Youngblood Brass Band

Originally named "One Lard Biskit", the Youngblood Brass Band is a brass band from Oregon, Wisconsin that was started by some Oregon high school students. The band's founding members, sousaphonist Nat McIntosh and snare drumm

Originally named "One Lard Biskit", the Youngblood Brass Band is a brass band from Oregon, Wisconsin that was started by some Oregon high school students. The band's founding members, sousaphonist Nat McIntosh and snare drummer/lyricist D.H. Skogen, both went to Oregon High School and first played together in 1994; the band came together in 1995 as the One Lard Biskit Brass Band. The Youngblood name dates from 1998, the year the group put out their first album, Word On The Street. In 2000 Youngblood released Unlearn, which featured appearances by Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly and Ike Willis. Unlearn, which like Word On The Street was released independently, garnered the band significant attention and led to them being signed to Ozone Music NYC. The band's first album for Ozone, called center:level:roar, came out in 2003. They tour consistently in the United States and Europe, and in 2005 released a live album entitled live. places. on their Layered Music record label. Their newest album, "Is That a Riot?" 2006 is their most experimental work to date, with multiple composers taking the music to dynamic extremes.

The Youngblood Brass Band combines the inspiration they took from the traditional New Orleans brass band sound with influences from jazz music, improvised music, a decidedly punk ethos, and a strong hip hop component. More than many New Orleans groups, the Youngblood band focuses on tight ensemble playing and pushing the boundaries of brass band music beyond its traditional genre, which allows them, even when performing live, to provide solid, diverse backing for Skogen's rapping and McIntosh's virtousic sousaphone work. Unable to be classified as either jazz, hip-hop, punk or any other existing genre, the band coined the term "Riot Jazz". The band acknowledge the debt their music owes to the New Orleans bands, however, with performances of traditional tunes such as Chinatown, My Chinatown, which they included on their Unlearn album.