ZYDECO BLANCO
Brandon Aly
been a part of Brandon’s life. His grandmother,
an accomplished pianist and published composer
and his mother a talented pianist and singer. It
was with his mother that Brandon first performed
at the age of six. Attendance at the Booker T.
Washington School for the Performing Arts
continued Mr. Aly’s education. Noted alumni of
“The Arts Magnet” include Edie Brickell, John
Bush, Kenny Withrow (of the New Bohemians), as
well as Grammy award winning artists such as
Erykah Badu and Nora Jones.
After graduating from high school, Brandon
continued to study music theory and composition
at Richland College. It was during this time that
Brandon combined efforts with fellow music
student Brad Houser to form the band New
Bohemians. This initial union began a collaboration
that would come to include his high school
classmates and result ultimately with the platinum
release of “Shooting Rubber bands at the Stars”
on Geffen Records.
After leaving the New Bohemians in 1989,
Brandon worked briefly with singer/songwriter
Rhett Miller before joining with Jamaican born
singer, Leroy Shakespeare to form the band, Ship
of Vibes. During the five years of touring and a
subsequent CD release entitled “Jubilation” on
Carpe Diem Records, Brandon began exploring
different cultures of music and began studying
the styles of African, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian
music. Brandon performed with various drum and
dance ensembles and even accompanied the
Dallas Black Dance Theatre in piece
choreographed by Chuck Davis.
Mr. Aly moved to the Texas Hill Country in
1995with his wife to start a family. He continued
to study the African style of drumming by
studying with Master Drummer Alseny Sylla from
Boke, Guinea as well as various Master Drummers
and teachers such as Yamoussa Camara (Les
Ballet Merveilles) and Mohamed Camara
(Percussion de Guinea). Performing for a short
time with the Austin based Lannaya, West African
Drum and Dance Ensemble.
In 1998, the members of the New Bohemians
reunited to write and record two songs for a
“Best Of” CD release on Hippo Records. The two
songs were not initially released, but the project
prompted the reformation of the band. In 1999,
the original members of New Bohemians went to
Montauk, New York to write and record the
independently released “Live Montauk Sessions”.
October 2004 had the New Bohemians
collaborating again on new material that was later
recorded in spring of 2005.
Brandon continues to reside in the Hill Country
and performs with local band Zydeco Blanco,
comprised of members all living in the same “small
town”. The band’s self-titled CD was recorded
and produced by Aly in Blanco at Brandon’s home-
based studio. Brandon often accompanies other
local musicians such as Patsy Thompson and
works as an Assistant Band Director of the
percussion section of the local high school’s
marching band. Brandon also teaches local youth
who are interested in studying drum set and hand
drumming, including his daughter who is now the
drummer for her own band!
Visit Brandon's Website.
