If seen on the street, minus their sousaphones and trombones, the guys from the Black Bottom Brass Band would look like any of the other slightly hip types that wander around Shibuya or America-mura. A guess about their musical tastes would probably run toward some obscure DJ or indie rock's flavor of the month.

The Black Bottom Brass Band

But though they have played with artists as diverse as Towa Tei and the Zoobombs, in their heart of hearts, the Black Bottom Brass Band is pure New Orleans.

Founded in 1993 as a guerrilla brass assault on unsuspecting pedestrians in the cities of Kansai, the band, like the Louisiana funeral bands and social-club groups that are their inspiration, cut their chops on the street.

"The street is a demanding place," explains Yassy, the trombone player. "And unless the vibe we create there is a fun one, people won't be drawn to what we're doing, so it's a place where we can get an immediate and direct response, a real challenge."

Though the group has since graduated to more comfortable venues, on any given weekend they can still be heard, grooving on a corner somewhere in Osaka or Tokyo.

"Since we are a band that started out on the street, the street is a place that we love," says Yassy. "We also gladly go anywhere on the planet."

Thus far their musical trajectory has taken them from playing Tokyo and Osaka's live-house circuits to a featured slot at the first Fuji Rock Festival and, of course, to New Orleans.

There, they were featured performers at Donna's, the center of brass band culture, where they were given a raucous reception and hooked up with well-regarded New Orleans producer Mark Bingham, who produced both their second and third albums.

Their latest release, however, strays somewhat from the tried-and-true New Orleans approach. The title, "Kinnsyasa," gives a hint to the melange of sounds, all brass of course, that BBBB have drawn upon.

In parts sounding like a Stax horn section, in others like members of Fela Kuti's backing group, BBBB have grown from their New Orleans roots to embrace other, though still ultimately blues-grounded, music.

From that perspective, even the guest appearance by Don Matsuo of Tokyo garage legends, the Zoobombs, makes sense. What else is garage rock but blues changes speeded up and spat out with a sneer?

"In Japan there's a saying, junin, toiro [10 people, 10 colors, i.e. so many people, so many minds] which applies perfectly to our band," explains Yassy. "If you listen to each of us solo, you'll hear that each of us have different tastes: jazz, rock, Latin, soul, funk, hip-hop, classical. If there is a common trait we share, it's that we try to make the music move, and that we get happy doing it."

The Black Bottom Brass Band play live Aug. 1 at Shibuya BYG; Sept. 13 at Cay in Aoyama; Sept. 19 at Shinsaibashi Club Quattro. For more information, contact Transworld at (0797) 31-4049 or visit the band's official Web site at www.trw.co.jp/bbbb/

It might often seem as if the blues in Tokyo dwell only at the Blue Note.

And though the club does an admirable job of bringing in the big names, blues at a polished supper club often seems at odds with the genre's roots.

But, as with just about every other musical genre, Tokyo has its own blues diehards and a well-developed network of indie labels, live houses and, of course, groups to cater to them.

The Blues Ginza Web site goes a long way toward bringing Tokyo's underground blues scene to an English-speaking public.

There, Masahiro Sumori lovingly and regularly chronicles visiting heroes, local releases and upcoming shows with the sort of obsessive knowledge Japanese music fans have become famous for.