New Orleans Brass Bands S/D

I can't go without mentioned the (however unlikely) on the level Wisconsin brass band scene, Mama Digdown's and Youngblood. I'm sure I've hyped up Youngblood on other threads, but they really are something these days, the new Def Jux album will be tight. It wasn't until after I started listening to a lot of other brass band music that I realized how unique their sound is, clean and precise instead of greasy and raucous (both are great in their way of course).

Speaking of which, what about brass bands from neither New Orleans nor Wisconsin?

The parallel in Minneapolis (where I live) is the Jack Brass Band. I'm all for this kind of thing, but these groups are to Rebirth what Antibalas is to Fela.

I lived in New Orleans for a year and my favorite Rebirth album is still Take It To the Street. Ex-Rebirth member Kermit Ruffins has his own band which is pretty great, too. I find Dirty Dozen boring on CD and in concert, sorry.

My favorite Rebirth story was seeing the guys perform in the bywater one night when members of the Afghan Whigs were in the audience, then seeing the band again in the Zulu parade the next morning. Turns out Rebirth had literally performed all night and went straight to the parade without rest. A float got stuck on a tree, and Rebirth were still energetic enough to challenge a high school band to a battle while the parade stood still. Guess who won.

I still listen to 'New Orleans Album' quite regularly, but it's the only one I've got.

I don't suppose anyone's heard the new one (Medicated Magic)?

I've been listening non-stop to the New Birth Brass Band record, it is HOT SHIT. Totally on Rebirth's level or more so, and it's probably the most spontaneous, live sounding studio album I've ever heard.

or was it not so brass band-y?

Recommend me some New Orleans funeral jazz, please!

And I know this is rockist of me, but the older and more authentic, the better..

thanx

Other than that, just go to Louisiana Music Factory and check out anything by Treme Brass Band (the most well-known band playing in a really trad style that's still around) or Dejan's Olympia Brass Band.

I'll send you a mix if you want to e-mail me, I'm always happy to spread the gospel. Also my brass band should be playing at the Green Mill again in the next couple months.

I really hope their 20th anniversary show dvd comes out, the show was sort of a mess but Cheeky Blakk came out and did Pop That Pussy for 15 minutes, humping trombone cases, Kabuki riding on her back, etc. :>

Yeah, remind me! I've missed you guys a few times now!

New Birth Brass Band, D-Boy
Rebirth Brass Band, Hot Venom
Stooges Brass Band, It's About Time
Soul Rebels Brass Band, No More Parades
Lil' Rascals Brass Band, Buck It Like a Horse

Also a word about Derrick 'Kabuki' Shezbie - he's the main trumpet player for Rebirth, and he was in New Birth as a teenager (he's all over D-Boy). He's SO MUCH LOUDER than any trumpet player I've ever heard, not to mention the fire. His sound is completely wide-open and really sums up the brass band sound for me (he takes the solo on the Rebirth tune I posted above).

HOWEVER, yeah, they take marching band pretty seriously down south and a lot of those kids have incredible chops. We were standing outside of Tipatina's during a parade last Mardi Gras and this high school trumpet line came by blowing high F's and we were like WHAT?! I think that a huge majority of New Orleans brass band musicians came up in those bands and always check them out during parade season, etc.

I am also interested in Jordan's mix.

But still go to Donna's and the Maple Leaf and Le Bon Temps and Cafe Brasil!

most of which are hosting jam bands anyway)

Oh god this is so horribly OTM.

I am also interested in Jordan's mix.

Send me your address.

In Tower Records I noticed in the new Downbeat magazine a nice article on New Orleans brass bands and more. The Stooges Brass band, Hot 8, and Soul Rebels are all here. I haven't checked to see if the article is online.

As a contributing supporter of afropop.org I get a weekly e-mail thing from them. This week they have a nice photo-essay by Ned Sublette(musician, musicologist and author of that immense book on Cuban music) on New Orleans. Sublette is living there for awhile and studying the Caribbean roots of New Orleans. He's got an interview with Donald Harrison and some others. I think you can check it all out at afropop.org

I think one was called Yarl River Blues Band.

I'll be going down to Jazzfest the first weekend to play with Mama Digdown's and see brass bands, can't wait.

From the April issue excerpt on Downbeat's website:

Next Generation New Orleans Brass Bands
Brass Beyond The Streets

By Jennifer Odell

Philip Frazier honks his sousaphone on a chilly January Sunday on the corner of Daneel and 3rd streets. Musicians start to shuffle away from the crowd milling outside the Bean Brothers Bar and strap on horns and snare drums, ready to get their roll on. Dancers for the Undefeated Dicas Social Aid and Pleasure Club come around the corner and tubas, sousaphones, saxophones and bass drums fall in line as the Divas belt out The Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There.”

Winding past Mary’s Nightowl Bar, Candlelight Bar, Sandpiper and The New Look, the parading community group hits all of the Uptown neighborhood’s brass band stops. Ostrich plumes fan the air above the Divas in time with Frazier’s non-stop vamps. When the dancers slow down and form a circle, trading moves with kids, the band plays even harder, echoing braay swueals off the projects across the street. This is how brass band music was born.

But it’s growing up. And while playing the second lines and funerals remains important, many of today’s hottest brass players are concentrating more on polishing their CDs and getting national recognition than on stealing the show on Sunday afternoons. The current generation is following the successful business model created by the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth brass bands; updating a traditional sound to make the music relevant to a larger audience. And with each step forward, another cross-breed of the brass band sound is born. Mardi Gras Indian bands like Big Sam’s Funky Nation are based in funk, the Soul Rebels are purveyors of hip-hop and the Hot 8, New Birth and the Stooges hold down the street scene with their bebop-heavy takes on the traditional style.

MARDI GRAS 2005: a photo essay by Ned Sublette
Also Check out Interviews with Joseph Roach, Donald Harrison, and Vicki Mayer by Ned Sublette

aw that's sweet, i hope yall had a good time!

https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_785f2510-6d49-11ea-b521-6f07f4be4785.html

Phil Frazier of Rebirth Brass has coronavirus. Virus Has spread a lot in New Orleans area

Ronald Lewis , 9th Ward founder of House of Dance & Virus died at 68 from the coronavirus. Also New Orleans bounce dj Black n Mild (Oliver Stokes) died at 44

Phil just can't catch a break. :(

Putting this here because no one else will care: a few months ago I picked up a $1.99 copy of Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton (on Verve, 1997) and man I love this. It helps that I saw Doc at Jazzfest around that time, but it’s a super lovely mix of ballads and swingin’ tunes, with my new favorite version of “Stardust.” I’ve returned to it again and again. Best two bucks spent recently.

That sounds great

I didn’t know there’s a Grammy for best jazz solo, but Doc won it in 1998 for his solo on “Stardust.”

https://youtu.be/cUK_wkCuRp4

Soothing music for troubling times.

Saw DJ Soul Sister retweet that Ropeman has died. He held the ropes in many New Orleans second lines

Club d.b.a. for sale. Sealed bids only . C’mon folks . One of us has to win the lottery and then we can all own it

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/keith_spera/article_016d7bca-73b4-11ea-8840-ff4e857333d4.html

Aw, man... depressing.

DBA was such a godsend when it opened, one of the few places to get a craft brew when Abita was pretty much the only game in town. I consumed many Anchor Liberty Ales there. I agree, Frenchmen Street is a much crazier place than it was twenty years ago, but I hope they can continue.

Damn. Ellis Marsalis at 85 . RIP

wow. RIP

Oh, no! RIP. He closed out last year in the jazz tent at Fest with all his sons, but I didn’t go. Opted for Al Green.

Complications from Corona. Fuck.

No second lines allowed now.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-orleans-brass-band-musicians-relief-fund

RIP Ellis, never did get to see him play.

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/health/zulu-coronavirus-deaths/289-4b03058c-87e5-46eb-b7ed-79965609f1f4

Zulu hit hard

On a lighter note, someone got Derrick "Kabuki" Shezbie to record a Buddy Bolden-themed trad album (his first solo record in 26 years):

https://youtu.be/0-_9YPzP2PQ

Contrast with this gem where he's all of 13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-KFKcP41GE

Thanks.

Can I get a late pass for just starting to follow on Instagram @polonolaphotography and @akasharabut

Photographers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-new-orleans-musicians/2020/04/09/fd5e2f84-774b-11ea-a130-df573469f094_story.html

Stafford Agee, trombone player for the Rebirth Brass Band — which received a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Album in 2011 — said that while he was able to ride out March on his savings, now he’s worried how he’ll pay the bills and support his four children.
“My ‘riding out’ is done,” he said. “I’m rode out. … We’re in another month now.”

The article notes Agee in the past has done contractor and electrical work to pay bills but he isn’t getting that kind of business now either. The article does say that Phil F of Rebirth is feeling better.

Also from W Post article:

Three days a week on the sidewalk outside his closed club, Howlin’ Wolf, Kaplan distributes a couple hundred takeout containers of food to musicians and hospitality workers.

Here's another article on Phil Frazier re how he survived 2 strokes and now Covid-19

https://www.nola.com/news/coronavirus/article_11dbff9a-7b48-11ea-b406-5b09e696d81f.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=nolafb&utm_campaign=snd&fbclid=IwAR3yvgY2u5GASlcid20tk-wCej0l8rYIWlWCoeiAADyhGxelAHbOstHSUI0

WWOZ is doing virtual French Quarter Fest (and will do virtual Jazzfest the next two weeks.) Some great in-studio performance video so far: Pinettes Brass Band, John 'Papa' Gros backed by Naughty Professor, and Honey Island Swamp Band.

I listened to some of the WWOZ Jazzfest in place. Irma sounded great. I missed some brass bands. Will have to check the archives.

More sad news: Big Al Carson, blues singer On bourbon street and was also a tuba player with some trad brass bands at 66. Photo on link is old. He reportedly had lost a bunch of weight.

https://www.wwoz.org/blog/640101

A https://www.wwoz.org/blog/640101

Cross-posting this here (glad to see the New Orleans Brass Band Musicians Relief Fund has raised some money):

Mama Digdown's Brass Band finally finished the Bill Withers tribute we recorded after he passed, it took awhile to figure out recording in our separate homes and putting a video together:
https://www.facebook.com/mamadigdown/videos/3043741569039500/

All proceeds go to the New Orleans Brass Band Musicians Relief Fund:
https://digdown.bandcamp.com/track/just-the-two-of-us-2

Alfred "Uganda" Roberts died this morning at the age of 77. Roberts first came to prominence in New Orleans music as the percussionist with Professor Longhair.

x-post -- Nice Mama's Digdown Bill Withers tribute

Thank you, thank you and thank you again for your donations to the New Orleans Brass Band Relief Fund!! As part of a final push for donations to this fund, we’re bringing ya’ll a special Brass Band Blowout livestream tomorrow, June 28th at 8PM CT. We’ll be featuring six of the best of New Orleans brass: Slow Rollas Brass Band, Young Fellaz Brass Band, Young Pinstripes Brass Band, Glen David Andrews, New Orleans Nightcrawlers and Rebirth Brass Band. Tune in on the NOLA Brass Fest Facebook page

The above is tonight

Another recorded-at-home track from us, inspired by hearing the Soul Rebels play it way back in the day, proceeds go to Roots of Music:

https://digdown.bandcamp.com/track/outstanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5tTRTb44Ro

Nice

https://www.nola.com/news/article_1459824c-ee25-11ea-9ad5-d7739ac95bd9.html

Junior Robertson died at 91 . He owned the bar Junior’s Place that was later called Little People’s Place.

Bass drummer “Uncle” Lionel Batiste often played the bar’s ashtrays like drums and other men would pick up the cowbell or washboard and sing along. Patrons danced to Robertson’s favorite blues records played on the jukebox or to classic hits played by DJs like Verna Mae Jones and record producer Walter Moorehead. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band played there in the mid-1970s, as did Benny Jones with his earliest incarnation of the Treme Brass Band. It was a stop for every downtown second-line parade on Sunday afternoon and the home base for the Downtowners Social Aid and Pleasure Club

https://www.nola.com/gambit/music/article_7ce0bd54-0468-11eb-954b-ab712e15cd77.html

Can New Orleans clubs ( especially Black-owned ones) survive without federal aid

Damn, this is a funeral for TBC Brass Band's cowbell player, apparently stabbed to death :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhMkjq32hRg

(also a rare all-trombone front line, and they're crushing)

Oh no

Cowbell Keem was 37.

https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2016/01/12/jermaine-bossier-79rs-gang-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview🕸/

I've been snoozing on this Mardi Gras group the 79rs Gang

An album from 2015 and a 2017 single . On Bandcamp

https://79rsgang.bandcamp.com/track/dead-and-gone🕸

have no idea how this compared to their earlier stuff, will check that out later.

*compares

btw, the post I quoted is from curmudgeon, from January 2018.

49rs Gang aren’t a brass band obviously, so I’m not even sure this is the right thread to discuss them - but maybe it is, thru the NO / Mardi Gras connection? Is there a more suitable thread?

damn, *79rs* Gang. I just woke up!

Really digging “About to Blow,” thanks!

Yes and “trouble” has that Mardi Gras Indian feel

I'm into it, I love the Indians music (especially when played by the brass bands, and a lot of brass band musicians are also involved with the Indians). It's always tough when people 'produce' this music because it's so perfect in its stripped-down form, but this record does a good job of keeping the energy and not overdoing the production. I like it a lot better than the funk band version of Indian music tbh (those Wild Tchoupitoulas records etc).

This one has musicians from Da Truth and Soul Rebels, with Derrick Tabb on snare:
https://79rsgang.bandcamp.com/track/shot-that-signal

https://www.offbeat.com/news/kermit-ruffins-takes-to-instagram-to-announce-mother-in-law-lounge-is-open-for-business/

He raised some $ via a Go-Fund Me. Club had been shut down for violating Covid restrictions

TBC live set on Offbeat's fb page:
https://www.facebook.com/offbeatmagazine/videos/1270215096676359/