Big Smoke Brass Band is one of Toronto’s hottest tickets. Boasting powerful sound, they consume passerby with their groove in an instant, spreading sonic excellence across cities and our keen ears.

Check out what happened when they tried to record mash-up track ‘LIZZO’ for their new album…

Okay I’ll be honest, this was not the band attempting to record for their album, this was a brilliant live set performance and one that could not have come to fruition without so many lovely people involved! A massive shout out to everyone involved for giving their talents and their time and a big hats off to Big Smoke Brass for an incredible performance, as always.

The DP – Blake Hannahson

An immense talent, a music lover and a friend, Blake was the only choice I had in mind to shoot this live set successfully and he did it better than I could have imagined. There are over 30 frames I can pick out from the video that I adore and they came from his choreography and execution alongside the band. Running no more than three rehearsals and three takes, Blake captured the magic of the moment and the energy that Big Smoke Brass brings each and every night. Thank you Blake. [ @musicmanhann ]

~ all bts imagery captured by Max Nease ~

Audio King – Ben Ramos-Salsberg

A drummer, an audio efficianato and a friend.. but really drummer says it all. Ben was tasked with simply capturing the best audio he could, with the expectation of 2 - 3 mics placed in various rooms to simply cover our bases.. and baritones and tenors.. Ben, along with audio wizard Conrad, who we’ll get to, showed up with all 14 inputs on their mixer ready for work, mic’ing up each instrument including 5+ on the drum kit! The quality of audio on this live set is nothing short of a professional level and that was made possible by Ben, who we shoved into the bathroom due to a lack of space.. Do note the resonance style portrait of my dog there to keep him company. Thank you Ben! [ @r.s.benjamin ]

Audio King #2 / Group Leader – Conrad Gluch

Pictured above stressing in stripes, Conrad can be seen contemplating how he will correct any and everything he see’s fit from the session, which to their chagrin consisted on only three takes, of which we used one. A tall task for a tall man, but I knew Conrad would be up to it like none other. With a quick turn-around, the final audio you hear in the video above comes via ears of one Conrad Gluch, a master, a workhorse, and a friend. Thank you Conrad not only for your work in audio mixing, not only your work as 360 camera operator and editor, but your work in collaborating with me to get this off the ground and rally the troops. An evening of fun, stress, dancing, sweat, and more fun is one that I, and my neighbours, won’t soon forget. [ @saxisconrad ]

BIG SMOKE BRASS

The band that made it all happen. Their album is on the way, they play live all night into the next day, support this group <3

Tenor Saxophone – Conrad Gluch

Tenor Saxophone – Jeremy Worden

Trombone – Zach Smith

Sousaphone – Nolan Murphy

Trumpet – Matt Smith

Baritone Saxophone – Alec Trent

Drums – Stuart Mein

A final shoutout to allllll of the support crew! AD’s, PA’s and extra’s made it so we could really bring this live set production to the next level and I cannot thank everyone enough for their involvement and their energy!

Through the chaos and wires everyone involved stretched far and wide to ensure the production was a success! Thank you <3

Air it out and have a drink, until the next one!

– Mike Cowley –