From the New York City subway system to Higher Ground the “Brass House” trio Too Many Zooz lights up the stage despite the snowy weather.
Opening the night Muscle Tough a trio from Philadelphia jumped on stage ready to rock and have fun with the audience. With an interesting blend of jazz, funk, and psychedelia the band quickly had the audience dancing along to their instrumental groove. The band performed a setlist stacked with original songs from their newest album Too Busy 4 Jail including opening their set with the title track and a rousing performance of “Sugar Mother” and a spectacular finale “Bummer Boys”. The band quickly formed a rapport with the audience between bopping songs. Bass player Jonathan Colman led the audience in a call and response.
“Get Tough!”
“Muscle Tough!”
Throughout the set the audience response got louder and louder. In addition to leading the call and response Jonathan supported the intricate guitar solos from Ross Bellenoit with bouncing bass lines highlighting the band’s funk roots. Supporting the complex rhythms and intricate melodies of the bands unique sound drummer Joe Baldacci tied together the trio with his intense and complex drum lines. As the band continued performing their original free flowing songs their sound continued to adapt and change at some points pulling in aspects of techno and rock scratch in addition to the in-your-face funk and jazz. Muscle Tough throughout their set pulled the audience in with their genuine energy and passion.
Headlining the night Too Many Zooz started their set with a slowly building piano intro from Matt Doe the band’s piano and trumpet artist. The energy continued to grow as King of Sludge (David Parks) a one-man drum line pulled on his percussion set. Anticipation from the audience boiled over as Leo P bounded on stage with his baritone saxaphone immediately jumping into the sax melody in the band’s first song “Missy” from their 2016 album Subway Gawdz. With an incredibly high energy the band performed “Brasshouse, vol. 7 no. 68” off the same album before jumping into their newest ep Red Apple Gift Shop performing “Manzana Roja”, “The Red Apple Gift Shop” and “Caravan”. Fans spanned from older folks enjoying the jazz revival to younger children jumping along to the high energy saxophone solos all gathered to celebrate Too Many Zooz unique sound.
Leo P continued to dance across the stage while performing technically complex melodies. Joined by Matt Doe with his intense trumpet trills and high-speed harmonies the pair bring brass into the mainstream. Rounding out the trio with his interesting almost homemade looking percussion set King of Sludge highlights the upbeat and intensely high energy tempo of the group’s music.
The trio continued to jam with the audience, managing to pull nearly every person in the ballroom to their feet dancing along with the up-tempo music. After finishing the run of songs from their newest EP the band continued to play their original music though jumped to their oldest songs.
The three next songs came out of the trio’s busking sessions in the NYC subway system through many sessions performing improvisationally together these three songs came through. Sharing their story through music Too Many Zooz went from a trio performing in the subway to a nationally touring band. They continue to bring passion and fun to the stage as they continue to travel and perform.
TOO MANY ZOOZ
MUSCLE TOUGH
HIGHER GROUND
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