Hazmat Modine
"Wittily Funky Music" The New York Times, 2005
“ Here's a welcome clash of musical assumptions: blues, reggae, klezmer, country and gypsy flourishes-pulled off by musicians with considerable chops on guitars, tuba, mouthorgan, and other assorted instruments. Further pluses: lead singer Wade Schuman's velvet-in-sand vocals and kinetic presence." VOICE CHOICE, The Village Voice
HAZMAT MODINE draws from the rich soil of American music of the 20's and
30's through to the 50’s and 60’s, blending elements of early
Blues and Hokum, Swing, Eastern European music, New Orleans R & B,
Jamaican Rocksteady, and Rock & Roll. The band is fronted by two harmonicas,
which use call and response, harmony, melody, and syncopated interweaving
rhythms. The band includes tuba, guitar, trumpet, and percussion, sometimes
claviola and Hawaiian steel guitar. The band’s sound reflects musical
influences ranging from Avant-garde Jazz to Rockabilly and Western Swing
to Middle-Eastern, African, and Hawaiian musical styles.
Wade Schuman, Diatonic Harmonica, Guitar, Banjitar, Lead Vocals.
The creative center of the band, Wade has been playing the harmonica since
the age of ten, and is an accomplished master in the early Blues and musical
styles of the 1920's and 30's. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which
has long had a vital and interesting musical scene, and currently resides
and works in New York City. He draws musical inspiration from among others:
Desmond Dekker, Jaybird Coleman, Sidney Bechet, Taraf De Haidouks and Slim
Gaillard. Recording credits include Joan Osborn's "Relish" which
was nominated for four Grammies
Randy Weinstein, Diatonic Harmonica, Chromatic Harmonica, Sheng, Vocals.
Originally from Kansas City, Randy became serious about harmonica during
a seven year stay in Chicago where he fell under the spell of Little Walter
and a few of his disciples. He has worked in a broad range of settings
from Postwar Chicago Blues to Modern Jazz, to turn of the century Salon
Music. Recording credits include records with Jazz Chanteuse Karen Alleyson,
BCR and others.
Joseph Daley, Tuba.
Joseph is a native of New York and perhaps this country's most consistent
and creative "Lower Brass Specialist." Among others he has played
with Sam Rivers, Carla Bley, Taj Mahal, Charlie Haden, Gil Evans, Lionel
Hampton, Howard Johnson, Dave Douglas, and Muhal Richard Abrams. He appears
on well over a dozen recordings.
Richard Huntley, Percussion.
Richard Huntley is New York City based percussionist who plays a wide variety
of music including Jazz, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, klezmer and other styles.
He has recorded and or performed with John Benitez, Luis Bonilla, Cameron
Brown, Billy Drewes, Frank London, the Kleztraphobix, Hector Martignon,
Mulgrew Miller, Dom Salvador, and Jack Wilkins. He is on the faculty at
the Manhattan School of Music,
Pete Smith, Guitar.
Pete Smith is a New York City-based guitarist who performs in a wide range
of musical settings. A founding member of Grupo Los Santos, a vanguard
Afro-Cuban and Brazilian-style quartet, he has played New York’s
Town Hall and concerts throughout the U.S. and in Cuba. He has worked with
Norah Jones, Donald Byrd, Juan Pablo Torres, Andrew Hill, Steve Davis,
Bill Charlap, The Flying Neutrinos, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks,
the Moonlighters and Madeline Peyroux. Pete’s recording credits include
Juan Pablo Torres’ BMG release “Together Again”, featuring
Arturro Sandoval and Chucho Valdes, Kerry Pollitzer’s “Yearning”,
and Paul Carlon’s “Looking Up.
Pamela Fleming, Trumpet, Flugelhorn.
NYC trumpet player and composer, is the leader of original world jazz group
Fearless Dreamer. Pam is best known for her work with Lilith Fair artists
Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls; Reggae stars Burning Spear,
Dennis Brown and Maxi Priest; and Klezmer groups Metropolitan Klezmer and
Isle of Klezbos. Fearless Dreamer's second CD, 'Climb' has just been released.
Scott Robinson, Bass Sax, Contrabass Sax, Baritone Sax. Sarusaphone, French
Horn, Flute, C-Melody Sax, Octaveen, Fulgelbone, etc,
One of today's most wide-ranging and astonishing instrumentalists, Scott
Robinson has been heard on tenor sax with Buck Clayton's band, on trumpet
with Lionel Hampton's quintet, on alto clarinet with Paquito D'Rivera's clarinet
quartet, and on bass sax with the New York City Opera. On these and other
instruments including theremin and ophicleide, he has been heard with a cross-section
of jazz's greats representing nearly every imaginable style of the music,
from Braff to Braxton. his discography now includes over 135 recordings.