| NY RAVINGS . . .Their
horn work was unequivocably brilliant, with one highlight being Pam Fleming's
solo on conch shell. Filling out and extending with force and melody the
exquisitely solid playing of the Burning Band, the women of the Burning
Brass reinforced Spear's messianic fervor with ever-higher peaks of excitement.
- Elena Oumano / Reggae & African Beat
Vol.7 #4 1988
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IN THE TRENCHES. . .The brass trio of
Fleming, Hill and Richards . . . raised the roof of Spear's sound. . .
. They fine-tuned the Burning sound into one of the tightest, most searing
outfits in reggae, as evidenced by the Live in Paris double album. Their
punchy attacks and meandering flurries sting like killer bees.
Ben Mapp / Village Voice, May 9, 1989
Click here for
the whole article
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PATRIOT PICK
THE LADIES WHO BURN
Burning Brass are three female horn players, Nilda Richards on the trombone,
Jenny Hill on tenor sax and flute and Pam Fleming on trumpet and flugel,
all of whom write and arrange for their group. With a popping jazz-funk
rhythm section behind them they maintain a glorious level of precise uplifting
sound.
Nilda also sings and raps Queen Latifah style, jocularly,
"Get those white girls off the stage".
Jenny is grandly beautiful and blows strong Getz-like tenor and
delicate flute.
Pam is something else. She holds audiences rapt with
her high, sustained Spanish bull-ring trumpet calls and the luminous spells
she weaves with the lower register flugel horn. Pam also sings, and two
nights after the Zanzibar gig where I caught the ladies burning their
brass, slipped down to the Bitter End to catch her group "Fearless
Dreamer". This group evokes the songs of Yes' Jon Anderson.
Pam is such a powerful energy source, so brimming with a simulacrum
of feeling . . . when she blows that flugel horn. She'll put a real lump
in your throat.
The Jazz Patriot
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June 18, 1988 - SPEAR RITUAL, Brighton U.K.
The band? The band are bloody marvelous, a powerhouse unit who keep up
the steady, hypnotic groove which ear-marks a solid Spear show. Burning
Brass, the female trio horn section, have, through their endless touring
since I last saw them in Britain, gained enormous confidence in themselves,
and they strutted their riffs and wicked solos with noticeable joy and
ease. Great. Trumpet player Pamela Fleming deserves a special mention
for a haunting shell - as in large conch seashell - solo, which held those
who could see - as well as hear her spell bound.
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| Vermont delivers top notch Reggae
After a short set change the Burning Brass added their own heat to the
day as they proved to be outstanding. They were led by the female brass
trio of Nilda Richards, Pam Fleming, and Jennifer Hill - who have previous
experience with Burning Spear. This New York City band played many different
styles from dancehall to funk to excellent dub. It was good to see a female-led
reggae group get the chance to perform in front of the many thousands
of fans.
- Robert Ackerman / Reggae Report Vol 8 #7 1990
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People of the World ,
and the current version of Spear's Burning Band features three female
horn players - a rarity in the male dominated Rastafarian religion linked
to reggae culture. But those musicians all help Spear build a unified
sound at once urgent and soothing.
- Thom Duffy / Sentinel |
| REGGAE WOMEN DEBUT IN BURNING
BRASS BAND
Their new band's debut performance last month at MK's in New York City,
revealed that the Burning Brass is much more than superb side women. With
three horns fronting the group, the slant is naturally dubwise. Their
band illustrates what can happen to reggae in the hands of well-trained,
creative musicians who feel the music, sense the limits on what it can
contain, and yet can't help but push those boundaries just a little bit
farther than anyone else imagined they could give. Blond, blue-eyed roots
"dawter" Pam Fleming was another surprise. She sang her "Thanksgiving
in Africa" and other tunes with the kind of soul, cool, and wit that
only instrumentalists can offer - a feel that counts for more than just
a belle voce.
Click here for the whole
article
- Elena Oumano / The City Sun Feb 14-20 1990
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| Vermont Reggae Festival
Besides doing their own material, Lambsbread made the most of their extended
set by bringing out the Burning Brass to join them in some wave-churning,
high-energy jamming, particularly on an Alton Ellis medley that
almost made one forget that the singer himself wasn't there.
- Roger Steffens / The Beat Vol 9 #5, 1990
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| - DECEMBER 94 -
Burning Brass has been immortalized on the painted mural at Rod Baltimore's
International Woodwind and Brass Shop in NYC (48th Street). Jenny, Pam
and Nilda's portrait can be seen at the top of the stairs, along with
some of the best players in history.
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