http://www.offbeat.com/news/joe-torregano-clarinetist-music-teacher-dies/
More passings.
Clarinetist Joe Torregano, who played in a variety of traditional brass bands, passed away yesterday, October 6. NOLA.com reports that Terregano died of cancer at his home in La Place. He was 63.
Torregano performed with the Young Tuxedo, Exclesior, Olympia and Original Royal Players brass bands at different points throughout his life. He also taught a number of musicians, including Christian Scott and Victor Goines, during his 30 year career as a band instructor at local schools like Gregory Junior High, John McDonough High School and East St. John High School. His most recent job was as a teacher at New Orleans’ Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 October 2015 13:34 (eight years ago) link
liking this particular Hot 8 lineup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O837Md5Ocpo
― expertly crafted referential display name (Jordan), Monday, 2 November 2015 16:49 (eight years ago) link
this is like brass band adjacent at best but shit goes so hard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nNCHMWtogU
― adam, Monday, 23 November 2015 16:59 (eight years ago) link
http://nypost.com/2015/11/22/at-least-10-people-shot-at-new-orleans-park/
NEW ORLEANS – Hundreds of people were gathered at a New Orleans playground for a block party and music video shoot when two groups in the crowd opened fire on each other, wounding 16 people in the shocking Sunday evening violence, police said.
Police were on their way to break up a big crowd at Bunny Friend Playground when gunfire erupted at the park in the city’s 9th Ward, the police said in a statement Sunday.
Blaming second line for this-
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/11/new_orleans_playground_shootin_1.html#incart_2box
Members of the Nine Times Social Aid & Pleasure Club stressed Monday (Nov. 23) that the mass shooting at Bunny Friend Park in New Orleans was not associated with their club, which had paraded past the park about three hours earlier. Seventeen people were injured, three critically, when two groups began firing guns into the crowd of 300 at the park on Sunday at 6:15 p.m., police said.
The park sits between Desire Street and Gallier Street in the Upper Ninth Ward. The club's second-line parade passed at around 3 p.m., members said. At the time, dozens of people were in the park for what club members said they thought was recording of a music video.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 23 November 2015 20:21 (eight years ago) link
I was at the second line but left before anything went down, thank god. The parade itself ran further past the scheduled end time than any other I've been to, and it kinda fell apart at the end - two of the three bands, some of the parading club members, a few of the floats and many of the spectators who'd been walking with it simply peeled off in the last half hour. A friend I was with today - a lifetime Treme resident and Yellow Pocahontas Indian - told me most of the police escort left at 4, too, and suggested both the SA&PC and the police deserved some of the blame. Another friend who's a photographer and was also at the parade told me the events were in no way connected, and that a lot of people are angry the event and the social club are getting blamed for a totally unrelated crime. But I think he left at the same time I did, so I don't know.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Monday, 23 November 2015 21:01 (eight years ago) link
Everyone on Facebook saying that it's totally unrelated, happened three or four hours after the second line passed through.
― expertly crafted referential display name (Jordan), Monday, 23 November 2015 21:05 (eight years ago) link
Right, and from all reports, the shooting would have happened whether or not the second line had taken place.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Monday, 23 November 2015 21:14 (eight years ago) link
Or ran overtime, etc.
It's certainly possible that more people were in the park at that time than would have normally been the case. But I just looked at google maps, and Bunny Friend Park is over a mile from where the second line dispersed.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Monday, 23 November 2015 21:24 (eight years ago) link
I don't think they were blaming second line participants for the shooting, I think they were blaming the second line, rightly or wrongly, for soaking up police attention in the 9th.
― Comprehensive Nuclear Suggest-Ban Theory (benbbag), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 01:39 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, the police escort was pretty much gone by the time the parade ended, and that was an hour before the shooting, so that doesn't wash either.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Tuesday, 24 November 2015 05:09 (eight years ago) link
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/black-marching-bands-jules-allen-lens/?action=click&contentCollection=Blogs&pgtype=imageslideshow&module=RelatedArticleList®ion=CaptionArea&version=SlideCard-1&_r=0
NYC photographer Jules Allen has been taking pics of black marching bands for 30 years
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2015/12/29/blogs/for-black-marching-bands-its-about-rhythm-precision-and-flair/s/20151229-lens-jules-slide-5PWW.html
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 31 December 2015 00:22 (eight years ago) link
I should see that Morgan State band
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 31 December 2015 22:46 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RJoRKYWdc
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Tuesday, 2 February 2016 18:24 (eight years ago) link
That's excellent! Love this pic from their website (tho may be hueg)
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bc6d82_765cc195a7624f03a0e24ab6f8ace82e.jpg/v1/fill/w_948,h_524,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/bc6d82_765cc195a7624f03a0e24ab6f8ace82e.jpg
― Retro novelty punk (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 2 February 2016 18:51 (eight years ago) link
happy mardi gras yall. wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to jordan and everyone else who makes this thread awesome and periodically alleviates my homesickness. a visiting friend brought me a king cake from hi-do's bakery in gretna which also helps.
and here's some new birth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zITFvYUjMTE
― adam, Tuesday, 9 February 2016 16:19 (eight years ago) link
happy mardi gras man.
Glenn David released a little Mardi Gras single backed by TBC: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tobecontinuedbrassbandfe
i kinda love that even in 2016 it's still relatively difficult to get new brass band recordings, like you still have to get cds (or cd-rs) at shows for some bands, or go through Louisiana Music Factory. it's not like everyone just set up Bandcamp sites (because that's just not how music is passed around the local scene, i assume).
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 17:36 (eight years ago) link
btw, i should share the bootleg i have of the greatest brass band set ever played, Soul Rebels at the Club Onyx brass band battle in 2000 (as an exhibition set). i wasn't there, it was a few years before my time, but it was recorded by someone in our crew, and has been passed around and listened to constantly ever since. email or PM me for the link.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 17:39 (eight years ago) link
the amount of cell phone video second line footage is pretty impressive tho (even if the audio is often not great). the advent of youtube was a big deal for brass bands, i used to work with a dude who spent tons of time sifting through brass band and marching band videos. the marching bands are a whole other genre that we've never really gotten into but they definitely play a huge role in brass band players' development.
― adam, Tuesday, 9 February 2016 18:08 (eight years ago) link
totally, totally. for awhile Deb Cotton was responsible for that almost single-handedly, at least in terms of consistent and high-quality footage imo. i know that personally it was the biggest factor in being able to play this music confidently, because i could (and did) immerse myself in second line footage every day. before that i'd have to come to New Orleans and absorb as much as i could in a few days, then go back and try to hold onto that.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Tuesday, 9 February 2016 18:13 (eight years ago) link
just got around to putting up a free live EP my band recorded last year, i like this one: https://digdown.bandcamp.com/album/vol-1
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Thursday, 11 February 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e36gSnf8mgE
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Monday, 7 March 2016 15:12 (eight years ago) link
Everything about that video is so New Orleans awesome-- the brass, the dancing,
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 8 March 2016 16:26 (eight years ago) link
not sure if this will work, but i'm watching this long live video from the Stooges, who have recently sorta reunited as a brass band.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, 8 April 2016 14:13 (eight years ago) link
just ordered their new cd from Louisiana Music Factory because it gives me a warm sense of nostalgia to pay $20 for a brass band disc that's not available digitally.
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, 8 April 2016 14:30 (eight years ago) link
Ha
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 April 2016 14:33 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRdiHQ1f7Ag
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, 6 May 2016 20:40 (eight years ago) link
It's been a year since Trumpet Black has been gone.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 May 2016 21:30 (eight years ago) link
nice to see Leroy Jones getting some love here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq0Mt-jro18
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, 20 May 2016 18:05 (eight years ago) link
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/protests-erupt-baton-rouge-police-fatally-shoot-alton-sterling-gallery-1.2700968?pmSlide=1.2702887
A brass band in a Baton Rouge vigil march
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 13 July 2016 04:58 (eight years ago) link
http://www.offbeat.com/articles/last-sixth-ward-treme-brass-bands-benny-jones-sr-new-orleans/
Nice profile of this 70 something percussionist who's still at it
― curmudgeon, Friday, 5 August 2016 02:02 (eight years ago) link
Just saw a video clip DJ Soul Sister posted on Instagram of a recent second line parade. New Orleans brass bands remain awesome
― curmudgeon, Monday, 21 November 2016 16:40 (seven years ago) link
Hot 8 Brass Band - Can’t Nobody Get Down
Saw someone put this 2016 ep on a best-of list for the year.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 December 2016 18:33 (seven years ago) link
2017 Jazzfest scheDule is out. MegHan Trainor!!!
http://lineup.nojazzfest.com/
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Friday, 27 January 2017 19:59 (seven years ago) link
Awesome. Fest has no interest it seems in adding Ponderosa Stomp type acts to smaller stages. Haven't perused it closely to see if all brass bands are playing. Old-timer big name New Orleans r'n'b acts are still there at least.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 27 January 2017 20:33 (seven years ago) link
TBC and the Stooges are not listed, just Rebirth, Hot 8, and Pinettes (and Soul Rebels backing Nas).
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 27 January 2017 20:43 (seven years ago) link
http://www.npr.org/event/music/513038608/hard-living-in-the-big-easy-housing-costs-push-musicians-out-of-new-orleans
Rising housing costs are pushing many musicians and service workers — the backbone of New Orleans' tourism economy — further and further outside the city limits. This suburbanization of the working class poses more than an inconvenience: It's fraying the culture of New Orleans and splintering the very neighborhoods that have nurtured the city's music for decades.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 2 February 2017 18:00 (seven years ago) link
That's interesting, thanks for sharing. Gentrification is always a double edged sword. Much of Treme, Central City etc. needed repairing, though. I'd rather see St. Roch Market open than boarded up.
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 2 February 2017 18:25 (seven years ago) link
wrong
― adam, Thursday, 2 February 2017 18:34 (seven years ago) link
st roch market is one of the most despicable culprits in the ruin of new orleans. millions of dollars in grant and city money went into opening a food hall for yuppies. the promised produce stand in the vast food desert that is downtown new orleans was just fuckin heirloom parsnips and shit
― adam, Thursday, 2 February 2017 18:35 (seven years ago) link
Singer John Boutte, who grew up in Treme, couldn't afford to buy there after gentrification
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 2 February 2017 19:44 (seven years ago) link
and that neighborhood has some of the strongest and most vocal community organizers in the city--even then, hard to keep out carpetbaggers and airbnb speculators and other disaster capitalists.
airbnb has really done a number on the city, especially in historic neighborhoods. for the last 7 years of my time there i lived in bywater. if i go on airbnb now there are literally a dozen listings in a one block radius of my old address. each one of those is a working family pushed into the east or marrero or jeff parish.
― adam, Thursday, 2 February 2017 19:48 (seven years ago) link
Adam, are you no longer in NO? Sorry, I didn't mean to seem dismissive of people being priced out of their neighborhoods, and I make no claims to being an urban planning expert. I don't know how you best handle something like the market, which is historic and was already in rough shape before Katrina closed it entirely.
I was just looking on Google Earth and it showed renovations in progress on the Dew Drop Inn.
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 2 February 2017 20:22 (seven years ago) link
The Dew Drop Inn owner is looking for donations
http://dewdropnola.squarespace.com/revitalization/
http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/02/dew_drop_inn_owner_envisions_1.html
The legendary Dew Drop Inn where such greats as Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Deacon John Moore, and B.B. King performed, has been closed for more than four decades. But owner Kenneth Jackson, who inherited the historic club from his grandfather, has grand plans to make the joint swing once again, Vice reports.
"Jackson's working with Harmony Neighborhood Development, Tulane City Center, and the Milne Inspiration Center to raise $1.5 million for the repairs," according to the story. "Last month they secured a modest $6,000 grant from the city of New Orleans, which they aim to use to host a fundraiser in March. They're largely depending upon donations made through their website to get the Dew Drop up and swinging again. If all goes as planned, it will reopen in April 2018."
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/24/434209433/will-the-dew-drop-inn-swing-again-attempts-to-revive-new-orleans-hot-spot
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 2 February 2017 21:13 (seven years ago) link
sorry didn't mean to be so snippy dan. i lived a couple blocks from the st roch market and seeing its potential totally wasted like that was infuriating.
(we moved to nyc, where my wife's family is, about two years ago. miss new orleans terribly.)
― adam, Thursday, 2 February 2017 22:26 (seven years ago) link
RIP Charlie Simms, of Donna's Bar & Grill. Memorial & second line on 3/3 I believe.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 16:45 (seven years ago) link
Spent some of the best times in my life in that bar. RIP Charlie.
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 16:59 (seven years ago) link
Just posting this pic here because it makes me happy.
http://donnaandcharliesbarandgrillnola.com/images/Charlie_Donna.jpg
― Fake posts from a failing poster (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 17:04 (seven years ago) link
It being Mardi Gras, someone tweeted this long 2015 article about a Mardi Gras Indian cultural center being planned for Lasalle Street. I wonder if they've made progress?
http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/08/new-orleans-secures-a-place-for-the-mardi-gras-indians-katrina/402208/
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:07 (seven years ago) link
My band is driving down this weekend to play Charlie's memorial service/second line.
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link