City of Trees Brass Band brings New Orleans funky jazz to Nooner concert

Vu Chau
May 5, 2016

Sacramento State felt like the streets of New Orleans for 50 minutes on Wednesday afternoon when second-line jazz group City of Trees Brass Band was invited to perform at the last Nooner concert of the spring semester.

Formerly known as the Brasstronauts, City of Trees Brass band was formed by Hillier in 2013 and is currently one of the only two well-known brass bands in the city of Sacramento.

“We’re just trying to get people to dance,” said Ben Hillier, City of Trees’ presumptive bandleader.

Despite the lack of volunteered dancers at the show, there were heads nodding and feet lightly moving to every beat of the band’s jazzy tunes from the audience.

Also present in the audience was Sac State’s official mascot, Herky the Hornet.

To close out this semester’s last show, City of Trees played up to its authentic aesthetic, which is a unique infusion between New Orleans classy jazz and West Coast contemporary sass.

City of Trees Brass Band has never had an official line-up, and for Hillier, these changes in line-up has never hindered the band’s performance or chemistry one bit.

“That’s one of the exciting things about this band,” Hillier said. “Every time you see our shows, it could be a totally different composition of players.”