Cosmic Rhythms and Spiritual Keys: A Talk with Noel Brass Jr.

From the heart of Seattle’s underground jazz and soul scene emerges a sound that defies easy categorization — cosmic, spiritual, and deeply rooted in groove. At the center of this celestial sound is Noel Brass Jr., keyboardist, composer, and guiding force behind Afrocop.

In this conversation, Noel opens up about the origins of Afrocop’s sound, the spiritual intent behind their improvisations, and how tapping into higher frequencies shapes not only his music but his entire creative process. Whether you’re a vinyl collector, jazz head, or just looking for something that speaks to the soul, this dialogue invites you into a world where music becomes a form of transcendence.

Jimmie: Thank you for joining me today. Could you please introduce yourself?

Noel: I’m Noel Brass Jr. I play music and compose in a number of different projects in Seattle, Washington. I grew up in the Chicagoland area. I’ve been in Seattle for about 20 years now. I play keys, I compose, play synthesizers, do some other compositions with other musicians based in Seattle and elsewhere around the United States and other places. I’m a big record collector. I also host a show out here on 90.3 KEXP, the local station here in Seattle, Washington. I do the jazz theater program. I’ve been a part of that program for a year and a half now. I also curate different shows around the Seattle land area with a non-for-profit called NonSequitur. I also record under my own name, Noel Brass Jr., solo works and ambient works as well under that title. I’ve been out here for a while and always inspired by music and have a long tradition of musical education and sharing music with others. I’ve always been inspired by artistic expressions of improvisation and jazz and other types of music like R&B, blues, soul, funk, electronic especially. It’s always been a gift to be able to share it and to be able to give it to others. It’s the love of my life. I always try to share that gift that I’ve been lucky enough to receive and lucky enough to be inspired by other music. I’m always searching, always learning, always practicing and always furthering the craft of what I do. Not just jazz, beyond jazz and other music, I always try to find things that I’m inspired by.

Jimmie: Where did your band name Afrocop come from?

Noel: The name Afrocop actually came from my love of sci-fi, noir, film noir, early comic books, jazz, old films, and blaxploitation films especially, and dystopian films also, were a big influence in naming that band. Afrocop sounds like a kind of a tangent name, it sounds almost ridiculous, people take it silly sometimes, but it came from a different group that I started when I lived in Joliet, Illinois, which is in the Chicagoland area. For those who don’t know, Chicago is a great city for music, and it’s the birthplace of a lot of the blues. A lot of blues musicians who moved from the South moved to the Chicagoland area, and I was lucky enough to grow up around there. I started a trio with some other fellas out there, and the band was actually called Black Justice, and that was me and a couple other musicians of the trio, and I just kind of jokingly called it that. I thought, moving out to Seattle, I could come up with something even more clever and more interesting as a name, and that’s what I came up with, that’s what I stuck with — Afrocop.

Jimmie: I felt that your band’s sound is a blend of various genres, which totally makes sense given the origin of your band’s name.

Noel: I try to mix a lot of different styles and a lot of my inspirations into the music that I play. A lot of the soundtrack stuff I’m very inspired by. In recent years I’ve found a lot of different music around the world. Not just jazz, but lots of inspiring music. The world is a big place. Once you are listening to so much music, you start discovering so much other stuff. That’s always been my love — keeping inspiring others with my own music. So, yeah, thank you.

Jimmie: It’s not easy to put your sound into a single category.

Noel: Well, yeah, that’s the thing. That’s the tricky thing. It can be easy to label things jazz or electronic or soul or ambient. It always felt like that isn’t up to me to decide. A lot of people who played jazz in the early ’50s were even trying to figure out what the name was. They didn’t care — they were just playing music. It was just soul music and it was coming from a place of realness and righteousness, I think. It’s interesting when you talk about genres. I get even more confused sometimes when there’s so many genres thrown out there. What do you think about that?

Jimmie: I totally agree. Categorizing music is really just something people in the media or record labels need to do. By the way, how did your album end up being released through Wax Thematique?

Noel: It’s a pleasure to be on that label because he is very prolific with different styles of music. Everything from trip-hop to electronic music to a lot of world sampling music since he’s been living in China. He plays a lot of music from there and elsewhere and finds different acts to fit into this world of really interesting music. That’s perfect — like you said, Wax Thematique is kind of like this soundtrack you escape into when you listen to some of the records on that label.

Jimmie: I’m glad to hear that you’ve built a good relationship with them. Could you tell me a bit more about the band?

Noel: I started Afrocop when I first moved out here to Seattle, Washington. It was a different lineup at the time. We cut our teeth at this local bar called The Stepping Stone, a stone’s throw from where I currently live in Ballard, Seattle — a little fisherman neighborhood. Just a little tavern. We played there for some years, every Friday night, just improvising through the night and letting people come and go. I eventually met Andy Sells, drummer. He’s a great musician in Seattle. He works with a group called Focus North, a post-rock band. He’s also involved in the Seattle punk scene and had friends in the grunge scene. He was friends with the Murder City Devils. Spencer Moody, who I also made a record with, currently lives in Hawaii. Andy and I had a real deep love of jazz and Miles Davis records — ’60s, ’70s fusion. We’re into Billy Cobham, George Duke, and weirder music. A lot of my friends turned me on to different stuff. We’d improvise and come up with our own ideas. Andy brought Carlos Toulos into the fold, who became our full-time bass player. After The Stepping Stone, we played at a local place called Vito’s, a cool old-school mobster hangout. It had a classy jazz vibe. It’s now closed due to fires — a tragic situation. It was underneath an old apartment building. It had a late-night vibe — people got dressed up. That vibe won’t be matched in Seattle. But we played there for a couple years. We continued to record and eventually cut the record we released last year. It was culled from sessions over the years. The pandemic delayed things, but we finally put it out on Nathan’s label. It’s done well in Seattle and elsewhere. I appreciate you playing it on your show and showcasing it. This type of music might seem weird to some. It’s deep and spiritual. We put a lot of love into our craft. That’s what we care about in Afrocop — soundscapes and ambient textural movements, flying by the seat of our pants, going into random areas that can be scary and seeing what it produces. Nothing comes from no risks, right?

Jimmie: Wait, that was all improvised? That’s incredible!

Noel: Yeah, most of our music is about 80 to 90% improvisational. We set up chordal structures and modes to work with. Then we launch off — it could go in any direction. It can be scary. That’s the risk we take. As we’ve seasoned from playing live so much, we kind of know where each other is going. If we don’t, we move around and adjust. You could launch off anywhere — or get lost. You never know.

Jimmie: That sounds like a huge challenge.

Noel: Yeah, and that’s really important to us — to have the feeling of improvisation but also structure. We want it to be soulful, not just noodling or jamming. We’re not into the jam scene. We’re into more esoteric stuff — like the band Can, with Damo Suzuki. We like weird music. We don’t just listen to jazz all day. We’ve got big ears. I listen to YMO, Cornelius — I was admiring his last couple of records. Are you familiar with Shintaro Sakamoto? I’ve really been enjoying his work. His music’s great. Recently in the States, we’ve been exposed to more world music in the vinyl scene. It wasn’t always like this. We didn’t have access to all these records — Brazilian, Japanese, Thai, Latin, African. Now it’s much more accessible thanks to the internet. That’s opened up so many avenues of discovery. It’s been a real gift.

Jimmie: By the way, as someone who hosts a radio show, where do you usually discover new music?

Noel: When I find new music, I usually go to my local record shop. I also use Apple Music. I don’t use Spotify. I don’t like how they rip off artists. I try not to support things that negatively affect others. I try to be empathetic. It’s hard in a capitalist society, but I try to think in a community-minded way. That starts at the record store. I also share music with friends. My girlfriend is into jazz too, so we share music. A lot of my community is really into music, so we’re always exchanging songs. I try to do the same at KEXP.

Jimmie: Could you tell me more about KEXP?

Noel: KEXP is a radio station — it’s on FM and online. 90.3 KEXP. They have an app where you can stream shows for up to two weeks. It started as a community station and is now a big deal in Seattle. They record shows around the world and have every genre — world pop, hip-hop, jazz. I do the jazz show. You can tune in across Seattle and the Bay Area, and stream worldwide.

Jimmie: I’ll make sure to check out your show.

Noel: My show is called Jazz Theater. I play music tangentially based in jazz — classics and new discoveries. I do in-studios at the station. Recently we had Kokoroko from the UK. I also did one with B.J. Eyer, a jazz pianist on ECM Records — he’s also a physicist. We also had Keon Harold, the trumpet player who worked on the Miles Ahead film. Did you see that?

Jimmie: Oh, is that a documentary film?

Noel: No, it’s a weird action film, but based on Miles’ life. He played all of Miles’ trumpet parts and coached Don Cheadle. I play all kinds of jazz and beyond. A mix of new and classic stuff. I was just getting records ready — I go into the station Sunday night, Monday morning.

Jimmie: Do you have any upcoming releases you can share with us?

Noel: We actually don’t at the moment. We’re still working on recordings. We’re trying to find the right way to release them. That can be tricky. It’s a whole game with labels or self-releasing. We just try to find the right balance. Andy was on tour in Europe with another band called Mount Fog. He’s back now. Carlos lives in Portland, which is close but still a bit far. So we’re gigging and figuring out how to release more music. We have a lot of ideas to share. I’m also working on solo material. I play with Andy’s other project, Select Level. We might release something under that name. We’re always doing different things. It might be self-released or on Bandcamp. Sometimes you forget what you’re even on. You worked on something six months ago, and it finally comes out. Social media doesn’t always help. People might discover your work through a random record. There’s so much music out now.

Jimmie: Let me know when your new song comes out. Thanks so much for joining me today — I really appreciate it.