BRASS

nizing of the members’ voices encapsulated the feeling of the Crescent City.

“ ey say a lot with very little,” said Lopez. “When you play the horn, there’s a lot of emotional information in your tone quality — you can literally play one note and instantly captivate somebody and that is not always taught.”

When two street performers collide e group quickly learned that busking at event egresses was a better way of making money, so they began playing with baseball egresses but expanded to playing outside of concerts and events that drew large crowds. e group busked on 16th Street Mall, Boulder’s Pearl St. Mall and at e Denver Arts District’s rst Friday Art Walk, often including a rotating lineup of local musicians to play with them.

Just like their voices, the members of the Brother of Brass is a blended group.

On the streets of Atlanta, Georgia in 2014, Simon and a couple of his friends were busking — playing music on a public street for voluntary donations.

When the groups of friends rst started playing, they were sharing horns until they had saved up enough money to get horns for each member. ey called themselves the Brothers of Brass.

When baseball season came to a close, the group decided to travel across the country in search of other venues to perform.

Lopez continued to share his love for music after moving to Denver from Los Angeles. Having received a music education in jazz, Lopez brought that in uence into street music.

Once in Denver, Lopez played the saxophone on 16th Street Mall and, in 2013, Jake Herman joined in on drums and a small funk and jazz band ensemble was formed called Nimbus.

On a random day in April 2015, Lopez heard the deep bass of a tuba while playing on 16th Street Mall. He followed the sound to nd Simon playing the tuba. e two groups ended up playing together at the nearby Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

“ ey showed us a new way of playing,” said Lopez.

Until Simon moved to Denver in 2016, the two groups continued to collaborate whenever the Brothers of Brass were in Denver, eventually transforming into a full sized brass-band and bringing the New Orleans culture to Colorado.

“You don’t really see a lot of actual brassbands outside of only there (New Orleans),” said Simon. “So I gured I’d bring it here and to see people receiving it so well, it feels so good.”

With aspirations to become a nonpro t organization, the Brothers of Brass began the Black Brass Initiative a few years ago, calling it a “de facto” cultural exchange program between the deep south and the Denver metro area.

e inspiration of the initiative goes back to when Simon began to travel while busking the streets. e initiative is responsible for the housing, transportation and food of black musicians from Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.

“It’s nice to spread that culture here in Colorado, it’s kind of why I moved here, cause eventually places like New Orleans are not gonna exist anymore due to climate change and that’s where all this stu [music] came from and it’s mostly only there right now,” said Simon.

e band has been using the wealth generated by performing to reinvest in the black communities in the south, where these musical traditions originated.

As stated on their website: “ e hope is that bringing gems of this culture to e Colorado Front Range will create a pipeline for cultural and educational enrichment for both the people of Colorado and the lineage of these musicians.”

From performing at a Mardi Gras party at Meow Wolf to playing the Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Brothers of Brass have no intention of slowing down.

For the rest of the summer, the Brothers of Brass will be playing at various locations throughout the metro area, including Cly ord Still Museum’s Lawn Concert, History Colorado Museum and the Bluebird eater. ey can also be heard on the streets of Denver as they liven up the crowds.

e band will be releasing an upcoming album and can be followed on social media.

“By making this music, I’ve gotten farther and seen more of the world and people than doing anything else,” Simon said.