ABOUT Butter Chicken Brass Band
Butter Chicken is a collaborative effort by musicians across several disciplines to explore the intersection of South Asian music, a baraat band, and a New Orleans-style brass band. Butter Chicken explores South Asian cultural practices in music to study how to blend the sounds of traditional South Asian music with musical genres that are more modern and American. We explore the decolonization of British brass band instruments left behind during the 1948 partition and how these instruments can be used to explore modern sounds. The resulting sound and concert experience combines the community, joy, and movement of a wedding ceremony with the power and improvisation of a jazz group. Co-led by Catie Hickey (trombone, arranger), Kabir Dalawari (Dhol), and Akshat Jain (Sousaphone and arranger), the group features a rotating cast of musicians from the Chicago area, including Kyle Brooks (saxophones) and Steve Bomar (drums).
