
I remember with great joy a night about twelve years ago where my idea of what was possible in Twin Cities music was recalibrated by seeing Black Market Brass on stage at the Nomad. Besides Cameron Kinghorn on trumpet, I didn’t know anybody on the wildly packed stage, and they were providing a level of hypnotizing Afrobeat I had never seen live from our scene. With my jaw on the floor, I asked the sound person who these folks were and went about finding out as much as I could about this wildly talented crew.
My love for Black Market Brass has only grown since that time, but I was always missing the iconic sound of a great vocalist. The instrumental offerings from BMB were so choice, but I couldn’t even fathom the extra level they would take if they ever had a vocalist who could match or exceed their energy. Enter Obi Original. If you are not familiar with Obi Original’s work with his group The Black Atlantics, you would do yourself a great service to hear their music. Obi Original is steeped in West African musical traditions including pulling deeply from his roots as a Nigerian-American. On top of that, he is a mesmerizing performer and writer who not only knows music inside and out but has the requisite abilities to add to the tradition.
To see Black Market Brass and Obi Original team up for the new single “Battle Ready” is one of the most exciting developments in the Twin Cities music for quite some time. The song jumps out of the gate with a mesmerizing guitar pattern that gives way to a full-on horn assault. When the band is worked into a frenzy that seems all encompassing, Obi Original steps in and pushes it up yet another level. This music addresses the urgency of the times we are living in while also giving us a groove that could soothe any solider in the thick of battle.
Black Market Brass Band and Obi celebrate their new 7 inch single BMBxOBI with a show at the Turf Club on Saturday, March 22 with a live performance from Black Market Brass and Obi Original, a set from Room3 and DJ sets from members of Black Market Brass.
Hot New Local Singles highlights new, local songs. Minnesota has a lot of great jazz, funk, soul, and jazz- adjacent music, and Jazz88 is highlighting what is fresh.
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