New Orleans Brass Bands S/D

Just noticed that Hot 8 are gonna be near me soon--Reston, Virginia on the 9th of February and maybe Chick Halls in Bladensburg, Md on the 10th (the latter show is listed on the club's website but not on Hot 8's myspace site)

I downloaded that new Blind Boys of Alabama record this morning. It's nice...it leans more to the BB's thing than to the New Orleans musicians' thing, but it's kind of a thrill to hear Shannon Powell, David Torkanowski, the Hot 8 etc. on a national release.

I came across praise for New Orlean street band Loose Marbles (tuba plus numerous other instruments). Need to check out their youtube videos again. Was not wowed on first glance.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/neworleansjournal/2007/05/loose_marbles.html

terrible

these guys are so fucking annoying. i wish them ill.

I saw these guys the other night here in Houston:

http://www.myspace.com/voodoobrassband

They had Damion from the Soul Rebels sitting in with them and an older bass drummer, but the other guys were all around 12-20. They started out pretty tentative but rounded in to shape well.

interesting. damion is so sick.

NPR went New Orleans crazy for Mardi Gras yesterday. I heard the end of one feature that focussed mainly on Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews, and had a bleeped quote from his crazy yet talented cousin Glenn Andrews(sometimes member of Treme and various other bands). Then later another piece on krews and the parades. I haven't checked but both stories may still be available at the npr website.

Those NPR stories were by Joel Rose, a buddy from my American Routes days. The Trombone Shorty story w/Glen David and other Andrews is at...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18696278

And his piece on the Free Agents is here...

http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/02/01/free/

Spreading the word...

Joel Rose rules

rebirth in the lower 9th: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45TXg2bAEnQ

apparently the free agents record is officially out, don't think it's available anywhere online yet though.

So Hot 8 Brass supposedly played an underpublicized show Saturday night in a fancy theater in Reston, Virginia (a DC suburb)and then at the last minute Sunday allegedly cancelled their better publicized Sunday show in a honky-tonk divey club in a Maryland suburb of DC because
after they demanded dinner over the phone from Reston, which the club then reportedly offered, and a cab ride over (but where would you put the instruments) ...and a guarantee instead of the door deal that they had...the whole thing fell through with folks showing up at the club only to find the gig cancelled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g0hDL8vwQg

The Madison Bumblebees gospel brassband were great at the Grammys...About 2 minutes in on the gospel medley with Aretha, the Clark Sisters and more

They're a South Carolina group who played at Jazzfest last year.

yeah, i saw them. love that trombone shout choir shit.

too bad about that hot 8 show.

yo jordan could you post the tracklist for the brass band mix you sent me awhile back?

????

haha, i have no idea what it was! every time i make one of those i usually throw some different tunes together and don't keep the playlist. sorry deej.

i'm sure i could identify any track in particular if you gave me a hint, though.

ha i just wanted to rip them to my pod ... :( i'll just label them "brass band 1" "brass band 2" i guess

at least in most of the songs they say the name of the song and the name of the band at some point!

RIP. He regrouped after Katrina and then this...

http://blog.nola.com/lagniappe/2008/02/preservation_halls_john_brunio.html

Preservation Hall's trumpet player John Brunious dead at 67

Posted by Keith Spera February 13, 2008 6:30PM
By Keith Spera
Music writer

Trumpeter John Brunious, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's leader and senior
member, died Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., after suffering an apparent heart
attack. He was 67.

Mr. Brunious joined Preservation Hall around 1987, after substituting for
longtime trumpeter Percy Humphrey. With his shock of white hair and the
traditional white shirt and black pants of old-school New Orleans jazz
bands, Mr. Brunious tutored rapt tourists on jazz funerals, second-lines and
dirges before launching into "Just a Closer Walk With Thee."

But he was not a strict traditionalist. He learned traditional jazz as a
child from his father, John Brunious Sr., then focused on bebop and rhythm &
blues as a young man.

In recent years, Preservation Hall creative director Ben Jaffe has steered
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in fresh directions. After initial
skepticism, Mr. Brunious was generally game for innovation.

The band appeared at the rock-centric Voodoo Music Experience and Bonnaroo
Music Festival. "The only place we haven't been is outer space," Mr.
Brunious once said. "And they might be working on that."

He and Jaffe consulted on set lists and new ventures. Mr. Brunious did not
mind sharing the stage with Clint Maedgen, the spiky-haired leader of the
Bingo! performance troupe whom Jaffe recruited as a Preservation Hall guest
singer.

"Once he realized Clint had chops and had respect for the music, John took
Clint under his wing," Jaffe said. "John and Clint would spend hours
together going over lyrics and melodies. It was like going to school for
Clint."

The band's, and thus Mr. Brunious', repertoire expanded to include such
non-traditional fare as The Kinks' "Complicated Life." In Preservation
Hall's 2006 video for "Complicated Life," Mr. Brunious orders a cup of
coffee to kick off a surreal ramble through the French Quarter.

"Because we're getting more new people in our audience, they can relate to
the old-time traditional jazz as well as 'Complicated Life,' " Mr. Brunious
said in 2006. "Because the music is always evolving, it's good to have new
songs in the band."

Mr. Brunious' trumpet and voice are featured on many latter day Preservation
Hall recordings. He sings lead on "Last Chance to Dance," the final song on
the CD that accompanied the Hall's 2007 limited edition box set, "Made In
New Orleans."

Mr. Brunious grew up in the 7th Ward. His father arranged songs for the
likes of Count Basie. At St. Augustine High School, Mr. Brunious performed
the difficult "Flight of the Bumblebee" for his junior recital.

A combat tour of Vietnam with the army interrupted his musical life. Back in
New Orleans, he contributed to recording sessions at studios owned by Cosimo
Matassa and Allen Toussaint. He played bebop alongside Ellis Marsalis and
drummer James Black at Lu and Charlie's, the Rampart Street nightspot at the
epicenter of New Orleans' fledgling modern jazz community.

Those experiences would inform his contributions to Preservation Hall.

"John represented that link between the old and the new," Jaffe said. "He
got me thinking about the evolution of New Orleans music. It all came from
the same place. It all became New Orleans jazz in the end."

Mr. Brunious endured the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and the botched response
to its aftermath. As the storm approached, he hunkered down in his
first-floor apartment on Elysian Fields Avenue in Gentilly. After the levees
broke, he plunged into the rising floodwaters to save, ironically enough,
his boat. He hoped to secure the boat and its new motor before they floated
away.

As the water reached his 8-foot ceiling, Mr. Brunious escaped to a second
floor apartment. Eventually, a passing boat rescued him. He joined thousands
of storm victims at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

For five days, he survived on minimal food and water, and slept outside on a
chair. Finally, officials put him on a bus bound for Conway, Ark.

Jaffe located Mr. Brunious via the Red Cross and arranged to fly him to New
York. He received treatment for burns on his face and shoulders; a doctor
surmised he contacted acid from a car battery in the floodwaters.

Mr. Brunious was unable to perform at Preservation Hall's first post-Katrina
concert in New York because of a severe cough, another byproduct of polluted
floodwaters. But on Sept. 20, 2005, he joined the band at Radio City Music
Hall for a triumphant set at the "Big Apple to the Big Easy" benefit.

"The spirit of the music is so forceful that it makes you want to play it,"
Mr. Brunious later recalled. "When we finally got to play together,
everything was OK."

Mr. Brunious lost all six of his trumpets in his flooded apartment. After a
show in New Hampshire, a music teacher gave him a used trumpet. In May 2006,
the Tipitina's Foundation presented Mr. Brunious with a new silver-plated
Conn trumpet.

He settled in Orlando with his wife and stepdaughter, yet continued to tour
with Preservation Hall. Dental work forced him to sit out the band's
national anthem performance prior to the BCS Championship Game in January.

Jaffe said that, for the foreseeable future, Preservation Hall will fill the
void left by Mr. Brunious' passing with a rotating cast of trumpeters.
"We've faced this in the past," Jaffe said. "We'll continue on with what
we've always done. The next generation comes in."

In 1958, Mr. Brunious' father recorded an album for Atlantic Records with
the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in the yard of the family's 7th Ward home. In
April, Jaffe planned to recreate that recording session, with Mr. Brunious
playing his father's parts. Jaffe intends to go on with the project.

"Now it will be a memorial to John," he said.

A memorial service for Mr. Brunious is planned for Feb. 23 at Preservation
Hall, to be followed by a second-line.

He's on that Blind Boys album. I have him on this old Paul Barbarin record, although I wonder if that's him or his dad? And his son (?) Wendell is a killin' trumpet player.

Hey, the Dirty Dozen are on TNT right now backing up the introduction of the NBA players who are taking part in the skills, 3 point shooting and dunk competition as part of the NBA basketball allstar weekend in New Orleans.

Christian Scott's trumpet rendition of the national anthem was nice. I wonder who'll be doing it tomorrow before the game.

Sunday, February 17: For the 57th Annual NBA All-Star Game, Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis has collaborated on the performance lineup. Connick is the musical director for the halftime show, featuring four original compositions performed by four pairs of pianists including Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Davell Crawford, Art Neville, Ivan Neville, Jonathan Batiste, Ellis Marsalis, and Connick Jr. and his Big Band. Marsalis is the musical director for the All-Star Player introductions, featuring compositions by Marsalis performed by the Rebirth Brass Band. Trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and Trombone Shorty introduces the Western and Eastern Conference All-Star teams. Marsalis directs the U.S. national anthem performed by Stephanie Jordan and guitarist Jonathan Dubose. Deborah Cox performs the Canadian anthem.[14]

it is like mardi gras downtown this weekend

featuring compositions by Marsalis performed by the Rebirth Brass Band

this will probably be a little weird

so this is only on cable, huh? crap.

I wonder who that white guy guitarist trying to sing like a Neville brother was?

I didn't realize who Stephanie Jordan is---

Like other Katrina victims, Jordan is still rebounding from her losses," I had eight feet of water in my house, and lost everything - pianos, sheet music, my entire wardrobe, a singer's wardrobe." Shortly thereafter, she and her brother Marlon embark during the fall of 2005 as 'Jazz Ambassadors' on a European Tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Jazz at Lincoln Center to thank the people of Europe for their support of New Orleans and the Gulf Region following Hurricane Katrina.

Jordan is the fifth performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. As the daughter of saxophonist Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Stephanie's musical roots run deep. Her siblings include flutist Kent, trumpeter Marlon, and violinist Rachel Jordan. from nola.com

by David Gladow Saturday February 16, 2008,

TNT cable tonight--Dwight Howard dunking and brass blowing

Kermit Ruffins & Trombone Shorty and Rebirth looked and sounded sharp playing in the background as the players were being introduced. They had this faux French Quarter backdrop with folks dressed up for Mardi Gras and dancing around...

i went over to a friend's house to watch. that was pretty tight, esp. when they gave trombone shorty some time to blow over 'do whatcha wanna'. kinda weird to see all those dudes in suits on national tv!

i guess they didn't air the rebirth halftime performance? that sucks.

Were they supposed to be on at the half also in addition to the pianos duets thing?

think i'm interviewing Glen David Andrews tomorrow morning.

He can be real friendly or real cranky. I like his Louis Armstrong like vocals as well as his horn playing. As you may know, he's part of a talented extended music family. Good luck

Hey, thanks for warning me about the possibility of a cranky subject. I've been listening to his music recently; lots of it sounds joyful. He's performing in a local parade, so I was going to talk to him about NO parades, particularly in a post-Katrina NO.

But I don't know how he'll feel about Katrina questions...I'm sure every post-Katrina interview has revolved around the aftermath. I just hope he's not sick of discussing it. If he sounds annoyed, I'll switch subjects, I guess.

2 minutes

Hope it went well.

oh, i misread what adam posted, i thought rebirth was supposed to be on during halftime too but i guess not.

longest 2 minute wait ever!

what happened?

Did he blow it off...

still blowing it off, pr guy feels bad, still waiting, etc.

i've never met the guy but one hears hilarious and disturbing stories. good luck w/ the interview.

He was nice and friendly to me at Jazzfest a few years back, but then didn't want to really talk a year later up here in DC. He had to be bleeped on that NPR piece I mentioned upthread, and somewhere I saw a posting from I think a former landlord of his badmouthing him.

I hung around with him a bit during his brief stay in Houston. We had some interesting times.

free agents album is out

I guess I will just have to pay Louisiana Music factory prices unless it is also available elsewhere for cheaper (or via paid download)