Serpentine

2025 Year-End Lists:
Noah Schaffer/WBUR Arts & Culture
Marcelo Morales/El Intruso
Ludovico Granvassu/All About Jazz
Chris Cooke/KIOS-NPR Omaha
Chris Heim/KMUW-NPR Global Village

"All hail the mighty Revolutionary Snake Ensemble.  They have blessed us with another great record of jazz that you have to dance to, but without losing the complexity and sophistication of the music itself.  There's some Sun Ra, some New Orleans second line, some Afrobeat, some Zappa, and other mystical ingredients that combine into a musical spell that will envelop the listener.  This is jazz for young and old and new and veteran." - David Kunian, Curator, New Orleans Jazz Museum; Host, Freaknologist Lunatique, WWOZ, New Orleans

"One of Boston’s favorite brass bands, ... thanks to leader and saxophonist Ken Field’s penchant for dazzling compositions and creative arrangements. “Serpentine” was recorded live at Regattabar as part of the RSE’s 35th anniversary in 2024. As always, there are plenty of burning New Orleans-inspired grooves, but also Balkan reflections on the track “Buck,” the contemplative traditional folk song “The Water is Wide” and, appropriately for a band that can play both wild and complex material, a brass band version of Frank Zappa’s “Son of Mr. Green Genes.” And in keeping with the RSE’s activist roots, there’s a tribute to those seeking freedom and peace in “Nezalezhnist,” the Ukrainian word for independence." - Noah Schaffer, WBUR Guide to New Albums

"Ken Field's Revolutionary Snake Ensemble have been joining the New Orleans brass band tradition to vanguard jazz, swinging NOLA funk, second-line street music, blues, and much more ... A band at the height of their powers ... a harmonic sophistication that should be the envy of most jazz and brass band musicians" - AllMusic.com

"Revolutionary Snake Ensemble's fifth album, Serpentine, is a work that condenses more than three decades of sonic exploration, free improvisation, and commitment to the musical tradition of New Orleans. Recorded live at the Regattabar, one of the temples of jazz in the Boston area, the album reflects the group's philosophy: spontaneity, risk, and celebration. ... Serpentine is a vibrant testament to a band that continues to reinvent itself, with a sound that combines the sophistication of jazz with the energy of funk and the spontaneity of street music. A recording that invites you to dance, reflect, and be swept away by the spell of the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble's serpentine sound."- tomajazz.com (original in Spanish)

"A hornucopia of musical styles, served up in a live performance by a group of cats locked into a common groove. Tasty stuff!!" - Tony Baglio, host of NPR station WICN's New Orleans Grooves

"Love it!! So happy for NEW RSE!!!!" - Michelle Sammartino, host of WDCB & KBEM's Jammin' Jazz - Jazz For the New Generation

"What’s refreshing here is the dual nature: yes, you can stomp your feet - because the grooves land hard - but you should think too, because the arrangements and improvisations carry weight. Field’s decision not to include a chordal instrument (no piano, no guitar) gives the horns autonomy; harmony becomes a communal act of negotiation, not a backdrop ... If you’re expecting restful jazz, this isn’t it. If you welcome brass bands that can rumble like storms and whisper like ghosts, this is delightful." - Vito Camarretta, Chain D.L.K.

"Impressive...Beautiful" - United Mutations

"Splendid...spontaneous, improvisational, rigged with the band's energy and prosody...a solid blast of brass in a mercury-wild package.  This is music for listening, moving your ass.  It's music for being alive." - Provincetown Magazine

"Such an invigorating blast." - Downbeat

"The spontaneious energy is palpable." - Exposé

"A great artistic leap forward...as pleasing to the ears and the mind as it is to the feet." - WBUR

"An extraordinary band" - El Intruso

"The performance of the group is remarkable." - kathodic (original in Italian)

"A joyously uproarious live session" - The Organ