Two saxophones and a drum set sent Charlottesville millennials into a fist-pumping craze Tuesday night at The Jefferson Theater. The Brooklyn-based jazz fusion trio Moon Hooch shared its characteristic brassy sound and dubstep rhythms with Downtown Mall-goers — converting the Jeff’s open auditorium into a steaming mosh pit. The performance featured percussionist James Muschler and saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen, as well as an opening act from Massachusetts-based beatboxer Honeycomb.
The Moon Hooch musicians initially met as students at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Greenwich Village. The trio started out busking in the subway stations of New York City, focusing on developing their uniquely raw sound. Moon Hooch has gained considerable recognition since the release of its 2013 self-titled debut album, which reached the number nine slot on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Since then, the band has put out three more albums, culminating with their most recent EP release of “The Joshua Tree” in 2017.
Moon Hooch’s portable act includes a wide range of instruments, spanning from bongos and electronic instrument synthesizers to tenor saxophone and contrabass clarinet. The shrieking brass tones and pulsing percussion that once demanded the attention of subway travelers is now driving concert-goers into a sweaty dance frenzy.
Apart from the members’ remarkable musicianship, Moon Hooch derives its appeal from its versatility and creative edge. The band shows loyalty to its urban roots by incorporating aspects of the city scene into their act. Most famously, McGowen is known for strapping an orange construction cone to the bell of his saxophone to funnel a deeper sound.
The band continually tests the limits of their instruments, which Wilbur demonstrated by dropping the microphone directly into his sax mid-song. The microphone’s wildly percussive knocking mixed with the instrument’s brassy tones resulted in a wholly new sound.
Moon Hooch is often regarded as a spearhead of the “nu jazz” movement, which sustains excitement through the blending of other genres, such as funk and electronic dance music. The band will continue to push the boundaries of jazz as they complete their 2017 tour and produce new material.
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