Hazmat Modine is a musical group based in New York City and led by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Wade Schuman. Their music is rooted in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and also touches on folk, jazz and World music. The most recent lineup of the band circa 2015 features harmonica, tuba, trumpet, saxophone, drums and two guitars, as well as solo and harmony vocals. ''Hazmat'' is a portmanteau of "hazardous material" and " Modine", a brand of heater.

History

Founded in the late 1990s by songwriter Wade Schuman (vocals and harmonica, occasional guitar and other instruments), the band in their formative years also featured mainstays Joe Daley (tuba, sousaphone) and Randy Weinstein (harmonica). Other personnel varied considerably, including not only performers on guitar, drums and sax but also exotic oddities like cimbalom and bass marimba. Their debut album was recorded over a five-year span and earned positive critical notice. Hazmat Modine was featured on the National Public Radio program " All Things Considered" on October 25, 2006,Eyre, Banning.
"Alien and Familiar: The Music of Hazmat Modine"
" National Public Radio, published October 25, 2006, accessed February 15, 2008. and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program "The Daily Planet" on May 29, 2006.Hazmat Modine
,

ABC.net.au The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

, published May 29, 2006, accessed February 15, 2008. Their second Hazmat Modine album featured a more stable lineup, though Weinstein has parted ways with the band. In 2013 Wade Schuman enlisted his friend Erik Della Penna to join the band as a guitarist, co-vocalist and songwriter. Schuman wanted the band to evolve into one that had more vocal harmonies, he was becoming more interested in the long tradition of American songwriting by the likes of Irving Berlin,

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

, Doc Pomus, Hays & Porter. A live album followed in 2014, and a studio album in 2015. Horizonte 2014 Fr 1345

Hazmat Modine has collaborated with Huun-Huur-Tu and Alash, both bands a from Kyzl Tuva in Central Asia. Also, Natalie Merchant, Kronos Quartet, Gangbe Brass Band from Benin, and Balla Kouyate from Mali

Critical reception

The band's first album, titled ''

Bahamut Bahamut, or Bahamoot ( ; ar, بهموت), is a monster that lies deep below, underpinning the support structure that holds up the earth, according to Zakariya al-Qazwini. In this conception of the world, the earth is shouldered by an angel, w ...

'' and released in the US on the Barbès Records label, peaked at #12 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s "Top Blues Albums" chart." Hazmat Modine - Charts & Awards, Allmusic, accessed February 15, 2008. Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Jeff Tamarkin gave it four stars out of a possible five, and termed it a "stunning debut".Tamarkin, Jeff. "

Bahamut - Overview Bahamut, or Bahamoot ( ; ar, بهموت), is a monster that lies deep below, underpinning the support structure that holds up the earth, according to Zakariya al-Qazwini. In this conception of the world, the earth is shouldered by an angel, w ...

, Allmusic, accessed February 15, 2008. Tamarkin praised the band for successfully fusing styles as disparate as blues, jazz, calypso, and ska into "music that sounds at once ageless and primeval, authentically indigenous and inexplicably otherworldly, familiar and unlike anything else." He also praised the group for making "listener-friendly music" that doesn't "require a degree in ethnomusicology to enjoy". Pitchfork Media reviewer Joe Tangari gave the album's track "Everybody Loves You", a collaboration with Tuvan throat singers Huun-Huur-Tu, a four-star review.Tangari, Joe.
"Everybody Loves You" Track Review
" Pitchfork Media, published January 3, 2007, accessed February 15, 2008. Characterizing it as "generalized roots music that takes from pretty much any roots it sees fit," he praised it as "true world music, weird and wonderful to the last note."

Members

* Wade Schuman: Diatonic harmonica and

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, guitar, pan flute, songwriting * Erik Della Penna: Guitars, banjo guitar, vocals, songwriting * Joseph Daley: Tuba, sousaphone *

Pamela Fleming Pamela Fleming (born 10 October 1957) is an American musician who composes and plays trumpet and flugelhorn. Born in New York City, her family moved to the suburb of New City, New York when she was a child. She grew up in New City and graduate ...

: Trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

* Steve Elson: Tenor saxophone,

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

contra alto clarinet The contra-alto clarinet, E♭ contrabass clarinet, is a large clarinet pitched a perfect fifth below the B♭ bass clarinet. It is a transposing instrument in E♭ sounding an octave and a major sixth below its written pitch, between the b ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Reut Regev: Trombone * Patrick Simard:

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Daisy Castro Violin

Past or intermittent members

* Bill Barrett:- harmonica * Scott Veenstra:- drums * Randy Weinstein:- harmonica * Pete Smith - guitar * Richard Livingston Huntley - drums * Henry Bogdan - lap steel guitar * Michaela Gomez, Guitar, Lap Steel * Graham Hawthorne, Drums * Rachelle Garniez, Vocals, Accordion * Tim Keiper, Drums * Kevin Garcia, Drums * Bob Jay, Guitar * Thor Jenson, Guitar * Charlie Burnham, Violin Mazz Swift, Violin Scott Robinson, Reeds, horns,

Discography

Bonfire, JARO Medien GmbH & Geckophonic in the U.S.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control American blues musical groups American folk musical groups American jazz ensembles from New York City Musical groups from New York City World fusion groups Jazz musicians from New York (state)