Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

Born in Chicago into a family of musicians, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble brings together the eight sons of jazz trumpeter Phil Cohran. Trained at a young age in the Phil Cohran Youth Ensemble, they took up brass instruments again in the late 1990s and performed in the Chicago subway. Relocating to New York in 2006, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble developed a sound centered on trumpets and trombones at the crossroads of jazz, hip‑hop, funk, rock and calypso influences, with an urban, highly rhythmic brass‑band approach. After early independent recordings such as Flipside (2004) and Jupiter (2005), the group released Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (2009), Bulletproof Brass (2011), Fly: The Customs Prelude (2013), Book of Sound (2017) and Bad Boys of Jazz (2020). Over the years they have moved between jazz, hip‑hop and contemporary music scenes, collaborating with artists like Mos Def, Tony Allen, Wu‑Tang Clan, Prince, Femi Kuti, De La Soul and Gorillaz (including the 2010 album Plastic Beach). Their trajectory links Chicago’s free jazz heritage, street culture and a collective compositional approach built on the power of brass.