Soul Rebels Unlock Your Mind

By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 2, 2012 6:40PM

When Soul Rebels Brass Band leaves New Orleans, they bring the good times with them, and for anyone who’s ever visited, it’s a welcome sound (especially as we emerge from the grips of winter). Jazz, as our town knows well, has always been about pushing boundaries and taking music to a place it’s never gone.

Band founders Lumar LeBlanc and Derrick “Oops” Moss put that concept into motion when they decided to blend modern hip hop, funk and of course soul with old school NOLA brass. Their contemporary style packs the Magazine Street dive Le Bon Temps Roule every Thursday night--that is when they aren’t on the road, which they’re seeing a lot of these days.

Chicago last saw the octet at last summer’s eclectic North Coast Festival, where their afternoon set had the whole field dancing. It’s impossible to keep those feet from moving during their lively sets. The group just released a brand new album of original material called Unlock Your Mind, and tonight they are back in town at the Park West where they open for Galactic, another funky New Orleans jazz band featuring Corey Glover of Living Colour and Corey Henry of Rebirth Brass Band.

Tickets are $25 and the show gets underway at 9 p.m.