New York

Brass Queens: Redefining the Landscape for Female Musicians in NYC

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Brass Queens: Redefining the Landscape for Female Musicians in NYC Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Erika Hanes

In the heart of New York City’s vibrant music scene, a dynamic force is shaking up traditions and breaking down barriers. Meet Brass Queens, an electrifying nine-piece, New Orleans-style brass band on a mission to redefine the landscape for female musicians in the Big Apple.

But before they were playing major gigs like the Met Gala, performing on Good Morning America or releasing their debut album, “Black & Gold” the Brass Queens had to fight their way into existence. According to Ally Chapel (ArtHist’14), one of the founders of the Brass Queens, opportunities for female musicians in New York City circa 2018 were abysmal.

“In the music industry, a lot of success comes down to your connections,” Chapel said. “At the time, the scene was so oversaturated with male musicians and bandleaders that it was hard for us to get enough attention to make those critical connections in the first place.”

Love for the Marching Band

Chapel’s journey from art history major to working full time in music began in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s foothills. Born and raised in this Rocky Mountain state, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder was a natural choice. Soon after enrolling, Chapel’s love for music and art found fertile ground when she joined the Golden Buffalo Marching Band. Having done marching band throughout high school, Chapel thought she knew what to expect.

"Where I came from, the marching band wasn’t in the spotlight," Chapel said. "There wasn’t this sacred bond between musicians and the school or the fans [like at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder]. I remember thinking, “‘This is really special.’”

During her college years, Chapel immersed herself in music as much as possible. Pivotal moments during this time shaped not only her musical aspirations, but also her life decisions for years to come.

After graduation, Chapel crammed all her belongings into two boxes, grabbed her saxophone and headed for the Big Apple, where she jumped into the arts scene. She soon found a day job at a prestigious painting gallery, filling her evenings with jam sessions and impromptu performances with local musicians.

Becoming Brass Queens

Among the female musicians Chapel met during these early days, many became the foundation for Brass Queens, not just as a band, but as a cultural revolution. Most had struggled to find reliable and consistent collaborators among their male cohorts. By 2019, Chapel was done waiting. Joining forces with friend and bandmate Alex Harris, the two musicians formed their own group dedicated to pushing musical boundaries and empowering female musicians.

“Brass Queens formed on March 9, 2019,” Chapel said. “I’ll never forget it because it was the day after International Women’s Day. That felt significant to us.”

Chapel immediately went to work on crafting the brand identity for the band, something she learned a lot about through ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s Technology, Arts and Media (TAM) program. She knew the unifying power that two colors could have from her time at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, so the group adopted black and gold as their official colors — also the colors of the Saints in New Orleans, where their sound originates.

By enforcing a black-and-gold dress code at gigs, Chapel hoped to establish the same sense of pride she felt while performing as a member of the Golden Buffalo Marching Band. That unifying element has become their story, which they celebrated by naming their debut LP “Black & Gold.”

Inspired by the soulful sounds of New Orleans, the Brass Queens’ band consists of one sousaphone, drums (both line and set), two trombones, one alto sax, one tenor sax, three trumpets and a whole lot of passion.

From Gigs to the Met Gala

When Brass Queens first hit the gig circuit, they accepted a variety of opportunities that came their way. Soon, birthday parties, street festivals and busking on the streets of Brooklyn turned into higher-paying gigs at venues across the city. Within the year, the group became a local standout, earning them invitations to play at iconic venues like the Blue Note Jazz Club and exclusive events like the Met Gala. Chapel’s leadership and unwavering commitment to her craft propelled the band forward, earning them a loyal following and critical acclaim.

“We’re experiencing more success now because we’re doing something different. We don’t look or sound like other bands. We’re showing people that you don’t have to fit the mold to be successful at what you love.”

Brass Queens do not take their success for granted. In 2017, several Brass Queens members helped establish Brooklyn Brass Band Collective, a nonprofit created to help increase access to the transformative power of music for adult musicians. Ally Chapel currently serves as the organization’s president along with two other Brass Queens, who serve on the board.

Looking ahead, Chapel’s impact on the music industry shows no signs of slowing. With collaborations on the horizon, including recording projects at Atlantic Records and touring across the country, the Brass Queens are poised to reach even greater heights.

Her advice to aspiring artists?

“Just start,” she said. “Find your community. Follow what inspires you.”

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Photos by BeKa Photography

Ally Chapel (ArtHist’14) started an all-female New Orleans-style brass band called Brass Queens. She adopted the colors black and gold for her band in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s honor.

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Ramen King

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:56:00 +0000

Ramen King Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/01/2017 - 11:56

Christie Sounart

Ramen wasn’t Ivan Orkin’s calling. At first.

In 2006, Orkin (Jpn'87) was living in Tokyo with his family, jobless and restless. The U.S.-trained chef tried for three years to fit in with the Japanese culture he adored, but struggled to find his place in Japan as a Jewish Long Islander.

“I felt quite hopeless,” said Orkin, who had worked at top New York restaurants, including Lutèce. “I felt like I was never going to find my way.”

His wife, Mari, a native Japanese, suggested he open a ramen shop.

“I didn’t have a clue how ramen was made,” said Orkin.

But ignorance was no obstacle.

Orkin developed a unique twist on traditional ramen — thin noodles served in a piping-hot meat or seafood broth, sometimes with other toppings — a hugely popular dish in Japanese cuisine. Tokyo alone has thousands of ramen shops.

Located in Tokyo’s western suburbs, Orkin’s 10-seat restaurant, Ivan Ramen, drew media and locals who were curious to sample an American chef’s take on ramen. Orkin offered homemade noodles (rare in Japanese ramen), aromatic flavors, few (but choice) toppings and light double-broth bases made with chicken and pork. Obscure-to-Japan ingredients like roasted tomatoes and rye flour added to the soup’s appeal.

In a glowing 2009 review titled “Ivan Ramen: Artisan ramen with NY accent,” The Japan Times wrote: “You will not taste anything like this anywhere else in Japan.”

Acclaimed Japanese ramen critic Hiroshi Osaki — who claims to have eaten more than 23,000 bowls of ramen — called Orkin’s ramen “amazing” and “delicious.”

Success in Japan has since led to two other ramen restaurants and a pizza restaurant in New York, a Netflix documentary and a new life back in the United States.

As The New York Times put it in 2013, “Ivan Orkin appears to have pulled off a chain of unprecedented feats.”

A Love for Japan

Orkin’s infatuation with Japan began when he was 15 years old and worked as a dishwasher in a sushi bar in Syosset, New York. He reveled in trying new dishes, which were radically different from the frozen meals he ate, and hated, at home.

When it came time for college, he chose ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder, which offered both a dramatic mountain escape from New York and a Japanese studies program.

At ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, academics weren’t really Orkin’s thing — “I would make breakfast for my friends and they would do my homework,” he said — but he enjoyed the Japanese program.

“It’s one of my great memories of college,” said Orkin. “I learned just enough about Japanese grammar.”

After graduating, he moved to Japan and taught English for three years, a job he found unoriginal and uninspiring. He met his soon-to-be first wife, Tamie, and the couple moved back to the U.S., where Orkin studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. There he met his eventual business partner, David Poran.

“He was like Woody Allen on 12 cups of coffee,” Poran said of the young Orkin.

Afterward, Orkin worked under Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill and at Lutèce in New York. When Tamie became pregnant with their son Isaac Orkin (Jpn’19), he accepted a more stable, higher-paying job with Restaurant Associates, a New York-based hospitality company.

In 1998, when Isaac was two and Tamie was pregnant with the couple’s second child, she died of a sudden illness. Devastated and eager for his son to remain rooted in his mother’s Japanese culture, Orkin began taking him on annual trips to Tokyo. On one of these trips, in 2002, he met Mari over a bowl of ramen, and married her three months later. The couple settled in Tokyo, and Orkin began feeling his way into the future.

After Ivan Ramen took off in 2007, Orkin added a second restaurant in Japan and created a popular line of instant ramen.

“Ivan’s very analytical, he’s extremely intelligent and he’s slightly OCD,” partner Poran said. “I think that’s a combination for success.”

By 2012, ready to return to the U.S., Orkin and Mari moved their three sons to New York. He opened Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and his flagship restaurant Ivan Ramen in the Lower East Side. They, too, were instant hits. The New York Times refers to him as “an American ramen master.”

These days, he stays out of the kitchen. Mostly.

“I still work on recipes, I still train people, but I don’t have a spot in my restaurant,” he said. “But when there is something for me to do, I’m there all day and all night.”

A Call from Chef’s Table

Last year, the crew behind Netflix’s Chef’s Table, a documentary series profiling renowned chefs, came calling.

“Netflix was the first time I ever really allowed a television camera to see my life that closely,” he said, adding he filmed five days in New York and five days in Tokyo. “It was hard telling everybody your innermost secrets.”

After the episode aired in February 2017, Orkin’s name, and food, grew more famous still.

“It’s completely been one of the most wonderful things that’s ever happened to me,” he said.

These days, Orkin, who lives in the Hudson River Valley north of New York, is exploring potential new ramen restaurant locations elsewhere in the U.S. Meanwhile, he’s also dabbling in the pizza world. He and Poran opened Corner Slice inside the Gotham West Market to rave reviews.

“The pizza business is a big deal for us,” said Poran. “We have big expansion plans.”

There’s never really any telling what’s next for Orkin.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in this life," he said, "it's when I get tired of doing something, I’ll just do something else.”

Photos by Daniel Krieger

Japan went crazy for Ivan Orkin's ramen. Now America has the fever.

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