This 24-piece jazz big band will techno prisoners

A super-sized house and techno big jazz band from Cork has just dropped a brand new single along with the announcement their upcoming debut EP.

‘Shuffle’ is the vibrant new tune from BoolaBoom, a 24 piece brass and percussion collective who have become known for their jaw dropping blend of typically electronic genres.

Their new single captures the carnival-esque atmosphere of the group’s live performances, whilst highlighting the beat driven electronic dance music (EDM) inspiration behind it all.

Hailing from a medley of countries including Ireland, Brazil, France, Chile, the UK, and New Zealand, BoolaBoom’s multicultural makeup brings world-class musicianship and carnival energy to every performance. With 12 horn players and ten samba drummers, the band delivers the kind of visceral, live EDM experience that’s made for the mainstage.

The title track from the upcoming EP, ‘Shuffle’ is an explosive mash-up of bluesy horns, samba rhythms, and hands-in-the-air house drops. Showcasing the group’s signature fusion of high-octane samba percussion and lush jazz horns, the track’s four to the floor driven structure is broken up by a rousing acapella chant that builds into a wild, festival-sized beat drop. Further into the track, ‘Shuffle’ breaks into a Brazilian call-and-response which hammers home the joyous, performative feel that the band has managed to capture on the recording.

Band leader and producer Darragh O’Connor explains: “We love mixing big band jazz with a thumping samba-house beat and we’re delighted with how this track turned out. When we play this live, we always get the audience chanting along ‘cup final’ style to the vocal hook – fists punching the air just before the drop, which really gets a packed venue or festival crowd bouncing.”

“You can really feel the wide range of contemporary musical influences coming together, all under a banging house bass drum being pounded by hand,” adds Darragh.

For a band just starting out with its first real release, the prospect of recording 24 musicians on a shoestring budget was a daunting one. However, the band came together and decided that capturing the huge live sound was crucial to the track, meaning they needed all 24 musicians in the studio together playing at the same time.

Darragh continues: “You don’t want musicians on their own in a sound proof booth. Everyone in the band stands when they play – we don’t allow anyone to sit while playing. If you’re playing dance music you should be on your feet doing a little – ‘Shuffle’ – while you play.”

Despite being in its relative youth as a project, BoolaBoom has already had a number of big achievements including radio play from BBC Radio 6 Music (Craig Charles) and playing packed out shows across Ireland and festivals including Electric Picnic and All Together Now. After impressing house music icon Kerri Chandler with a street busking rework of his 1998 deep house classic ‘Atmosphere’, Boolaboom went on to support him at a sold-out show at Cyprus Avenue.

Their 2024 single ‘Summerhouse’, remixed by French house maestro Art of Tones (aka Llorca), reached #18 in the Traxsource Top 100, earning praise from the likes of Laurent Garnier (‘I love it’) and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy (‘Wow – great story and it’s wonderful!’). The band are set to appear on the main stage at Kaleidoscope Festival 2025 in county Wicklow on 6 July. After that they play the All Together Now Festival in county Waterford on 3 August.