New Orleans Brass Bands S/D

Truly some all-stars out there - Derrick Tabb, Corey Henry, Eric Gordon, Chad Honore, Terrence Andrews, Stafford Agee, etc

Great to hear all those Lil' Rascals tunes done with the original drummers & Corey Henry in the lineup. Damn.

Did I spot Donna Poniatowski, or just someone who looks like her?

Yep, that was her! Got some pics of the second line from her too.

Cool! Good to see her.

Seeing on Facebook that 97 year old Peter Chuck Badie who played bass with a who's who of r'n'b greats has passed away.

Here's a 2017 article that touches on some of his accomplishments

https://louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com/news-events/events/scholarship-fundraiser/peter-chuck-badie-receives-the-jazz-pioneer-award-at-the-noachc-2017-scholarship-fundraiser/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugOhN0YObr4

https://www.offbeat.com/music/new-breed-brass-band-made-in-new-orleans-525-worldwide/

A review of album by New Breed Brass Band

Old-school me was hoping to see website news obits for New Orleans music greats Jeffrey Hills , Sr and for Peter Chuck Badie. But I never did.

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/drumming-for-treme-brass-band-or-driving-his-famous-orange-truck-benny-jones-sr-is/article_cec1bfe2-e9da-11ed-ac1c-db40cc19cc0e.html

Long profile of percussionist Benny Jones Sr

So Nola.com gave New Orleans bass player legend Peter Chuck Badie this standard obit. He played with Dave Bartholomew r’n’b sessions in the 50s and on Sam Cooke “A Change is Gonna Come” plus with Lionel Hampton, and more.

https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/peter-badie-obituary?id=51734149

Heard some Alabama brass band on that American Routes show that sounded good

Melissa A. Weber (a.k.a. Soul Sister), D.J. and scholar
“Right Foot” by Rebirth Brass Band

A special characteristic of New Orleans jazz is its function as dance music. It invites audience members to not spectate, but participate. In the New Orleans brass band jazz tradition, the pioneering Rebirth Brass Band has specialized in making people dance since the group formed 40 years ago, while its founding members were teenagers. In 2008, they rerecorded their original song “Put Your Right Foot Forward,” first released in the mid-1980s as a 45 on the local SYLA label. It’s a classic that other brass bands have added to their repertoires, whether on the stage or in the second-line streets. (Listen on YouTube)

From https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/arts/music/new-orleans-jazz-music.html

YIL that "Didn't He Ramble" was written about a goat.

https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-curious-history-of-oh-didnt-he-ramble/

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/keith_spera/new-orleans-drummer-russell-batiste-jrs-st-aug-funeral/article_8655a294-67b3-11ee-a45b-c34a8115590e.html

Russell Batiste jr , New Orleans drummer Dead at 57 from a heart attack.

For four decades, he was a stalwart of the New Orleans music community. In the late 1980s he applied his powerhouse style to a latter incarnation of the Meters, then spent years with that band’s successor, the Funky Meters.

Batiste also powered George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, Dumpstaphunk, Bonerama, Papa Grows Funk, the Wild Magnolias, the Joe Krown Trio and his own Orkestra from da Hood and Russell Batiste & Friends.

Yeah, I saw that the other day, sad. Younger than I am.

RIP.

I thought he played on a couple tracks on Maceo Parker's Southern Exposure record, then realized that was Herman Ernest III, who died in 2011 at age 59. :(

Every Grammy Awards nominee for best Regional Roots music Album for the February 2024 Grammys is from Louisiana:

New Beginnings
Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band

Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers

Live: Orpheum Theater Nola
Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

Made In New Orleans
New Breed Brass Band

Too Much To Hold
New Orleans Nightcrawlers

Live At The Maple Leaf
The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr

I should listen to these Grammys nominees but will any of them wow me the way Sporty’s Brass Band Instagram Live’s do ?

Probably not, but I do like that Buckwheat's, Rockin' Dopsie's and Monk's offspring are all carrying on the tradition.

Yes , and the Lost Bayou Ramblers are a very creative Cajun band . Louis Michot from that group has done some cool solo stuff and the group was did nice music on the Beasts of the Southern Wild soundtrack

https://www.offbeat.com/news/frenchmen-street-club-d-b-a-new-orleans-is-sold/

D.b.a. Club owner retiring and selling club to locals who already own other clubs

Thank god for this woman and anyone else who's uploading full second line footage, rather than IG clips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paLacuoI5Iw

Yes, thanks !

St. Mary’s Academy’s skirt-wearing band first formed in 1937, making it the oldest Black girls band marching in the city. Today, it is one of just a handful of all-girl bands to regularly appear in Mardi Gras parades...This Mardi Gras season also marks the first time Raynice Crayton, 27, will be at the band’s helm. A St. Mary’s alumna who joined the band as a seventh-grader, Crayton has already more than doubled band membership during her short tenure as director..The group’s 52 players have varying levels of experience, from novices to passionate musicians, and they range in grades from fourth to 12th. In New Orleans East, where the school’s campus has been located since the 1960s, Crayton spends hours teaching girls the 10 tunes they will perform this Carnival, ranging from traditional music to a Janet Jackson song to the group’s favorite this year: “Talking in Your Sleep” by the Romantics..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2024/02/12/mardi-gras-girls-marching-band/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzA3NzE0MDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzA5MDk2Mzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MDc3MTQwMDAsImp0aSI6Ijk5OGU2NGM1LTg2NDktNDUyYS1hNTE4LWZlZTI3ZWNjOGJlZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9zdHlsZS9vZi1pbnRlcmVzdC8yMDI0LzAyLzEyL21hcmRpLWdyYXMtZ2lybHMtbWFyY2hpbmctYmFuZC8ifQ.v-dFiptu0EAVbzwspUbkiE3UJD4SNps-CIPtXTNLnZs

Happy Mardi Gras!

Seeing sad news on Instagram that snare drummer Kerry “Fatman” Hunter was killed by a car ( reportedly a drunk driver) on North Claiborne at Pauger Monday night

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/arts/music/new-orleans-rapper-flagboy-giz.html

37 years old rapper & Black masking Indian merges the 2 cultures on “We Outside “ 2022 song and newer album, and a remix project

I heard that, so sad. He was never the flashiest player but had a huge and unmistakable sound, deeply rooted in the tradition. The groove on 'D-Boy' is fathoms deep. Unfortunately a lot of the best parts of New Birth Brass Band's (his main band) discography are not streaming or even on youtube, but here are some of my favorite Kerry Hunter recordings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQELLw2A_nw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=verTSC200Ls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDuwGU_cB5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUtJAsp28WQ

I am not going to be there and so hope the Friday 1 pm pacific time Pop Con presentation by USC professor Josh D Kun on the Mexican musical legacies of New Orleans will be streamed or recorded

WWOZ is streaming some of French Quarter Fest