| Contents |
Introduction -- Band call: Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, Hurricane Brass Band, Chosen Few brass band, Danny Barker, and the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band -- "What is the parade for?" -- Leroy Jones, trumpet -- Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen, Bass Horn -- Gregg Stafford, trumpet -- Joe Torregano, saxophones and clarinet -- Harry Sterling, guitar -- Tad Jones, jazz writer and historian -- Band call: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a note on the tremé and its music -- Gregory "Blodie" Davis, trumpet -- Roger Lewis, saxophones -- Benny Jones, drums -- "Uncle" Lionel Paul Batiste Sr., bass drum -- A note on the Baby Dolls -- Jerry Brock, historian, broadcaster, and filmmaker -- Band call: Rebirth brass band The Rebirth Brass Band -- Philip Frazier III, bass horn -- Keith Frazier, bass drum -- Keith "Wolf" Anderson, trombone and bass horn -- Kermit at Vaughan's, October 31, 2002 -- A note on the tambourine and fan club -- Jerome Smith, community leader -- Band call: New Birth, Majestic, Algiers, All Star, Regal, Treme, Doc Paulin, Pinstripe, New Wave, Mahogany Cayetano "Tanio" Hingle, bass drum -- Kenneth "Little Milton" Terry, trumpet -- Edgar "Sarge" Smith, bass horn -- Donna Poniatowski-Sims, venue proprietor -- Ruddley Thibodeaux, trumpet -- James "Little Twelve," Andrews, trumpet -- Lajoie "Butch" Gomez, saxophones -- "DJ" Davis Rogan, radio announcer -- A note on Ernest "Doc" Paulin, trumpet -- Oscar Washington, snare drum -- Brice Miller, trumpet -- Norman Dixon, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival coordinator -- Epilogue: Second line on Sunday -- Select discography: Recommended listening. |
| Abstract |
Told in the words of the musicians themselves, this book celebrates the renewed passion and pageantry among black brass bands in New Orleans. The author introduces the people who play the music and shares their insights, showing why New Orleans is the place where jazz continues to grow. Uniformed brass bands have been around since the late-nineteenth century, throughout Europe and the United States, but African American brass bands in New Orleans have always played music differently: the way it is lived on the street. Performing in funeral processions and in parades for social clubs, they learned how to play by interacting with their audiences. This spontaneity and feeling became trademarks of jazz. Brass bands waned during the civil rights era but revived around 1970 and then flourished in the 1980s, when the music became cool with the younger generation. In the only book to cover this revival, the author interviews members from a variety of bands, including the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen, Tuba Fats' Chosen Few, and the Rebirth Brass Band. He captures their thoughts about the music, their careers, audiences, influences from rap and hip-hop, the resurgence of New Orleans social and pleasure clubs and second lines, traditional versus funk style, recording deals, and touring. |
