When Galactic released its sixth album just about this time last year, bass player and founder Robert Mercurio said not to peg the band as hip-hop.
Sure, “From the Corner to the Block” had an urban sound that would fit right into tracks played at VH1’s “Hip Hop Honors,” but it wasn’t a permanent move for the band. True enough, the band’s next album, which Mercurio hopes to release in the spring, is a musical return to the band’s New Orleans roots.
“It’s just something we kind of figure out album to album, what direction interests us,” Mercurio said. “This is going to be a little more of a focus on New Orleans … a collaboration with some of our favorite, more underground New Orleans musicians.”
The band has shifted sounds with something akin to the frequency of the color wheel on a Wurlitzer juke box during its decade-long run.
Based in New Orleans, the band started as an instrumental act in the tradition of Booker T. & the M.G.’s. But it has shifted into what might best be described as a funky jam band with vocals. The “Corner” sound was shaped during the band’s tours with artists including The Roots and Jurassic 5. The tours inspired the band’s members to develop the concept for “Corner,” which marries two types of New Orleans street music: old-school brass band and bounce-style hip-hop.
So the bottom line is if you want to experience the band’s hip-hop-meets-old-school-brass sound, better catch it now. Not only will it likely slip into the “sometimes played” rotation for the band’s live acts, but the members have concentrated plenty of efforts to ensure it plays well live. A dedicated horn section, complete with trombone, electrifies the sound during the stage show.
IF YOU GO
Performer: Galactic: The Brass Tacks Tour
Venue: 8 x 10, 10 East Cross St., Baltimore
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Details: $25; ticketmaster.com, 410-547-SEAT
