Hazmat Modine

Hazmat Modine is an American musical group based in New York City and led by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Wade Schuman. The band's music is rooted in blues and also touches on folk, jazz and World music. In 2015, the lineup of the band featured harmonica, tuba, trumpet, saxophone, drums and two guitars, as well as solo and harmony vocals. For their name, "Hazmat" is a portmanteau of "hazardous material" and "Modine" is a brand of heater. 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. 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, chromatic harmonica, trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, tenor and baritone saxes, piccolo and duduk, 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. Official site: http://www.hazmatmodine.com/ European label and agent: http://www.jaro.de/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.