Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Formed practically at birth, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a Chicago-based brass outfit comprised of eight sons of jazz trumpeter and former Sun Ra Arkestra member Phil Cohran. The brothers grew up rehearsing and practicing every day, often performing on stage as the Phil Cohran Youth Ensemble. They performed for prominent figures of the day including Harold Washington and Nelson Mandela. As the brothers got older and entered high school, some of them set their horns aside for a short time. In 1999, due to some tragedies in their lives, they were inspired to pick up their horns again and express themselves through performing. They performed in the subways of Chicago before getting serious and forming their full-fledged eight-piece brass ensemble. Their first release was Flipside (2004), followed by Jupiter (2005). They became an in-demand ensemble, performing and/or recording with a variety of artists including Gorillaz, De La Soul, The B-52’s, Snoop Dogg, Erykah Badu, Wu Tang Clan, Mos Def, and many others. After a series of independently-released CD-Rs and vinyl singles, the group signed to Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s Records label. Their first album for the label, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, was released in 2009. The second full length for the label, Kelan Philip Cohran and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. Book of Sound, the third album for Honest Jon’s Records, was released in 2017. In between those releases, the band continued to release material independently.