I once saw Henry Butler judge a big butt contest at the Funky Butt on Rampart Street and have been searching for another night like that ever since. Similar memories fuel the allegiance to New Orleans that brings tourists back year after year to worship at our soiled altars. For members of the Funky Butt [...]
Tag Archives: brass bands
The Funky Butt Brass Band, You Can Trust the Funky Butt Brass Band (Independent)
November 1, 2011 – 12:46 am
Out-of-Town Brass Bands
November 1, 2011 – 12:11 am
Jazz funerals work a little differently in Minneapolis. Just ask the Jack Brass Band. “It wasn’t like a second line. We were actually inside the church, standing up in front of the congregation at the altar,” recalls band leader Mike Olander about one of his group’s recent engagements. “We did ‘Just a Closer Walk With [...]
Black Men of Labor Second Line: Photos
October 31, 2011 – 1:46 pm
After postponing their annual Labor Day parade this year due to Tropical Storm Lee/Hurricane Lee, the Black Men of Labor held their second line this Saturday, October 29 in perfect weather. The Black Men of Labor celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders with a ceremony to honor the riders and members of the [...]
Video du Jour: Rebirth Brass Band
October 12, 2011 – 12:02 pm
For years now the Rebirth Brass Band has held down one of the best known weekly gigs in New Orleans: the infamous Tuesday night at the Maple Leaf Bar. Last week the band added a new weekly party to their schedule, heading downtown for their first Wednesday night show at Vaso. Rebirth will be playing [...]
Soul Rebels Brass Band Offering Free Sweet Dreams EP and Dance Contest
September 2, 2011 – 4:29 pm
With a new album, Unlock Your Mind, coming January 2012 on Rounder Records, the Soul Rebels Brass Band are currently offering a three-track EP, Sweet Dreams, of songs from the record. The title track is a cover of the Eurythmics’ ’80s classic “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”. The EP is available below in exchange [...]
The Hot 8 Brass Band: Home in My Horn
August 1, 2011 – 12:16 am
The indelible image of the Hot 8 Brass Band at a Sunday afternoon second line parade is that of sousaphone player Bennie Pete and bass drummer Harry “Swamp Thing” Cook. We picture them pushing the band’s low end up and down Lasalle through Central City, out North Broad Street or A.P. Tureaud in the Seventh [...]
YouTube du Jour: Lil’ Rascals Brass Band
June 13, 2011 – 2:27 pm
Ah YouTube—it’s great to see this promo video preserved for posterity. Trombonist Corey Henry circa March 2001 talks about the Lil’ Rascals’ then-upcoming, now-classic album Buck It Like A Horse. The album’s first track, the Glen David Andrews-penned “Knock With Me, Rock With Me” (read this excellent essay on the song) became a second-line staple, [...]
Soul Rebels in Action
May 1, 2011 – 12:09 am
For 20 years, the Soul Rebels have remained a modern face in brass band music. “We are trying our best to push the envelope,” says Lumar LeBlanc, snare drummer and Rebels cofounder along with bass drummer Derrick Moss, both late of Dejan’s Young Olympia Brass Band. “The initial point of Soul Rebels was to put [...]
Rebirth Brass Band, Rebirth of New Orleans (Basin Street Records)
April 1, 2011 – 12:59 am
We live in an era of great brass bands, a time when people argue over who’s the best and global brands sponsor grand competitions. New kids use horns to escape violence while old heads lead protest marches and school programs. As successful as any outfit in the last 30 years, the Rebirth charge forward through [...]
