OBDBI PRESS

“When not teaching African guitar at Old Town School of Folk Music (hands down, coolest job ever), Braddock tears things up in local groups, like the Stravinsky-transcribing Butchershop Quartet, or indie-rockers the Ancient Greeks. This ambiguously-titled project promises excellent guitar playing and, if we’re lucky, some nods to King Sunny Ade”—Matt Lurie, Time Out Chicago, 17 March 2005

“As fans of West African music, one look at the Occidental Brothers’ new “official” name has us salivating. Nathaniel Braddock, experimental wizard and African guitar devotee, leads this group of Chicago jazzers through the music that is the unheralded foundation of Chicago post-rock. This isn’t just a brilliant idea on paper, but also a long-overdue convergence of the city’s free-jazz and rock scenes. What’s more, Afrobeat and West African pop get spun at Sonotheque or Danny’s every week anyway, so it’s only just that a live band rears up to make us remember how good this music sounds live.”—Time Out Chicago, Issue 30, 22 September 2005.

The popularity of African pop music from the 60s and 70s has been on the upswing of late: recent collections like Ghana Soundz, Lagos Chop Up, and Lagos All Routes have enjoyed critical acclaim, and earlier this year Alula Records launched its "Analog Africa" series, which has reissued classic albums from Zimbabwean artists like the Green Arrows and the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band. The music's mostly forgotten in Africa, where there isn't much of a crate-digging culture. But here, the Old Town School of Folk Music has offered classes in African guitar styles, and the locals in the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International bring many of these rare African grooves to life onstage. Nathaniel Braddock, who plays guitar in the Ancient Greeks and the Butchershop Quartet, is the leader of the instrumental combo, and he's taught that class at the Old Town School. But his bright tone and stuttering leads on tunes such as Thomas Mapfumo's jubilant chimurenga "Nyarai" and Franco Luambo Makiadi's "Bomboko Awuti Na New York" dispel any fears that he's taking an academic approach to this material. Alto saxophonist Greg Ward, who's best known for holding down Wednesday nights at the Velvet Lounge, shows a similar love for (and grasp of) the idiom, striking a beseechingly lyrical stance on Orchestra Africa Jazz's "Mokozi Ya Mboko." Kyle Hernandez's booming upright bass and a trio of percussionists rounded out the band when they recorded at Electrical Audio in January; since then they've added Ghanaian trumpeter Kofi Cromwell. -Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader, 20 April 2006

“Chicago's resident guitar wizard Nathaniel Braddock leads his South African-inspired quartet as they bustle through live renditions of African jazz and dance tunes from the '60s.. The avant-pop group's repertoire includes Congolese rumbas, South Africa marabis, and eminently danceable instrumental versions of classic Afro-pop.” -Flavorpill 79