Live Snakes

Musicians

  • Ken Field: alto sax, flutes, percussion, Thereminator
  • Tom Hall, Matt Darriau, Charles Neville: tenor saxes
  • Jerry Sabatini: trumpet
  • Danny Heath, Dave Harris, Alex Asher, Josh Roseman: trombones
  • Blake Newman, Alex Smith: bass
  • Phil Neighbors, Joey Lefitz, Kenny Wollesen: drums
  • Andy Pinkham: Thereminator

CD Tracks

  1. Parade (5:46)
  2. Cassandra 4 (7:59)
  3. Rock of Ages (4:16)
  4. Caravan (6:41)
  5. Cassandra 5 (4:10)
  6. For Karen (7:21)
  7. I'll Fly Away (6:37)
  8. Que Sera Sera (5:08)
  9. I Got It (5:20)
  10. Cassandra 4 Remix (5:24)
  11. Breakdown Part I (5:58)

Press Quotes

#4 Best Jazz Album of 2014

Tom Hull

"New Orleans brass band meets Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman - fiery yet booty-shaking music - it's a stone cold killer diller! ... Most bands can't get the New Orleans stuff right, but the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is one of the few who does and then takes it in fascinating directions."
OffBeat (New Orleans)

"Led by Ken Field, an alto saxophonist and flutist, this Boston-area band puts a premium on Mardi Gras-style rhythm - the opening track of its new album,Live Snakes, is aptly titled Parade- but also pursues a sinuous, writhing counterpoint, in ways that justify the band's name."
New York Times

"Mardi Gras on steroids...Take everything you thought you were familiar with in terms of the music of New Orleans and wipe the slate clean. Boston based Revolutionary Snake Ensemble takes that Crescent City vibe to the next level with a live release that will set your hair on fire! Spectacular"
CriticalJazz.com

"The band thrives on experimentation while still keeping things accessible...passionately performed... captivating"
Editor's Pick, Downbeat Magazine

"The music has depth, complexity, but never gets so esoteric that it loses its visceral kick."
Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald

"Mix traditional brass band and avant garde jazz, what do you get? Ken Field's Revolutionary Snake Ensemble Live Snakes a Mardi Gras party!"
Brad Stone, KSJS Radio

"A mix of traditional New Orleans brass band, James Brown, Sun Ra, and raucous street performer enthusiasm, RSE's music is as fun as it is engaging."
www.WonderingSound.com

"Sizzling!"
Time Out New York

"A first class band worthy of much wider recognition."
KIOS, Omaha Public Radio

"Beauty and anguish"
JazzTimes

"A jubiliant celebration of music and life. This is one movin', groovin' funfest."
The Jazz Page

"Hauntingly beautiful music!"
Shelley Neill, Exec Dir, Multicultural Arts Center

"Fun, musical, energetic and filled with agape-styled love, this disc is a reminder ... of why you're alive."
JazzWeekly

"Revolutionary Snake Ensemble finds joy in the rhythms of the street, in the melodies of the everyday, and in the shouts one creates against the darkness."
Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest

"Brilliant improvisation...superb interpretations...inspired...deserves to be heard by all."
Expose

Best of 2014 Jazz

PoOPlist (Kent B)

"Pretty heavy duty one-two punch starts this album from a fast-flying hydra big band led by Ken Field. Quite the stirring cocktail...the funk button is in full effect. Harkens back to some of the best Thirsty Ear beat collider digi-blue jazz. Ride the Snake!"
KFJC - Thurston Hunger

General Information

The 3rd release by Field's improvisational & experimental brass band the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, an Editor's Pick in Downbeat Magazine

"Mardi Gras on steroids...a live release that will set your hair on fire!" CriticalJazz.com

Available from Accurate Records.