Too Many Zooz is an American
music group
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform Instrumental music, instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely ...
based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, consisting of
Leo Pellegrino (
baritone saxophone), Matt "Doe" Muirhead (
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
) and David "King of Sludge" Parks (
drums).
Formation and viral fame
Pellegrino and Muirhead met at the
Manhattan School of Music, where they were attending. Pellegrino and Parks had played together in Drumadics, a local
busking band.
Teaming up in mid-2013, the trio started busking together that August at various stations in the
New York City Subway in their self-defined genrebrass house.
[
The band defines brass house as a mix of ]jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, Afro-Cuban
Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural el ...
rhythms, funk, EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
and house music.
They gained fame when a video of one of their subway performances, recorded by a passerby at the Union Square station, went viral on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
in March 2014.[ They are known as well for Pellegrino's characteristic dance moves while playing.
]
Stage and studio
Too Many Zooz recorded an EP, ''F NOTE'', in January 2014, which they sold at their busking performances. The band has recorded three more EPs, followed by their first full-length studio album, ''Subway Gawdz'', on June 27, 2016, receiving mixed to positive reviews.
By January 2015, the band was booked on a tour at theatres and small clubs across the United States. They continue to tour, and played backup for Beyoncé for her televised CMA Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...
performance on Nov. 2, 2016 in Nashville, Tenn.
Kaskade
Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 20 ...
's July 2016 single "Jorts FTW" features Too Many Zooz.
"Warriors", from Too Many Zooz' ''Subway Gawdz'' album, was featured in Google's commercial for their Pixel 2 smart phone in October 2017. "Warriors" was also featured in the Flag Parade of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European ...
Grand Final. "Brnx Bmbr" is featured in a KFC commercial for the Triple Grab N Go. "Get Busy" is also featured in the beginning credits of the Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
original movie '' The Package''.
Music videos
* Bedford: (June 29, 2017) The video is the band playing on the subway train in New York City, from Bedford Avenue
Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching and 132 blocks, from Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint south to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, and passing through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyves ...
in Brooklyn to First Avenue in Manhattan at 3:33 in the morning.Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
skyline, starting with the three band members visible, while the camera slowly moves backwards to reveal an increasing number of additional musicians, until a full band is playing along.
Discography
* ''F NOTE'' (EP) (19 January 2014)
* ''Fanimals'' (EP) (6 September 2014)
References
External links
*
Site on Bandcamp
{{Authority control
Musical groups from New York City
American street performers