Formed in 1998 by Wade Schuman, who writes and sings nearly all of the band’s material and forges their creative direction, Hazmat Modine seamlessly integrates primal, guttural blues, funky, unadulterated old school R&B and myriad sounds from other cultures, absorbed during their constant touring in more than 20 different countries across the world. Schuman says: “Hazmat Modine tries to get to the core of what makes American music work, and American music is informed by the immigrant experience. There’s an organic evolution that takes place. American music is world music in essence since it is a product of the all diasporas that have come here.”

HAZMAT is an American English word for Hazardous Materials. AKA dangerous materials, you see it on the sides of trucks or special trashcans. MODINE is the brand name for an industrial forced air heater unit, the kind that hangs down in garages and artists lofts… the company is in Muncie Indiana… they are both American words, but the sound of them together is rather exotic. People often think HAZMAT is Turkish.

Hazmat Modine’s Style

Hazmat Modine draws from the rich soil of American music of the 20′s and 30′s through to the 50′s and early 60′s, blending elements of early Blues, Hokum Jug band, Swing, New Orleans R&B, and Jamaican Rocksteady. A pointer to Hazmat’s methodology can be found in the band’s configuration. Schuman’s guitar, diatonic harmonica and intensely earthy vocals set the tone. A solid battery of sounds – tuba, accordion, trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, tenor and baritone saxes, piccolo and duduk, banjo, mandocello and steel guitar – explores the textural and melodic outer limits of Hazmat’s meticulously woven compositions, while guitars and drums lock down a groove and provide sonic spicing.

Hazmat Modine’s Performances

Since their debut album – Bahamut (2007), Hazmat Modine performed about two hundredfifty concerts in 20 European countries, playing well-known festivals like Jazzfest Vienna, Copenhagen Jazzfestival, Berlin Jazzfest, Stockholm Jazz Festival and many others. Via multi-hour club and concert sets and countless festival appearances, the band has absorbed and processed all that they’ve encountered, emerging at a destination far from their embarkation point.

In 2016 they performed their 10th anniversary year of performances in Europe. As well the band appeared on festivals in Brasil, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

„Hazmat Modine: …this wild group led by the singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman. They play Blues originals, mostly, that are the product of Schuman’s limitless imagination. His voice, for that matter, appears to be bottomless.“ – The New Yorker

“A truly mysterious band about which the only sure thing to say is this: It is extremely New York. Only in that huge metropolis can collectives like this blossom and grow and could invent such an amazing combination of music based out of so many genres…” –TimeOut Moscow (Russia)

Wade Schuman
Diatonic Harmonica, Guitar, Banjitar, Lead Vocals

Wade Schuman’s first career has nothing to do with music. He was awarded major scholarships and prizes incl. the Mary Post Prize for Painting. Playing the harmonica since the age of ten, Wade is an accomplished master in the early Blues and musical styles of the 1920’s and 30’s. He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan which has long had a vital and interesting musical scene, and currently resides and works in New York City. He draws musical inspiration from among others: Desmond Dekker, Jaybird Coleman, Sidney Bechet, Taraf De Haidouks and Slim Gaillard. Recording credits include Joan Osborn’s “Relish” which was nominated for four Grammies.
To get a full picture of Wade’s artistic endeavor, please visit: www.forumgallery.com/artist/wade-schuman

Erik Della Penna
Vocals, Banjo, Guitar

Erik is a songwriter and guitar player living in New York City. When needed, he plays banjo and lap steel as well. He has written, recorded and toured extensively with artists such as Joan Baez, Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne and David Yazbek. Erik has written music for A&E television, The New York Historical Society, as well as music & lyrics for two stage productions produced by Walden Media. His guitar and drum duo, Kill Henry Sugar, is currently in the process of recording their seventh collection of original songs. In addition, Erik is working on two musicals now in development, one in Chicago and one in New York City.

Daisy Castro
Violin

Daisy Castro’s unique style refreshes and renews with a modern edge and global influence and instrumentation, bridging the distance between Django’s generation and her own in a very exciting way.
Daisy has been an active member of the “Gypsy Jazz” community both in the United States and in Europe since she was quite young. She has played on stages on both continents and beyond with all of the most revered players of this style, earning the respect of these luminaries and their discerning audiences. With a repertoire encompassing everything from the Django songbook to Salsa to traditional Turkish music to original compositions, along with an occasional addition of effects pedals, a whole new world of musical exploration awaits all who attend a performance.

Pam Fleming
Trumpet, Flugelhorn

NYC trumpet player and composer Pam Fleming is the leader of original world jazz group Fearless Dreamer. This group has released 2 CD’s, “Fearless Dreamer” and “Climb”. A unique recording of Pam’s original Halloween music, “Rise and Dance” will be released in 2014.
In addition to many years touring and recording with Hazmat Modine, Pam is also known for her work with jam band Gov’t Mule, Lilith Fair artists Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls; Reggae stars Burning Spear, Dennis Brown and Maxi Priest; Klezmer groups Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos; Frank London’s Shekhina Big Band, and Bill Lee’s Natural Spiritual Orchestra.

Pam can be heard on the recordings of many Indie Artists in the Jazz, Rock, Pop and Reggae genres. http://fearlessdreamer.com

Kenneth Bentley
Tuba

Kenneth Bentley Jr. was born in Austin, Texas on August 26, 1976. Raised in Round Rock, Texas, he began playing the tuba at age 11. Kenneth studied with Steve Bryant at The University of Texas at Austin and graduated in the spring of 1999 with a Bachelor’s degree in Orchestral Performance. During his summers at UT Austin, he worked for the Walt Disney Company at the theme parks in California, Paris and Tokyo. In the fall of 1999, Kenneth moved from Texas to New York City to study at the Manhattan School of Music with Toby Hanks and and received a Master’s degree in Classical Music from MSM. Kenneth is a founding member of the Sugartone Brass Band based in New York City. He played on Sugartone’s first album “Live in Brooklyn” (2008) and performed and produced the band’s second album “Fourth Man Down” (2012). Kenneth also performed on and produced Sugartone’s third album “Things are not the Same” (2014) and “Live at Vegetable Buddies” (2018). Kenneth joined the YoungBlood Brass Band in 2004, touring America and Europe from 2004-2007 and 2009. As a member of YoungBlood, he recorded on two of the band’s albums: “Live. Places.”(2005) and “Is that a Riot?” (2006). In 2023, Kenneth joined the Radio City Musical Hall Orchestra. He has also had the pleasure of playing Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding the Musical at St. Ann’s Warehouse (2023) and Jelly’s Last Jam at the New York City Center (2024). Kenneth currently performs with Slavic Soul Party, Howard Fishman and the Biting Fish Brass Band, Red Baraat, and Brass Against and Hazmat Modine

Varun Das
Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Varun Das is a New York-based drummer, composer, and educator whose distinctive sound blends the sophisticated rhythms of Indian classical music with the soul of Jazz/Black American Music and the energy of progressive rock, earning him national recognition across the jazz, fusion, and Indian music worlds. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor (2022) and Master (2024) in Jazz Performance, Das is a freelance artist who has recorded alongside Joey DeFrancesco, Dayna Stephens, Matt Brewer, and Luis Perdomo, and has performed in groups led by Miguel Zenón, Kavita Shah, and Summer Camargo. Das is a core member of Red Baraat and Hazmat Modine, while also performing with Bollywood legend Kavita Krishnamurthy and other Bollywood legends. His honors include selection as the GRAMMY Jazz Band drummer and GRAMMY Alumni Band member, a National YoungArts finalist in jazz percussion, and multiple DOWNBEAT Magazine “Best/Outstanding Soloist” awards. Following his 2021 debut EP Solitude, Das recently released his contemporary jazz-rock fusion album Childlike, reflecting his personal stories and outlook on society.

„Hazmat Modine remains a fascinating exception in the music business. The band’s sound is unmistakable and still sounds as if Tom Waits and Kurt Weill have teamed up with a marching band from New Orleans. Wade Schuman and Co. show a sympathetic picture of America, which is pushed into the background by Trump and daily politics.“ – Stefan Radlmaier / Nürnberger Nachrichten 6-2018

„The band Hazmat Modine describes their music as blues. But as blues that can be heard in an Afro-American pub in New Orleans. Whereby the city should lie like an island in the Red Sea. And should be inhabited by Roma who played with Otis Redding. It is influences from all over the world that colour Hazmats Blues. And make it so driving that the listeners are already electrified after the first note.“ – Landsberger Nachrichten 6-2018

„Seems like ages since harmonicas have sounded as hep as Wade Schuman’s and Randy Weinstein’s do in this hand-painted confab of rusty blues, piquant rumbas, sawdust-floor reggae, Hawaiian guitar, and—sure, why not?—Tuvan throat singing. Welcome to the old weird globalism.“ The Village Voice

„The singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman’s musical vision sounds like something out of Dr. Suess. His group augments Mr. Schumans own avant-blues stylings with a contra-bass, a banjitar, tuba, flugel, trumpet, sheng and, most important, Tuvan throat singing. “ The New York Times

„One of New York’s most original bands…With their sly musical wit, expert musicianship and completely unique sound, Hazmat Modine has built a wide and devoted following, drawing crowds to shows at venues as diverse as the Knitting Factory, Terra Blues, the Fez, Satalla, Joe’s Pub, Barbes and Galapagos Art Space.“ Trifecta

“[…] But the most striking was the third part of this „New York Night“, dedicated to Hazmat Modine led by a supreme harmonica virtuoso, singer, Wade Schuman…the main thing about this band was: genuine joy of every musician. Schuman himself…literally screamed from delight listening to other people’s solos. The band, supposed to play forty minutes or so, gave to a grateful audience a encore gift of an extra hour of its time, note that they came on stage at one in the morning!” Gazeta, Russia

“Hazmat Modine: …this wild group led by the singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman. They play blues originals, mostly, that are the product of Schuman’s limitless imagination. His voice, for that matter, appears to be bottomless […] The singer and harmonica player Wade Schuman’s musical vision sounds like something out of Dr. Suess. His group augments Mr. Schumans own avant-blues styling with a contra-bass, a banjitar, tuba, flugel, trumpet, sheng and, most important, Tuvan throat singing. ” The New Yorker

“They’re a calypso/alt-country/blues/gypsy band…. which is obviously what the world needs most […]” Times of London

“A truly mysterious band about which the only sure thing to say is this: It is extremely New York. Only in that huge metropolis can collectives like this blossom and grow and could invent such an amazing combination of music based out of so many genres […]” TimeOut Moscow

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Hazmat Modine & Gangbé Brass Band

In 2011, Hazmat Modine gigged with the West Africa’s Gangbé Brass Band on their German tour leg. The result was a spectacle of a dazzling, funky eight-piece West African brass band sharing the stage with a versatile, virtuosic American octet that seamlessly integrates early blues and jazz, several Latin and Caribbean genres, numerous indigenous European styles, and sundry other international influences. The Hazmat Modine-Gangbé collaboration represented a one-of-a-kind celebration of unprecedented musical possibilities – a truly danceable and cross-cultural feast.

On this matter, the front-man of Hazmat Modine, Wade Schuman, has shared his feelings with us: “It exceeded my expectations. There was this incredible synergy and sense of ideas going back and forth.” When referring to Gangbé band Wade said: “They’ve digested American music, and American music came out of African music. So it’s this beautiful ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth. The idiomatic language of Gangbé is pretty Western: They’ve totally swallowed the whole Latin American tradition and made it their own. You can hear it in their playing. At the same time you hear a lot of Fela, who was listening to James Brown and artists like that.”

In essence, the meet-up of the two entities, all in all 16 extremely talented musicians, takes the African music full circle. The amalgamation of Gangbé’s percussion, saxophones, trumpets, trombone and tuba with Hazmat’s array of guitars, brass and woodwinds, percussion, harmonica and other instruments– as well as the engaging, impassioned vocals of both outfits– serves to accentuate the strengths of both bands, rather than draw attention to their different backgrounds as Americans and Africans.

Below are some videos from Hazmat Modine & Gangbé Brass Band: