Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

PRESS

Forked Tongue (Cuneiform, 2008):

"The album is GREAT! [It] touches all the right cornerstones of jazz, but also funks my socks off." --- Kyle Press, WKDU Philadelphia
"I can't stop playing this crazy CD over and over again. Doctor, is there an antidote? I am having visions of Mardi Gras parties out of control. They call it a brass band, but there must be some voodoo in this music."--- Ted Gioia, www.jazz.com
"I love the disc" --- Scott Borne, Music Director, WWOZ New Orleans
"I dig it quite a bit and think you've hit on something quite original in the world of jazz and beyond."--- Kory Cook, KUT Radio, Austin, TX
"Their most focused, adventurous, and rollicking effort yet. Ken Field's Snakes march their jazzy New Orleans-style second line in slinking, swaggering new directions" --- Boston Globe
Night Life Pick of the Week: "OUT OF LEFT FIELD: The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, a writhing, horn-heavy group led by the Boston-based saxophonist and composer Ken Field, dresses in feathered masks and sequined robes and covers a broad range of funk- and New Orleans-inspired music. [RSE] brings its street-parade spirit to the stage. A seasoned collection of horn and percussion players, the group, which is closing in on two decades of music-making, puts a funky spin on everything from Billy Idol to Ornette Coleman." --- The New Yorker, May 19, 2008
"Damnit, Gumby! That is a wicked freakin' group! Awesome tunes." --- Dave Tilley, WXDU Durham, NC
"What a fantastic groove!" --- Mitchell Feldman, Jazz Without Borders, Georgia Public Broadcasting
Year of the Snake (Innova, 2003):
Performer Magazine live review by Kate DeBonville (November 2004)
Boston Phoenix live review by Jon Garelick (September 2004)
Boston Phoenix feature by Ted Drozdowski (January 2004)
Performer Magazine feature by Regional Editor Jeff Breeze (February 2004)
Jewish Advocate article by Susie Davidson (February 2004)
"They've pretty much modernized the traditional concept, and they've spun it into a singular sound that's very unique and very vibrant. They accelerated the norm. They went past the tried and true. They managed to do it all with a very distinct musical persona." --- Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz, interviewed on Morning Edition
"Boston's own rabble of horn players and drummers bring a positively Sun Ra shine to second-line music" --- Jed Gottlieb, The Boston Herald
"It's a GREAT CD" --- Mitchell Feldman, Georgia Public Broadcasting
"A funky, brass heavy, street beat N'Awlins band led by the musical polymath Ken Field, whose debut CD was acclaimed as one of the best of the year by Brooklynite John Schaefer, the encyclopedic music director of WNYC, and by the New Orleans Gambit Weekly Newspaper, amongst others." --- Neil Feldman, Not Only Brooklyn
"Far from being dusty history, today's brass bands are marching hip hop, R&B, and other modern methods through brash New Orleans traditions. Enter Boston's Revolutionary Snake Ensemble -- an instant second-line parade of grit, honk and morphing rhythms. RSE's shifting, top-shelf roster adds a diehard allegiance to funky beats and jazzy Latin and African stylings to the New Orleans street-corner spirit. It's urban tribal music -- undeniably sensual, often improvised, and always synchronized in celebration. And on RSE's long-anticipated debut, it's delivered in precision bursts of audacious, sliding horns, and locomotive beats." --- Tristram Lozaw
"A fabulous Mardi Gras-themed album of horn-heavy, funky, and energetic party music." --- John Schaefer, WNYC Radio New Sounds
"Captures the abandon of a street parade while expanding its stylistic scope ... it's got the essential ingredients spiced with fresh flavors." --- Dan Ouellette, jazz columnist for Billboard, contributing editor to Stereophile, longtime Downbeat contributor, writing in the Brown Alumni Magazine
"Man, this snake can move!" --- Matthew Robinson, MusicDish.com
"Urban tribal music that blends an audacious New Orleans brass band spirit with the sensual fever of African and Latin rhythms." --- The Boston Herald
"Simply put, this is one of the most successful combinations of booty-shaking & brain-stimulating music to be released this year, and it deserves your attention post-haste." --- Brett McCallon, Splendid
"Great Music!" --- James Cervantes, KWVA, Eugene, Oregon
"It's incredible!" --- Meghan Currier, Music Director, WERS Jazz Oasis, Boston, MA
"Year of the Snake is killer!" --- Clay Gaunce, WRFL, Lexington, Kentucky
"Musical innovator Ken Field...[drags] the brass band into the 21st century." --- Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle
"Imagine a New Orleans brass band coupled to JB horns and firing off just enough improvisation to keep things unpredictable. Things have certainly heated up in Boston! " --- Nils Jacobson, All About Jazz
"The CD is amazing" --- Dan Bodah, WFMU Radio
"It's all here - music for the head, the heart, and the feet" --- Scott Billington, Two-time Grammy-winning New Orleans music producer
"Great work - making quite a buzz around here!" --- David Eisenman, Jazz & Blues Director, WTJU, Charlottesville, VA
"Top 10 pick for 2003" --- Glenn Astarita, New Orleans Gambit Weekly
"One serious party album - an instrumental record infectious enough to keep the bodily juices bubbling, and interesting enough to keep the noggin engaged, as well." --- Charles Winokoor, Taunton Daily Gazette
"One of the best unsigned bands in the country." --- Joyce Kulhawik WBZ-TV Channel 4
"The best party in town!" --- Beth Germano WBZ-TV Channel 4
"Terrific recording!" --- David Beckett, Jazz Music Director, WWPV, Vermont

Best of the Year List: WNYC (New York), Gambit Weekly (New Orleans), Radio Popolare (Milan)
FOUR STARS!--- Maurizio Comandini, All About Jazz Italia
Radio airplay includes CFBX (Canada), CFLX (Quebec), CHYZ (Quebec), CIUT (Toronto), KEUL (Alaska), KGNU (Boulder, CO), KRZA (CO/NM), KSJC (Silverton, CO), KSVR (WA), KUNM (Albuquerque), KUSP (Santa Cruz), KUVO (Denver), KWVA (Eugene, OR), Radio Kosmos (Greece), Radio Popolare (Italy), Vermont Public Radio, WBLU/WBLV Blue Lake Public Radio (MI), WEMU (MI), WERS (Boston), WFMU (NY/NJ), WFNX (Boston), WGBH (Boston), WHFR (Detroit), WHUS (CT), WMBR (Cambridge), WMMT (Whitesburg, KY), WMNF (Tampa), WMPG (Portland, ME), WMUA (Amherst, MA), WNAA (Greensboro, NC), WNTI (NJ), WNYC (NY), WPKN (Bridgeport, CT), WRFL (Lexington, KY), WRNX (Holyoke, MA), WSHA (Raleigh, NC), WSUM (Madison, WI), WTJU (Charlottesville, VA), WTUL (New Orleans), WVOF (Fairfield, CT), WWUH (Hartford, CT), WWPV (VT), WXOU (MI), WXYC (Chapel Hill, NC), XM Satellite Radio