Five Alarm Funk

Five Alarm Funk is a horn-powered, percussion-fuelled sonic and visual assault. Over 17 years of hard funking, the band hasburned up stages on four continents, released eight studio albums and received two Juno Award nominations.

Their latestalbum "Big Smoke" gets right to the roots of what Five Alarm Funk is all about: epic, intense arrangements, heavy grooveand a ton of fun. As drummer, vocalist, and band leader Tayo Branston puts it, “Big Smoke is the tightest, funkiest and mostenergized album we've ever created, it's the culmination of 17 years of creating, recording and performing together. We call itPunk Funk – it’s got the punch of heavy hitting dance music with the energy of a ruckus live concert.”

The album features two collaborations, the first with the legendary Bootsy Collins delivering hook-laden, funktastic vocalsover a heavy swung groove on We Play The Funk. Next, bari sax phenom Leo P of Too Many Zooz lays down his trademarksquawks and melodic squeals for Wake the Funk Up, a supremely syncopated, chromatic laden jam.

Five Alarm Funk’s epic live show is still what defines the band. The sweat-drenched concerts are infused with an intensespirit of fun that breaks down barriers between band and audience and moves both into a manic dance party. Wildcostumes, props, and choreography compliment the seriously tight arrangements and genre-mashing grooves. That liveshow has taken Five Alarm Funk on dozens of North American coast to coast tours, performing at over 100 festivals in thelast three years alone. The band has also begun to break ground abroad, with performances in Taiwan, Mexico, and aperformance for international peacekeeping forces in Mali. Five Alarm Funk plans to keep the momentum going in 2020 withanother busy summer of festivals and the band’s first European tour.