September 1997

Coolbone
Brass-Hop
Hollywood

By Tony Green

Coolbone offers its own twist on the Crescent City tradition with their self-explanatory Brass-Hop, (Hollywood PRCD 62066-2, 55:54). In case you can't figure it out, Brass Hop is the marching band reformatted by a hip-hop template. Lead rapper/trumpeter Eric "Cash-Us" Clay comes by his verbal inclination naturally-his cousin is Muhammad Ali (hinted at by "Float Like a Butterfly" as well as his nickname). Don't look for any second line feather shaking here; these beats are strictly on the one 4/4 funk. And though the band doesn't quite achieve the synergy