Revolutionary Snake Ensemble celebrates Mardi Gras and the Year of the Snake February 9, 2013

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble with Jerry Sabatini, Ken Field, Tom Hall, Dave Harris, Phil Neighbors, Blake Newman and special guest Kenny Wollesen. For dinner reservations: 718-623-7811. For general information and updates: 718-636-4100.

Funk & street beat improvisational brass band the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble will bring down the house in a special free Mardi Gras show held in the BAMcafé. After 6 years traveling & playing on the Amtrak Crescent train to New Orleans to march with the Krewe of Muses for their annual Mardi Gras parade, the Boston-based Snakes celebrate this year’s Mardi Gras, as well as the Chinese Year of the Snake, with a series of shows closer to home. For their Brooklyn show, the over-the-top band, featuring Jerry Sabatini (trumpet), Ken Field (alto sax), Tom Hall (tenor sax), Dave Harris (trombone & tuba), Phil Neighbors (drums), and Blake Newman (bass), will be joined by drummer Kenny Wollesen.

After Brooklyn, the Snakes will move on to Boston and celebrate Fat Tuesday on February 12 at the Regattabar in Harvard Square, Cambridge, joined by special guest sax soloist Charles Neville of Neville Brothers fame.

Further background on Kenny Wollesen:
Percussionist, bandleader, and all around wild man Kenny Wollesen wears many hats. Besides being one of the most sought after jazz drummers in the world (credits include Tom Waits, John Lurie, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Myra Melford, John Zorn, and Sex Mob), he also fronts Himalayas, a frenetic, semi-spontaneous marching band that turns up at parades and other events in NYC, gathering members as it goes and leaving hilarity in its wake.

Further background on the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (www.RevolutionarySnakeEnsemble.org, www.facebook.com/RevolutionarySnakeEnsemble):

Formed in 1991 by saxophonist Ken Field and trumpeter Scott Getchell, the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is a funk & street beat improvisational brass band performing a unique blend of original and traditional music. Leader Field is a longtime member of the acclaimed modern music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, and an active composer and performer.

The group's most recent record, "Forked Tongue," spent 2 months on the CMJ North American jazz top 20 chart, and appeared on best-of-year lists in the Village Voice & in Estonia, plus in Georgia, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, and NY. The recording features unique treatments of music by Field, Ornette Coleman, Billy Idol, and others.

Notable Revolutionary Snake Ensemble performances have included the Krewe of Muses Mardi Gras Parade (New Orleans), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC), Tonic (NYC); the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), the Puffin Cultural Forum (New Jersey), Berklee Performance Center (Boston), and many other venues. The Snakes have traveled by train six times from Boston to New Orleans, playing on board the Amtrak Crescent, to march with the Krewe of Muses in their annual Mardi Gras parade.

Official Website: http://www.BAM.org