Meet the band

K.O.Brass (Knock Out Brass)

Once upon a time there was this music ensemble whose energy spread across The Netherlands like wildfire: Colin Benders’ The Kyteman Orchestra.

It wasn’t just any ordinary orchestra but one comprised of top professionals, all of whom had a strong background in diverse music disciplines and improvisation.

For such an orchestra, Colin Benders needed five very special brass players:

K.O.Brass

In all honesty, we had not as yet established ourselves as a brass quintet. Our thirst to work with each other increased during our years in the orchestra. We wanted to develop the ideas that were already brewing within the section to a more personal level. It was then that we realized we needed to have our own group in order to explore every sonic possibility available to a brass quintet and beyond…

K.O.Brass

But y’all knew that

What you may not know is that we all come from a different country.

Does it make a difference? Not at all.

Except that it does. We’ve all been brought up in very different places, have five very different playing styles and approach our discipline in a way unique to our upbringing. A cocktail with a knock-out punch as it were.

Playing is only part of the recipe: we also compose and arrange our own music. Specifically the compositions of Kobi Arditi and Romain Bly have earned us our golden gloves.

Their talents have caught the eye of many musicians and producers throughout The Netherlands.

This has resulted in various co-productions nationwide, allowing us to work with great artists like Typhoon (Podium Pop-up) and Wende (DWDD). It also brought us together with the illustrious Slagwerk Den Haag and Het Filiaal Theatermakers (Back To Oz).

and

2 tours with Leo Blokhuis & Ricky Koole’s New Orleans theatre concert

but also

2 tours with the iconic music theater production house Orkater!

OK, that’s not entirely true. Our second tour got cancelled due to the pandemic.

But even THAT can’t stop us from fulfilling our most recent mission: our very first full CD!

“KEYO”

Catchy title, right?

K.O.Brass:

Randell Heye (Suriname) trumpet, flügel horn & baritone

Romain Bly (France) trumpet, horn, Ergeländer baritone & percussion

Robert-Jan Looysen (The Netherlands) horn