TILT Brass
TILT Brass is a Brooklyn-based experimental music organization dedicated to expanding the world of contemporary brass music by producing innovative concert programs and recording projects, and by commissioning new works for its two ensembles, Creative Brass Band (CBB) and SIXtet. Since forming in 2003, TILT Brass has presented the work of over 50 composers, including group members and local colleagues, as well as established masters. TILT’s repertoire engages its audience with musical experiences ranging from sonorous soundscapes to the raucous strains of a street band, from freely improvised explorations to the precision and clarity of fully notated chamber music (often combining the latter two within a single work).

Led by composer, curator, and trombonist Chris McIntyre, the musicians of TILT Brass are among the finest on their respective instruments and varied fields of activity. The 10-piece Creative Brass Band, the organization’s founding ensemble, features artists such trumpeters Shane Endsley and Gareth Flowers, trombonist Jacob Garchik, and percussionist Kevin Norton. SIXtet, a 6-piece "triple duo" of trumpets, trombones, and tubas, features such stalwarts as Nate Wooley and Russ Johnson on trumpet, and Curtis Hasselbring on trombone. TILT projects have been presented in a number of vital New York venues including the Whitney Museum, ISSUE Project Room, Joe’s Pub, Cornelia Street Cafe, and The Stone.

TILT Brass presents thematic concert programs, such as New York Noise (historical and current works by important artists from the NYC Downtown community) and To TILT: Original Music for TILT Brass, both on-going, multi-season series. Its existing repertoire includes works by contemporary masters such as Anthony Coleman, Lois V. Vierk, John Adams, Nick Didkovsky, and John King, mid-career peers like Chris Jonas and Taylor Ho Bynum, and TILT composer members Norton, Wooley, and Hasselbring. Two “Volumes” of the To TILT repertoire, featuring the Creative Brass Band, will be released during the 2010-2011 season, with Vol. 3 featuring SIXtet to follow in 2012.

Ensembles
SIXtet
Russ Johnson, Nate Wooley - trumpet
Curtis Hasselbring, Chris McIntyre - trombone
Joe Exley, John Altieri - tuba

Formed in 2007 by New York-based organization TILT Brass, TILT SIXtet is a six-piece "triple duo" of trumpets, trombones, and tubas, one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds on the chamber music scene. The group features an all-star line-up including Russ Johnson (The Other Quartet, Lee Konitz Nonet) and Nate Wooley (Anthony Braxton, Akron/Family) on trumpet, Curtis Hasselbring (New Mellow Edwards, Gloria Deluxe) and TILT Director Chris McIntyre (Ne(x)tworks, Zeena Parkins) on trombone, and Joe Exley (Anti-Social Music, SEM Ensemble) and John Altieri (Alarm Will Sound, Red Baraat) on tuba. SIXtet's repertoire includes original works by Alpert Award winner John King, Downtown legend Anthony Coleman, Director Chris McIntyre, saxophonist Chris Jonas (Braxton, Cecil Taylor), and Bessie Award winner Pete Drungle (Michael Portnoy, Sarah Michelson). Future plans include collaborations with Chris Jonas and David First, and the recorded release of its original repertoire.

Creative Brass Band
New York City based TILT Creative Brass Band (TCBB) is a beautifully strange combination of military brass band and Downtown repertoire ensemble. The group has presented concerts since January 2003 at venues ranging from Whitney Museum to Barbes in Brooklyn. Since its inception, TCBB has fearlessly taken on works from the fringes of experimental concert music and hybrid scores combining notation and improvisation. The group frequently presents entire programs of original works by its composer/performer members (Kevin Norton, Curtis Hasselbring, Nate Wooley, among others) and colleagues from the field, including legendary pianist Anthony Coleman (released on Tzadik), Doctor Nerve's Nick Didkovsky, multi-instrumentist Charles Waters, and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum.

In addition, the Creative Brass Band is committed to presenting works from the experimental tradition, with pieces ranging from a Varése graphic score from the late 50's and selections from James Tenney's Postal Pieces to Fredric Rzewski's Les Mounton de Panurge and a realization of John Adams' brass and electronics work Light Over Water. In June '09, TCBB kicked off a new on-going series of programs called New York Noise which presents historical and current works by important composers from the Downtown community and its ancestors such as Elliott Sharp, Lois V. Vierk, and Rhys Chatham. In 2010, the group will present several programs at ISSUE Project Room and will record and release the current To TILT repertoire.