The Press says…

„Hazmat Modine remains a fascinating exception in the music business. The band’s sound is unmistakable and still sounds as if Tom Waits and Kurt Weill have teamed up with a marching band from New Orleans. Wade Schuman and Co. show a sympathetic picture of America, which is pushed into the background by Trump and daily politics.“ – Stefan Radlmaier / Nürnberger Nachrichten 6-2018

„The band Hazmat Modine describes their music as blues. But as blues that can be heard in an Afro-American pub in New Orleans. Whereby the city should lie like an island in the Red Sea. And should be inhabited by Roma who played with Otis Redding. It is influences from all over the world that colour Hazmats Blues. And make it so driving that the listeners are already electrified after the first note.“ – Landsberger Nachrichten 6-2018

„Seems like ages since harmonicas have sounded as hep as Wade Schuman’s and Randy Weinstein’s do in this hand-painted confab of rusty blues, piquant rumbas, sawdust-floor reggae, Hawaiian guitar, and—sure, why not?—Tuvan throat singing. Welcome to the old weird globalism.“ The Village Voice

„The singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman’s musical vision sounds like something out of Dr. Suess. His group augments Mr. Schumans own avant-blues stylings with a contra-bass, a banjitar, tuba, flugel, trumpet, sheng and, most important, Tuvan throat singing. “ The New York Times

„One of New York’s most original bands…With their sly musical wit, expert musicianship and completely unique sound, Hazmat Modine has built a wide and devoted following, drawing crowds to shows at venues as diverse as the Knitting Factory, Terra Blues, the Fez, Satalla, Joe’s Pub, Barbes and Galapagos Art Space.“ Trifecta

“[…] But the most striking was the third part of this „New York Night“, dedicated to Hazmat Modine led by a supreme harmonica virtuoso, singer, Wade Schuman…the main thing about this band was: genuine joy of every musician. Schuman himself…literally screamed from delight listening to other people’s solos. The band, supposed to play forty minutes or so, gave to a grateful audience a encore gift of an extra hour of its time, note that they came on stage at one in the morning!” Gazeta, Russia

“Hazmat Modine: …this wild group led by the singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman. They play blues originals, mostly, that are the product of Schuman’s limitless imagination. His voice, for that matter, appears to be bottomless […] The singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman’s musical vision sounds like something out of Dr. Suess. His group augments Mr. Schumans own avant-blues styling with a contra-bass, a banjitar, tuba, flugel, trumpet, sheng and, most important, Tuvan throat singing. ” The New Yorker

“They’re a calypso/alt-country/blues/gypsy band…. which is obviously what the world needs most […]” Times of London

“A truly mysterious band about which the only sure thing to say is this: It is extremely New York. Only in that huge metropolis can collectives like this blossom and grow and could invent such an amazing combination of music based out of so many genres […]” TimeOut Moscow

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Hazmat Modine & Gangbé Brass Band

In 2011, Hazmat Modine gigged with the West Africa’s Gangbé Brass Band on their German tour leg. The result was a spectacle of a dazzling, funky eight-piece West African brass band sharing the stage with a versatile, virtuosic American octet that seamlessly integrates early blues and jazz, several Latin and Caribbean genres, numerous indigenous European styles, and sundry other international influences. The Hazmat Modine-Gangbé collaboration represented a one-of-a-kind celebration of unprecedented musical possibilities – a truly danceable and cross-cultural feast.

On this matter, the front-man of Hazmat Modine, Wade Schuman, has shared his feelings with us: “It exceeded my expectations. There was this incredible synergy and sense of ideas going back and forth.” When referring to Gangbé band Wade said: “They’ve digested American music, and American music came out of African music. So it’s this beautiful ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth. The idiomatic language of Gangbé is pretty Western: They’ve totally swallowed the whole Latin American tradition and made it their own. You can hear it in their playing. At the same time you hear a lot of Fela, who was listening to James Brown and artists like that.”

In essence, the meet-up of the two entities, all in all 16 extremely talented musicians, takes the African music full circle. The amalgamation of Gangbé’s percussion, saxophones, trumpets, trombone and tuba with Hazmat’s array of guitars, brass and woodwinds, percussion, harmonica and other instruments– as well as the engaging, impassioned vocals of both outfits– serves to accentuate the strengths of both bands, rather than draw attention to their different backgrounds as Americans and Africans.

Below are some videos from Hazmat Modine & Gangbé Brass Band: