The Heavyweights Brass Band hit you upside the head with their new single and video Splacka — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
After 15 years of bringing the party wherever they play, The Heavyweights Brass Band are ready to make you dance, strut and testify with their upcoming album Knockout, dropping June 27. With a sound steeped in New Orleans tradition, Toronto’s reigning brass band champions fuse jazz, funk, and soul into a heady, horn-heavy celebration of everything that makes music joyful and alive.
Spin the second single Splacka and you’ll know why they call it that as soon as the drums kick in. “It’s funk from the jump,” says trombonist RJ Satchithananthan, who composed the track. “The name Splacka is literally the sound of the beat.” The track’s got that classic sitcom-style band intro energy — full of swagger, horn call-and-response, and a groove so deep you’ll need a passport.
It follows up the lead single Carnicero, which arrived April 25 and nods to their roots and their future. Written by sousaphone sensation Nolan Murphy, the track is a Latin-influenced shout-out to the band’s co-founder Christopher Butcher, who now calls New Orleans home. Think street parades, steamy late-night clubs, and a trumpet line that makes your heart do backflips. This is the kind of song that makes you want to dance in traffic.
Knockout was recorded over two days at Taurus Studios, with the entire band playing together in one room. That energy — that sweat-on-the-walls, live-off-the-floor magic — is the soul of the album. With 11 songs and contributions from a new generation of jazz trailblazers like Kae Murphy (trumpet) and Nolan Murphy (tuba), the album is both a celebration and a passing of the torch. “The Toronto brass scene has grown so much,” the bandmembers say. “Including younger musicians who are pushing boundaries was vital for this project.”
In their own words, “The Heavyweights Brass Band is a flag planted in the middle of the dancefloor. We hit hard with groove, energy, and originality. We’ve always believed in putting our personalities in the music, from gritty funk to bold soul to pure brass band joy. This record shows where we’ve been — and where we’re going.”
Formed in 2010, HWBB have carved out a unique place in Canadian music. From sweaty club gigs to festival stages, they’ve opened for The Roots, jammed with Trombone Shorty, and recorded with everyone from Giovanni Hidalgo to Joe Lastie of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. They’ve earned standing ovations from the Toronto Jazz Festival to hometown bars and built a catalogue of genre-bending originals and electrifying covers.
Watch the video for Splacka above, hear more from The Heavyweights Brass Band and peep their upcoming dates below, and join the party on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
Heavyweights Brass Band Tour Dates
May 30 | The Cameron House, Toronto
June 20 | Niagara Jazz Festival
June 28 | Toronto Jazz Festival Village Stage
July 2-4 | Montreal Jazz Festival
