Matchless music for sophisticated soirées
Music makes the difference at your party or event. The band you select can help you create an elegant, memorable evening of dancing, fun, listening, and (perish the thought!) conversation… or just another loud party. Your guests will remember the quality of the food and the quality of the music.
There are a lot of very good bands around. We should know; collectively, we’ve played with most of them. The Brass Pack is a little different than the rest. The band performs distinctive arrangements, many written specifically to take advantage of our unusual instrumentation and the extraordinary versatility of our members—some of the finest musicians in the New York area. The result is a style and a sound ranging from subtle and elegant to hard-driving and urgent, but always uniquely The Brass Pack.
A little of everything… and a lot of brass
The Brass Pack’s diverse and wide-ranging repertoire starts with a solid core of enduring Great American Songbook standards that have been popular for listening and dancing, generation after generation. From there, it extends in all directions: back, to Dixieland; and forward, to rock ’n’ roll and beyond. It even takes a few turns in unexpected (and unexpectedly entertaining) directions. It’s all good, and good fun, especially in the hands of The Brass Pack’s trademark horn section and its array of trumpets, trombones, flugelhorns and more, propelled by some of the finest rhythm section players in the business.
More about The Brass Pack’s Songs and Styles.
Upcoming shows
Sunday, October 15, 2023 • Ossining, NY
4:00–7:00 pm
Hope Harvest Festival
The Center at Mariandale, 299 N. Highland Ave, Ossining, NY
For tickets and more information, visit the Center at Mariandale’s website.
The Brass Pack returns to the Center at Mariandale, where last year the band delighted the crowd with their first post-pandemic live show.
More about Brass Pack shows—past, present, and future.
Meet The Brass Pack
Bill Ash
Photo by Karen Fucito
In The Brass Pack, perhaps leader Bill Ash has finally found justification for all the different brass instruments cluttering up his house.
Perhaps.
Jon Leonard
Photo by Karen Fucito
West Point band veteran Jon Leonard finds that Army basic training prepared him well for The Brass Pack, since we often have him load all the band equipment onto his back and hike five miles to a gig.
Matt Krempasky
Photo by Bill Ash
The Brass Pack’s newest member Matt Krempasky long resisted turning in his bio to the webmaster. As an excuse, he claimed that “nothing he did before joining The Brass Pack meant anything anymore.”
It was a blatant display of buttering up the leader… but as it happens, the leader is easily swayed by this sort of thing.
Scott Reeves
Photo by Karen Fucito
Seeing (and hearing) Scott Reeves playing alto flugelhorn many years ago inspired Brass Pack leader Bill Ash to buy a bass flugelhorn and start practicing it.
To this day, Bill’s wife still hasn’t forgiven Scott.
Darrell Hendricks
Photo by Karen Fucito
Darrell Hendricks is Director of Bands at Mount Olive High School.
He finds that dealing with 14-year-olds has left him well-prepared for dealing with adult (so-called, anyway) band leaders.
Walter Barrett
With performance experience ranging from symphony orchestras, pop singers, and jazz ensembles to oom-pah bands and the Iona College Pep Band, Walter Barrett thought he’d seen just about every oddity the music industry could throw at him.
Then The Brass Pack called.
Larry Maltz
Photo by Karen Fucito
Guitarist Larry Maltz was hoping that if he didn’t send the webmaster his bio, he could deny any affiliation with The Brass Pack.
Nice try, Larry, but we found your bio online.
Todd Beaney
Photo by Karen Fucito
As a college roommate of The Brass Pack’s leader Bill Ash, Todd Beaney has enough incriminating evidence to ensure he’ll always be asked to be on every gig—and Bill has enough evidence to ensure Todd will always show up.
Takashi Otsuka
Photo by Karen Fucito
Takashi Otsuka was always drawn to low sounds. After he took up the bass, he thought he couldn’t find anything lower.
Then he heard about The Brass Pack.
Wayne Dunton
Photo by Karen Fucito
Wayne Dunton has been playing with The Brass Pack since 2007. He fantasizes about flattening brass instruments and turning them into cymbals.
Nadav
Not only does Nadav share Wayne Dunton’s fantasy about flattening brass instruments to turn them into cymbals, but he has had discussions with a local paving contractor about hiring a steam roller.
What IS that thing?
Baffled and befuddled by the boffo bevy of brass beheld at a Brass Pack show? Visit our What the heck IS that thing? page for a convenient guide.
Blowing our own horns
Ask us about The Brass Pack!
or call or text Bill at or send postal mail to
Bill Ash and The Brass Pack
PO Box 200
Allendale, NJ 07401-0200