New Orleans Brass Bands S/D

In more positive news:

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2014/01/20/barbecue-dancing-and-brass-open-kermits-treme-mother-in-law-lounge

Louisiana Music Factory is having a store-wide moving sale January 25 - 31, prior to its move to Frenchmen St.

http://www.nolascape.org/sound-amendment-autopsy/

From Offbeat editor Ramsey re the rescheduled meeting:

in the video of Monday’s meeting where voices were heard concerning the VCPORA-sponsored noise legislation, Councilmember Stacy Head said: ” I do hope that some of the hyperbole be brought down some and we can get to a point where some people may believe, and I think Ms. Ramsey may be one of them, that we shouldn’t have any rules regulating sound. And that is a position, that is a position that some people can take, but on the other side there will be people who don’t want any noise, don’t want any sound, don’t want any noise to disturb the crickets. That’s also an irrational position.”

I would challenge Ms. Head to actually read the editorials and blogs on this issue where I have consistently said that enforcement is crucial and compromise was necessary, but that one side—that is bankrolled and promoted by a moneyed attorney with a penchant for winning his battles, no matter what the cost to our culture or city—should not be the voice that’s heard over the majority of citizens.

Sometimes “hyperbole” is needed to point attention to an issue that’s dominated by one side with money and power versus a majority that’s concerned, less powerful (read poorer) and needs to hear its voice heard.

Meg Lousteau, executive director of VCPORA, said there was "nothing secret" about the ordinance drafting as proposed. Lousteau said Bourbon Street businesses are "creating a straw man of music" on which to blame their excessive noise. Coco Garret, vice president of French Quarter Citizens Inc., and Carole Allen, VCPORA vice president, agreed. "The scofflaw businesses are cranking up the music to the detriment of musicians," Allen said.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2014/01/27/new-orleans-weighs-in-on-noise-ordinance

i think Sidewalk Steppers is the only second line that Rebirth can be counted on to play these days, but they're rolling deeep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL-a_gdHKWM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIsj1ZyL6Yc

Trombone Shorty, members of New Birth, TBC, etc.

email I received from R*chard B*rber:

I'm writing to let you know about the broadcast this Saturday,
February 15th, of "The Whole Gritty City". The documentary about kids
in New Orleans marching bands that Andre Lambertson and I began 6 years ago
will air as a special 2-hour "48 Hours Presents" on CBS at 9 pm
Eastern and Pacific, 8pm Central time.

I gotta remember to watch or tape that

Another reminder to myself to pae it. I think CBS is having Wynton Marsalis connected to this though

tape it

It's on right now on CBS

streaming for two weeks: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/48-hours-presents-the-whole-gritty-city/

watched it last night and it's really, really good.

Saw bits and pieces of it. Some very serious and sad interviews and such, the title of the program is correct.

http://narrative.ly/beyond-bourbon-street/queen-for-a-day/

Although the Indians are a preponderantly male tradition, many women have masked and marched with tribes over the years. They are known as Queens and usually occupy an ancillary spot by virtue of their relationship with the Big Chief.” (That ancillary role is underscored in the book, first published in 1986; although several photographs of Indians appear, no women are identified by name, and a photo of the Harrison family in their Indian suits only includes Donald Sr., Donald Jr. and Brian Nelson, Cherice’s son, masking as a small boy.)

the coldest second line of the year goes to...

http://vimeo.com/88466060

http://artgallery.yale.edu/publication/playing-benefit-band-new-orleans-music-culture

Expanded version of photographer Lee Friedlander's book

Pricey but looks good-- A revised and expanded edition of his 1992 monograph The Jazz People of New Orleans, Playing for the Benefit of the Band features over 200 photographs taken by Friedlander between 1957 and 1982, many of which are published here for the first time. Storied figures such as Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson have been captured by Friedlander’s disarming lens, and Sweet Emma Barrett, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Johnny St. Cyr, and other luminaries are seen in their homes and the back rooms in which they gathered to play. Also included are photographs of the city’s second-line parades, whose jubilant dancing has long been a defining aspect of New Orleans jazz culture.

That's a beautiful book. I have the first one.

Jazzfest stage "cubes" schedule just popped into my inbox. Used to be one of my happiest days of the year, but skimming past Robin Thicke, Christina Aguilera and Vampire Weekend, plus lengthy sets by Phish and String Cheese Incident, I'm wondering if there's much left for me there anymore.

Still some brass bands, gospel and old jazz & r'n'b folks, but its a predictable lineup of locals and its obscured by all the big touring names above (they didn't take a hint from Ponderosa Stomp re seeking out obscure locals; plus so many old-school New Orleans musicians have passed on)

Yeah, I'm sure I could still pass a good time with Feufollet and a bowl of Crawfish Monica, but it's a pretty uninspired schedule. Santana again, it must be Jimmy Buffett's off year.

http://www.offbeat.com/2014/04/16/frenchmen-street-brass-band-controversy/?utm_source=WB+04+17+14&utm_campaign=WB+04+10+14&utm_medium=email#

Young Fellaz Brass Band on Frenchman St. controversy.

this band is not very good. that said, all frenchmen st business owners are assholes. the important takeaway here is that dat dog, who by building on the vacant lot where young fellaz used to play started all this trouble, sells artisanal hot dogs for $8 each. rip new orleans.

Wish I coulda been in New Orleans this weekend for Jazzfest; or in Seattle for this EMP Pop Conference presentation:

Matt Sakakeeny is an ethnomusicologist, journalist, and musician in New Orleans, and an Assistant Professor of Music at Tulane University. His book Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans was published by Duke University Press in 2013. Matt has also contributed to Wax Poetics, Oxford American, and NPR’s All Things Considered, and is the guitarist and bandleader for Los Po-Boy-Citos.

ABSTRACT
“The New Orleans Brass Band and Old Technologies of Mobility”
The New Orleans brass band is the ensemble responsible for mobilizing the local cultural traditions of the jazz funeral and the second line parade. As these processions move through the city streets, their pace is determined by the tempos set by the drummers, and the ecstatic dancing of the participants that make up the “second line” is propelled by the syncopated rhythms and improvised melodies of the musicians. These ensembles are entirely acoustic, and the processions they perform in can be connected to West African burial rituals that predate slavery, but the instruments themselves were once cutting-edge technologies. Marching drums, sousaphones, and other wind and percussion instruments were specifically designed to mobilize crowds, and most originated in military bands and developed through technological advances in metallurgy, woodwork, and synthetics via industrial design and automated labor. As products of Ottoman, European, and American innovation, these instruments were appropriated by black musicians whose presence in the New World was, of course, a product of their ancestors' forced mobilization from Africa. As an inherently mobile ensemble, the brass band has facilitated the movement of black New Orleanians through public spaces where lynchings, race riots, segregation, and gentrification have all taken place. The many vectors of mobilization that intersect with the brass band ensemble problematize contemporary equations of mobility solely with “new” media. We have always been mobile.

Saw praise for Matt's presentation on twitter

nice

Golden Star Hunters Big Chief Larry Bannock passed away on April 30, just three days after performing at Jazz Fest 2014.

funeral is Saturday for this Mardi Gras Indian, according to Offbeat

unflattering closeups on public television: http://video.wpt.org/video/2365220219/

From Offbeat Mag email:

the brass band—the Young Fellaz Brass Band—that seemed to have caused a lot of problems with some of the local businesses, has proclaimed that the band is interested in being part of the street and that it will stop playing around 10 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. They’ve also promised not to play as loudly as they have been. Sam Jackson, the leader of the Young Fellaz, has made a sincere attempt to meet and talk to the other business owners on the street to assure them that the band is making an effort to be a part of the Frenchmen Street community of businesses.

The animosity towards the band from some of the businesses on the street seems to have been ameliorated somewhat. I think this is great news. Talking to each other and trying to get along with your neighbors is key to making Frenchmen Street a great destination for music and culture. It’s starting to happen. It just takes time and patience.

They’ve also promised not to play as loudly as they have been

good to hear in general, but trust me, this is a promise that no brass band can keep.

More from Offbeat editor Ramsey:

I personally like the idea of letting the brass bands play in the flea market of the French Market. as t he vendors there go home every evening, and the area is vacant, lighted, and covered. Adding some food trucks in that area could create a destination attraction. Of course, this idea needs development and support by the city, the French Market Corporation and the bands themselves.

It would add another night-time entertainment area if there could be some traffic flow from Frenchmen to that area of the flea market if there was music and some food there. Another obstacle is the presence of the Old U.S. Mint. Let’s face it: it’s poorly lit, and pretty forbidding (even during the day). It’s almost a “blockade” between Frenchmen Street and a “Brass Band Alley.” The Old Mint needs to be made a lot friendlier. How about adding some lighting on its Decatur Street and Barracks Street sides in the evening? How about adding some signage on the corner of Decatur and Esplanade as well as on the Barracks Street side?

The Old Mint has great programming during the day (the National Jazz Historical Park has regular programs about New Orleans music); there also events occasionally in the evening. Why are they not capitalizing more on this contribution to the musical offerings in this area? Why couldn’t the Old Mint also get involved in developing a place for brass band to play at night?

http://blogs.artinfo.com/blunotes/2014/05/in-and-around-jazzfest-fair-grounds-for-new-orleans-culture-and-what-that-means/

Larry Blumenfeld re the ongoing battles re sound decibel regulations, changing New Orleans neighborhoods and more:

Back at City Hall, the outlook for policy reforms remained cloudy at best once the city council deadlocked, 3-3, thus balking at a proposed ordinance revision.
The revisions would have dictated new methods of measurement and acceptable decibel levels for sound along a particularly loud section of the French Quarter’s Bourbon Street (based on an exhaustive study by acoustician David Woolworth, whose Oxford, Miss.-based firm was hired by the city council).

Saw Glen David Andrews perform in Rhode Island Friday night and while I enjoyed the show immensely, I’m curious: Is he considered more of a draw for tourists or is he a favorite of NOLA locals, too? We basically heard the greatest hits of New Orleans — “Basin Street Blues,” “St. James Infirmary,” even “Saints.” Wondering if he dumbs down the set list while touring? Dynamic performer, though. Opening the show was the Funky Dawgz Brass Band from UConn, which played a great set of original material.

Jordan might be able to say more, but Glen used to play on the street a bunch and got arrested once for violating rules on second lining, so I'd say he is a favorite of both locals and others. He also has always been more into some traditional songs than other brass band players are (though he probably also thinks that when he's on the road that is what folks want to hear). He's never been as funky/hip-hop oriented as some. I saw him many years ago with the Treme Brass band on tour in DC doing the songs you mentioned,plus years later with a band at another DC club, and I've seen him do them onstage in New Orleans at Jazzfest and clubs as well.

well, on the one hand he's a legend, basically brass band royalty (same family as trombone shorty, derrick tabb, many others), best singer to come out of the brass band scene, great trombone player, been playing in New Birth and other bands for years. and he wrote this classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9pd8VWyibA

on the other hand, his solo shows can be a little...much? can definitely feel pandering, and then he'll do things like play his 'rock star' tune for 20 min and crowd surf.

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2014/07/lionel_ferbos_the_longest-tenu_1.html

RIP Lionel Ferbos at 103

Trumpeter Lionel Ferbos, who enjoyed a late-in-life celebrity as the oldest active jazz musician in New Orleans, died early Saturday, July 19. He celebrated his 103rd birthday two nights earlier, on July 17, at a party at the Palm Court Jazz Café, a favorite venue of his.

Mr. Ferbos was the personification of quiet dedication to craft. Even some residents of his 7th Ward neighborhood, he once said, didn't realize he was a musician — they knew him as a master tinsmith who had taken over his father's sheet metal business. That occupation sustained him and his family for decades.

But he always nurtured a musical career on the side.

"He proved that the greatness of the city of New Orleans is that ordinary people can be extraordinary on a daily basis," said trumpeter and New Orleans Jazz Orchestra founder Irvin Mayfield. "Everyone has an opportunity to be something special. The culture gives us the opportunity. He was an example of that."

His life in music spanned the Roosevelt administration to the Obama administration, the Great Depression to the Internet era. Louis Armstrong was only 10 years his senior, but Mr. Ferbos outlived Armstrong by more than 40 years.

Last time I was was in NO, in 2008, I made it point to see not only his Jazzfest set, but also went to see him at Palm Court, figuring it would probably be my last time, if not his. RIP.

http://www.offbeat.com/2014/07/22/music-man-jim-russell-dies/

http://www.offbeat.com/2014/07/23/jamal-batiste-drums-his-way-into-james-brown-biopic-get-on-up/?utm_source=WB+07+24+14+&utm_campaign=WB+07+24+14&utm_medium=email

New Orleans drummer Jamal Baptiste is playing (the still alive) drummer for James Brown, Jabo Starks in the new James Brown movie

Batiste

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2014/07/idris_muhammad_legendary_new_o.html

Idris Muhammad, whose drumming crossed over several musical styles including funk, jazz, and rhythm and blues, died Tuesday (July 29).

Williams said that Muhammad got his first national touring gig with Sam Cooke before moving on to Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield and beyond.

"He was eclectic in terms of his playing," Williams said. "He mixed the New Orleans sound, that sound of the street music, with jazz music and rock 'n' roll, and had all that intertwined," Williams explained. "He tuned his drum to get the sound from the New Orleans street bands, the marching bands, and he'd get that kind of sound that would come from New Orleans. That's why he was so sought after.

"He had the syncopation of New Orleans."

The news devastated the WWOZ-FM staff, who had gotten to know Muhammad personally and through his music. After learning of the news, Wednesday's (July 30) "Morning Set" jazz show featured plenty of Muhammad's work.

http://www.waxpoetics.com/features/articles/idris-muhammad-interview

More on his New Orleans drumming roots here

x-post-- that WWOZ dj in the Muhammad obit shoulda included Earl Palmer in his list of legendary New Orleans drummers (even if some of his impact was from after he moved from the Crescent City to L.A.)

http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/masters-of-funky-new-orleans-drumming-vol-1/

Jordan posted this on the 2014 jazz thread

starting to upload some brass band classics to youtube just because they're not on there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQELLw2A_nw

i thought some of these records were more or less out of print, but it looks like there are digital versions now on Amazon/iTunes/etc, which is good.

http://musicatthemint.org/keeping-time/

Some nice photos (online) from way back and from recently in this exhibit--Keeping Time: Extraordinary Images from Louisiana’s Musical Past at the Old U.S. Mint,

this thread is a roller coaster man. every time it gets updated it's either someone dying or some crazy amazing youtube.

also thx for the heads up, just bought d-boy on amazon mp3

nice. i'll bet i've listened to 'd-boy' more than any other record ever, and it never gets old.

for awhile i thought about doing some kind of oral history on it, talking to everyone involved while they're still around, but i just don't have the time for that sort of thing right now.

i would read that.

did anyone ever get around to that matt sakakeeny book? i like the idea but sometimes new orleans music people writing about new orleans music are can get http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTI4NTc1NDg4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjU4OTQyMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR4,0,214,317_AL_.jpg