Recipient Information
Location
New York, New York
Year of Award
2026
Grant or Fellowship
Jazz Road Tours Grant
Grant Amount
$9,960
Brass Queens is a Brooklyn-based brass band that is female-led and features all-female musicians, founded by me and Ally Chapel. The two of us met through playing in community bands in New York and quickly bonded over our love for New Orleans jazz, especially modern brass bands like Rebirth Brass Band and The Soul Rebels. However, we found that this sub-genre of jazz is dominated by male musicians and bandleaders. We started Brass Queens with the intention of creating a highly-visible, female-led band to increase representation for women in the brass band scene.
Since forming in 2019, Brass Queens has taken the brass band scene by storm. In 2023, we won the MTA Music Under New York Riders’ Choice Award, where the people of New York voted Brass Queens as their favorite subway performers. We have performed at the Met Gala, helped Good Morning America celebrate Mardi Gras, and closed out David Byrne's "Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things" variety show. Brass Queens regularly perform at iconic venues in NYC like Blue Note Jazz Club, Groove, and Brooklyn Bowl, and tour throughout the year. We are especially proud that we have been invited to play at established jazz festivals like Exit Zero Jazz Festival, Telluride Jazz Festival, and Duck Jazz Festival, showing festival-goers something they've rarely seen before—an all-female brass band with the desire to show the world that Ladies Kick Brass!
In between all of our performances, you can find Brass Queens in the studio. The band has released an EP, Royal Street, and two albums, Black & Gold and Hot Tub Sessions Vol. I. The latter is the band's first album of all-original compositions. With the New Orleans jazz tradition at its core, the songs are spiced with a wide range of musical influences including balkan, mambo, pop, and classic rock. It is the story of the band so far, told through triumphant anthems, joyous odes to friendship, and danceable tunes representative of our high-energy performance style. The songs are being played on radio stations and charting throughout the U.S. and Canada and have received positive reviews from critics:
"Hot Tub Sessions Vol. I is a certified winner, proving they have a lot to offer with original works." - Rock The Body Electric
"This country is in need of some strong female energy...Let this group take over the country; they'll have stomped out the hatred and stupidity within the span of one side of an LP." - Michael Doherty's Music Log