Welcome to the Brazz Tree Web Site.

Thursday 31st July 2008
NJPAC w/ Yohimbe Brothers - Newark, NJ

Biography

From two seemingly opposite ends of the world come 2 American musicians with one global musical vision. What starts out a simple ideal – to combine all of the music that one loves without adhering to stylistic guidelines or parameters – becomes increasingly difficult in a world where "music" is not Music unless easily categorized, classified and/or compartmentalized. While Tower Records and stores like it may sooner or later become things of the past, we generally, still try to put artists and their music in a neat little box in our minds. We store that box in Aisle 5 under a sign that reads "JAZZ" or "CLASSICAL" or "ROCK" or "FOLK"… or perhaps in that other room. You know the one that is separated from the rest of the store by glass doors and a sign that reads "WORLD".

Brazz Tree is a band that combines all of the aforementioned elements in a sometimes cacophonous, sometimes very straightforward, always elegant, but also sometimes swooping around and hitting you in the back of the head sort of way. We make music that we want to hear on the radio. And we call it Music NWAR.

New World Acoustic Rock began in the fall of 2003, a few years after a Prodigal Mazz Swift (violin and vox) returned from a tough physical, mental and musical journey away from her native New York and safe Juilliard future… She came back with renewed self-confidence and a restored desire to make music. And make it in a big but very pure and natural way. "No Compromises" she says.

While Mazz was off battling her demons and re-establishing her beliefs about music, Life, love and relationships in general, Brad was forging a journey of his own. Always returning to music making, Brad Hammonds (acoustic guitars) followed an education in psychology turning his interest to the human mind and its inner-workings. This interest ultimately brought him to New York City, where he worked in a lab at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, researching psychophysiology.

When they met, they immediately began writing music together. Brad would lay down a basic riff-based idea and Mazz would put lyrics and melodies, or folk/fiddle tunes to it.

The first documented effort of the two working together to arrange and shape their music in this way comes in the form of their debut CD …Quest… which was released in October 2004.

With one CD under their belt, the duo – while casually writing new material – began to focus on travel and performance. In February 2006, after a year and some months of performing and writing, the two took their new songs to producers Alan Camlet and Pete Thompson (otherwise known as Hoboken Recorders, Hoboken, NJ) and began working on what would eventually become their second CD – Spiral On.

What we hear in Spiral On is the next step in the evolution of Music NWAR. It's the fusion of the Folk, Classical and Jazz elements that were first heard in …Quest… with the Pop and Rock elements that Hoboken Recorders bring to the mix. An eclectic and electric sound that mingles very comfortably with the organic and soulful sound the band has already established. This second effort is very much a manifestation of Brad and Mazz's desire to continue pushing the envelope and to collaborate. There is a string orchestra, guest back up vocalists and even a guest producer – the very hip, very talented and very in demand Michael Leonhart lends his musical genius to the song Tick Tock.

Spiral On is to be released on July 10th in New York City and the Brazz Tree that will take the stage will be quite different from the Brazz Tree of 2003. With it's strong core duo ever steady – essence intact – there will be a powerful electric band behind them to bring to the listener's ear what has already been implied during performances over years. The New World of Acoustic Rock as has never been heard before.

They were selected to perform at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, 2006 CMEAS Tour in Holland, the 2006 NACA National Convention in Boston, 2006 NACA-WEST Conventon in Reno, 2006 NXNE Festival in Toronto, the Temecula Valley Film Festival, and the Dewey Beach Music Festival in Dewey DE. They are on the Relix magazine compilation CD for the April/May 2006 issue, and in their "Listen Up" section in the September 2006 issue, and have received Radio play from across the country including a spotlight on NPR and Acoustic Cafe (ACAFE) as "one to watch"...