New Orleans brass band traditions and popular music : elements of style in the music of mama digdown's brass band and youngblood brass band

Transcription

1 University of Iowa Iowa Research Online Theses and Dissertations Summer 2012 New Orleans brass band traditions and popular music : elements of style in the music of mama digdown's brass band and youngblood brass band Matthew Thomas Driscoll University of Iowa Copyright 2012 Matthew T. Driscoll This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: Recommended Citation Driscoll, Matthew Thomas. "New Orleans brass band traditions and popular music : elements of style in the music of mama digdown's brass band and youngblood brass band." DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) thesis, University of Iowa, Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Music Commons

2 NEW ORLEANS BRASS BAND TRADITIONS AND POPULAR MUSIC: ELEMENTS OF STYLE IN THE MUSIC OF MAMA DIGDOWN S BRASS BAND AND YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND by Matthew Thomas Driscoll An essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa July 2012 Essay Supervisor: Professor, David A. Gier

3 Copyright by MATTHEW THOMAS DRISCOLL 2012 All Rights Reserved

4 Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL D.M.A. ESSAY This is to certify that the D.M.A. essay of Matthew Thomas Driscoll has been approved by the Examining Committee for the essay requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the July 2012 graduation. Essay Committee: David A. Gier, Essay Supervisor Jeffrey Agrell John Manning John Rapson Richard B. Turner

5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to several teachers, friends, and family members who helped me develop the skills necessary to complete this project. First I would like to thank Dr. David Gier for his patience as a fantastic mentor and for his musical guidance. Without his help none of this would have been possible. A specific thanks to my friends and family who have always encouraged me to pursue my goals as a musician: to my friend, Beverly Barfield, and the writing center at the University of Iowa for their helping hands in developing my writing skills as an author. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Ginny, for her endless support, encouragement, words of wisdom, and infinite love through our lives together, but especially during the completion of this essay. ii

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES...v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION...1 Background...2 Review of Literature...4 Purpose of the Study...8 Methodology and Organization of Essay...8 CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF THE NEW ORLEANS BRASS BANDS...10 Foundation of a New Orleans Brass Band...10 Military Influence...14 Benevolent Societies and Jazz Funerals...18 Second Line Rhythm (Beat)...20 The First Brass Bands...24 Brass Band Revival...27 CHAPTER III. POPULAR MUSIC MOLDS THE REPERTOIRE...31 Popular Music Genres...32 Maryland, My Maryland...33 Cakewalks to Ragtime...38 Panama...39 Jazz to Rhythm and Blues (R&B)...42 Dirty Dozen Brass Band...47 My Feet Can t Fail Me Now...49 Rebirth Brass Band...51 Do Whatcha Wanna...53 Soul Rebels Brass Band...57 Soul Rebels Creative Process...60 Sour Rebels Music...61 CHAPTER IV. NEW ORLEANS STYLE ARRIVES IN MADISON...65 A Brass Band Tradition Starts in Madison...65 Mama Digdown s Brass Band...66 Mama Digdown s Music...67 Youngblood Brass Band...70 Influence of New Orleans on Youngblood...74 Youngblood s Music...75 Avalanche...78 Brooklyn...80 J.E.M CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION...88 Hurricane Katrina...88 Suggestions for Further Study...90 APPENDIX A. LEMAR LEBLANC INTERVIEW...91 iii

7 APPENDIX B. ERIK JACOBSEN INTERVIEW...97 APPENDIX C. JORDAN COHEN INTERVIEW APPENDIX D. DAVID SKOGEN INTERVIEW APPENDIX E. NAT MCINTOSH INTERVIEW APPENDIX F. CHRISTOPHER OHLY INTERVIEW APPENDIX G. CHARLES WAGNER INTERVIEW BIBLIOGRAPHY iv

8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. In the Sweet Bye and Bye Habanera Tresillo Cinquillo Clave clave Mardi Gras Indian rhythm tresillo Mardi Gras Indian rhythm cinquillo New Orleans Jazz Funeral Maryland, My Maryland Maryland, My Maryland, four-bar introduction Maryland, My Maryland, interlude U.S. Army, Assembly Call Maryland, My Maryland, O Tannenbaum melody Maryland, My Maryland Second line bass drum rhythm Panama, original piano melody Panama, Eureka Brass Band introduction Bass drum and cymbal rhythm to Panama Rhythm of lyric to My Feet Can t Fail Me Now My Feet Can t Fail Me Now, St. Thomas melody Sousaphone bass line, Do Whatcha Wanna Percussion and vocal parts, Do Whatcha Wanna Ffun melody...56 v

9 25. Call and response instrumental dialogue, Do Whatcha Wanna No Place Like Home, sousaphone bass line, Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun Avalanche, introduction, mm. 1-4, score in C Avalanche, introduction, mm. 5-8, score in C Avalanche, sousaphone part Brooklyn, sousaphone bass line Brooklyn, sousaphone feature J.E.M., introduction J.E.M., measures vi

10 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This topic developed while researching the Youngblood Brass Band as a project for the Advanced Brass Pedagogy and Literature class. I was impressed with the band s level of talent and the innovative mixture of styles. Youngblood uses the traditional instrumentation of a New Orleans brass band (trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and percussion) and their music incorporates jazz, rap, and rock influences. My initial research focused on how and why the New Orleans music influenced this band in Madison, Wisconsin. Beyond the instrumentation, I was unfamiliar with the history, origins, and influence of New Orleans brass bands. In the summer of 2005, I traveled to New Orleans for the International Trombone Festival. In addition to the recitals and master-classes, I had the privilege of seeing a live performance of the Soul Rebels. I had no idea that I was about to see a traditional New Orleans brass band. When I first arrived, the audience members were in different locations of the club. As the Soul Rebels started to take the stage, the crowd began to gather in anticipation of the live music. By the time the Soul Rebels played their first notes everyone was gathered around the small stage area shoulder to shoulder with hardly any room to move. After the band played their first tune of the night, I was hooked on the music and could not get enough of it. The Soul Rebels combined the styles of hiphop, rhythm and blues (R&B), funk, reggae, and jazz. Among the repertoire the band played that night were originals I had never heard, and an arrangement of a song by the popular hip-hop group Outkast. My initiation to a true New Orleans brass band left me wanting more of the music and the knowledge of why the ensemble was so popular in New Orleans. More importantly, I wanted to know how this music inspired Youngblood Brass Band in Madison, Wisconsin. Later that same year I attended a performance by Youngblood in Iowa City. After arriving early, I was able to briefly interview one of Youngblood s members, Charles

11 2 Wagner (trumpet). I asked him, What is your connection to the New Orleans brass bands? He explained that the band s origins come from the study of the New Orleans music and playing with the same instrumentation. After listening to Youngblood live, it confirmed my decision to continue with this investigation into why they play this style of music directly related to New Orleans, and how they got started. Background Brass bands in New Orleans make up a large part of the city s music and culture. In general, people associate this style of music with Mardi Gras and funeral processions, but in fact there is more to the music than those celebrations. The New Orleans brass band style has continued to be an audience-centered form of music, which has been transferred and transformed throughout the world. From its inception, the majority of brass band repertoire was developed through the incorporation of popular music into their style. As the band s music changed with society and time, the foundation of rhythm and connection to their African heritage, dating back to dance and music celebrations at Congo Square, remained. Brass band musicians first learned a repertoire of marches, funeral dirges, and hymns, along with dance music and popular tunes. 1 At the end of the nineteenth century ragtime, cakewalks, and two-steps were the popular music styles added into the brass band tradition. Later in the twentieth century the popular musical genres incorporated were jazz and R&B. Dejan s Olympia Brass Band fused the rhythms of R&B with the Congo Square beat also known as second line rhythms. The Olympia band also played arrangements of R&B tunes. In the 1970s and 80s, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band continued the evolution of popular music into the repertoire. The aforementioned styles continued to be utilized into the twenty-first century. Now contemporary bands like the Soul Rebels Brass Band include rap in their original works 1 William J. Schafer, Brass Bands and New Orleans Jazz. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1977).

12 3 and have even played arrangements of songs by the heavy metal group Metallica. Though there has been research on the evolution of brass band music through the 1980s, there is a lack of information regarding contemporary bands and their utilization of traditional brass band elements as well as the incorporation of popular music of the last 30 years. The modern bands manage to make brass band music exciting for new audiences, not only by incorporating elements of popular music, but by holding on to the forms and rhythms of a traditional New Orleans brass band. The phrasing and form of the music is related to the march, one of the first styles the bands played, which usually includes eight to sixteen bar phrases. Then, when jazz influenced the bands, they added a traditional element of jazz form with a solo section in the middle of the piece. The main underlying element is the rhythm in the percussion with the added syncopation, referred to as the second line beat. The second line rhythm is what makes the music danceable and attracts audiences. Rhythms that are prominent in R&B, funk, and hip-hop have been added on top of the second line beat. That element has continually attracted audience of all ages, but especially new younger audience members. This paper helps the reader understand both the traditional elements and the new elements in the music of the New Orleans brass bands and how the traditions have been adopted and modified by two bands from Madison. Mama Digdown s Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band connect to the tradition yet move the style forward by incorporating popular music (which is itself a time-honored practice). These groups traveled to New Orleans to study the most popular bands who were playing parades, funerals, and clubs. The Madison bands befriended the members of the local bands, particularly members of the Hot 8 and the Soul Rebels. With a better understanding of the music and the traditions, Mama Digdown s made a conscious effort to portray New Orleans culture with dignity and respect. In a similar manner, but with a different approach, Youngblood took the ideas of compositional practice and the incorporation of popular music styles to another level. The paper will

13 4 show how Youngblood is an extension of the New Orleans brass band style because they play the newest forms of popular music through elements of style, rhythm, and compositional technique. All of these elements can be heard in the music of Youngblood. In that respect, they are like the Dirty Dozen and now the Soul Rebels. Review of Related Literature There are limited resources regarding the New Orleans brass band history, music, and style. Some of the resources mention that popular music was added to the New Orleans brass band repertoire but do not elaborate any further. In regard to Youngblood Brass Band and the Madison bands, no scholarly resources are present. William Schafer s book Brass Bands and New Orleans Jazz (1977) mentions how brass bands played the popular music of the day. 2 There is some commentary on how the bands arranged the original works into brass band tunes. In general, the book covers the history of the brass band from the late nineteenth century into the 1970s. Schafer tells of the beginnings of the brass bands in New Orleans, what music was played, and where it was performed. Schafer writes about the popular brass bands at the time the book was published and argues that the bands helped to develop the beginnings of jazz. In the appendix, he includes a transcription of a piece from 1894, Fallen Heroes, a popular dirge. This book is helpful in understanding the early history of the brass bands and the early repertoire played. Mick Burns Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance (2006) is a book about brass bands in New Orleans. 3 Burns documents the contemporary brass bands and writes about the most popular bands from the late 1970s to the beginning of the twenty-first century. He mainly features the Fairview Baptist 2 Ibid. 3 Mick Burns, Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2006).

14 5 Church Brass Band, Hurricane Brass Band, Chosen Few Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Rebirth Brass Band. He includes interviews with members of those bands, with comments in the introduction about how the Soul Rebels are taking the brass band traditions further into the future. Another book written and compiled by Mick Burns is The Great Olympia Band (2001), which includes an introductory chapter commenting on the importance of Dejan s Olympia Brass Band and his experiences with the members of the band. 4 The majority of the book focuses on interviews compiled over the years with members who have played with the Olympia band. In Richard Turner s recent publication, Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans (2009), the author discusses the New Orleans brass bands and their connection to their African, Haitian, and Cuban heritage through religious and musical practices. 5 This book provides an understanding of the lineage of the brass band traditions in New Orleans. Richard Knowles, Fallen Heroes: A History of New Orleans Brass Bands, provides the history of the brass band movement up to 1996, the year of publication. 6 Knowles recaps some of the history that Schafer discussed and features some of the early popular brass bands. Knowles also discusses the brass bands involvement with the recording and film industry. Herlin Riley, Johnny Vidacovich, and Dan Thress wrote New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming, which details the percussion rhythms. 7 This book is a method 4 Mick Burns, The Great Olympia Band. (New Orleans, LA: Jazzology Press, 2001). 5 Richard Brent Turner, Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans. (Bloomington: Indiana, Indiana University Press, 2009). 6 Richard H. Knowles, Fallen Heroes: A History of New Orleans Brass Band. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1993). 7 Herlin Riley, Johnny Vidacovich, and Dan Thress, New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming. (Warner Brothers Publishing, 1996).

15 6 book, with transcriptions of popular rhythms of the brass band s drum sections. It has commentary and description about the rhythms and how the style has affected drum-set playing outside of the tradition. Reid Mitchell s book, All on Mardi Gras Days, has specific chapters that are helpful when outlining the brass band s roots. 8 Those chapters cover the early days of Mardi Gras and Louis Armstrong. There are other books that discuss New Orleans brass bands in chapters and sections that are concerned primarily with jazz or New Orleans music, but none that contribute significantly to the literature. Articles providing evidence of the rhythmical background of brass band music trace influences back to West Africa and the Caribbean. These articles support the assertion that brass bands have used elements of popular music since their beginnings. In addition, Christopher Washburne s article, The Clave of Jazz: Caribbean Contribution to Rhythmic Foundation of an African-American Music, provides an account of brass bands rhythmic foundations. 9 Yet another article that supports this information is that of John Collins, The Early History of West African Highlife Music. 10 Karl Koenig, author of the New Orleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line, is known for his research in early jazz history. 11 He has a series of articles that discuss the teachers of the early brass bands of New Orleans and their impact on the number of brass band musicians in and around the region. 12 In addition to the scholarly research in journals, there are online magazines of CD reviews of brass band music. Two magazines that have offered insight on brass bands 8 Reid Mitchell, All on a Mardi Gras Day. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995). 9 Christopher Washburne, The Clave of Jazz: Caribbean Contribution to Rhythmic Foundation of an African-American Music. Black Music Research Journal 17, no. 1 (Spring, 1997) John Collins, The Early History of West African Highlife Music. Black Music Research Journal 18, no. 3 (1989) Karl Koenig, Louisiana Brass Bands and Their History in Relation to Jazz History. New Orleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line (1983). 12 Karl Koenig, Professor Hingle and the Sweet Sixteen Brass Band of Point a La Hache. New Orleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line (1983).

16 7 are Offbeat 13 and Where Y at Magazine. 14 These magazines, which are printed monthly and offered online, focus on the music, culture, and cuisine of New Orleans. There are two important documentaries detailing the lives of musicians in the early brass bands and the traditions in which they participated. Sing On documents brass bands from 1914 through the 1960 s, and New Orleans Jazz Funerals from the Inside, a video narrated by Milton Batiste, the lead trumpet player from Dejan s Olympia Brass Band, describes the history of the funeral procession. Another helpful resource in understanding the activities and repertoire of a jazz funeral is a CD that features The Magnificent Sevenths Brass Band. 15 Web pages of the contemporary brass bands presented in this essay have been vital resources in staying current with the bands activities, touring and new music. Some of those bands are Dirty Dozen, 16 Rebirth, 17 Soul Rebels, 18 Mama Digdown s, 19 and Youngblood Louisiana Music and Culture, (Accessed December 2011 and 1 January 2012). 14 WHERE Y AT Magazine, (Accessed November 2, 2008). 15 Magnificent Sevenths, Authentic New Orleans Jazz Funeral, CD Dirty Dozen Brass Band, (Accessed October 6, 2009). 17 Rebirth Brass Band, (Accessed November 2011 and February 13, 2012). 18 Soul Rebels Brass Band, (Accessed February 1, 2012 and January 1, 2012). 19 Mama Digdown s Brass Band, (Accessed March 3, 2010). 20 Youngblood Brass Band, (Accessed December 15, 2011).

17 8 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to trace the history of brass bands and show how they have incorporated popular music within their style of playing since their inception in New Orleans. There are no studies that focus primarily on how popular music has been incorporated in the music of the brass bands. This essay discusses specific brass band compositions, pointing out the popular music elements. This study will also show how the movement has influenced the establishment of other bands, with a concentration on groups from Madison, Wisconsin. There will be an in-depth investigation of two bands: Mama Digdown s Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band, with a discussion of their history, music, and connection to the New Orleans brass band style. This essay will be the first document to present material on the active brass bands of Madison. Methodology and Organization of the Essay A historical overview of the brass bands and their development before being labeled as a brass band will be included in chapter two. This chapter will discuss the contributing factors leading up to their formation. Chapter Three discusses the incorporation of popular music into brass band repertoire. The repertoire includes examples that incorporate elements of the march, ragtime, funk, and hip-hop. There is a concentration on three contemporary brass bands: the Dirty Dozen, Rebirth, and the Soul Rebels. Interviews with Lemar LeBlanc (Soul Rebels) and Phillip Frazer (Rebirth) highlight the ways in which the bands created their own repertoire while staying true to the traditions of the music. Chapter Four concentrates on the two groups from Madison that are based on the musical styling of New Orleans brass bands. This chapter presents interviews with key members of the bands Mama Digdown s and Youngblood Brass Band. There will be an analysis of their music to identify traditional elements of New Orleans brass bands. There will also be specific examples of Youngblood s music that show how they have

18 9 incorporated new styles from popular music of today. Interviews with members of the Soul Rebels, Mama Digdown s, and Youngblood are included in the appendices.

19 10 CHAPTER II HISTORY OF THE NEW ORLEANS BRASS BANDS Many factors contributed to the existence of New Orleans brass bands. The first to be discussed is Congo Square and the musical activities that took place there. The second factor was military instruments and repertoire of the first brass bands. Those instruments were included in the musical celebrations of Congo Square, and military music became some of the first repertoire of the brass bands. The third contributing factor to the New Orleans brass band tradition was benevolent societies. These societies hired bands to play for funerals and parades, which gave the bands more publicity and provided opportunities to play at other parades and social events. The traditions of New Orleans brass bands are a combination of African-American heritage, military influences, and funeral processions. Foundation of a New Orleans Brass Band Brass bands have performed in parades and funeral processions in New Orleans for more than a century. The repertoire, however, has changed as a result of the influence of popular music. The foundation of brass bands dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century, when slaves gathered to express themselves through music and dance. The addition of popular music to the African diaspora allowed slaves an outlet for expression and cultural remembrance. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, New Orleans had a large black population that was mixed with slaves and free Negroes, a term commonly used at that time. 21 Free Negroes populated the area due to immigration and because of emancipation laws that allowed slaves to be freed under certain circumstances. For example, one rule stated that if a slave taught a master s children, that slave would be free; another rule said 21 H. E. Sterkx, The Free Negro in Ante-Bellum Louisiana. (Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc. 1972),15.

20 11 that if a slave had a child with a non-slave, the child was free along with the mother. 22 More than half the population of free Negroes was from Haiti, having fled the country in search of a better life. 23 Code Noir, translated as Black Code, was a law that gave slaves permission to have Sunday afternoons free in New Orleans to play music and dance. 24 Congo Square, which is now Armstrong Park, was the public gathering place where free Negroes joined the slaves in these celebrations. Louisiana was the only state in the United States to allow such self-expression by slaves. The population of Louisiana and New Orleans included people originating from Senegambia nations such as Bambara, Mandinga, Wolog, Fulbe, Nard, Mina, Fon, Yoruba, and Konga as well as areas of the Caribbean. 25 At these musical performances, the Congo Square gatherers sold fruits, vegetables, and homemade goods. White people would also congregate in Congo Square, drawn by the sounds of musical celebrations that included singing and rhythms played on percussion instruments. 26 Lichtenstein reports that it became a form of entertainment to the white audience, as they showed curiosity and support. The white audiences not only enjoyed the music produced by slaves but participated as well. This active participation of all races and backgrounds is at the heart of the modern New Orleans parades. These weekly Sunday celebrations began around 1835, although some sources state that the Sunday gathering at Congo Square had been in existence as early as the beginning of the 22 Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Freddi Williams Evans, Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans. (Lafayette, LA: University of Lousiana at Lafayette Press, 2011), Grace Lichtenstein and Laura Dankner. Musical Gumbo: The Music of New Orleans. (New York, W.W. Norton, 1993), 19.

21 12 nineteenth century. Later, as brass bands took form, Sunday became a popular day for the bands to parade through the band members neighborhoods. The music at Congo Square accompanied dances of African origins like the bamboula and calinda, with links to the Caribbean. 27 Yoruban religious worship included bodily celebration; in the words of a scholar Freddi Evans, to meditate was to dance. 28 Ventura describes how Africans believed the spirit world and human world intersect. The Yorubans believed that the body became the crossroad, and that dance was a spiritual/religious connection. They believed that the right angles formed by the intersections of the cross represent the place where the spirit and human world come together. The dances at Congo Square were an act of religious celebration, similar to the Yoruban celebrations. People that participated in the music and dance celebrations were not restricted to Congo Sqaure: there were also reports of the style of dance in the streets, backyards, and dance halls throughout New Orleans. 29 In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the second line dancers following brass bands incorporated elements of these dances. 30 The rhythm-based music that accompanied these dances was performed on homemade instruments linked to Africa. 31 Materials were collected from nature and modeled after prototype instruments from West Africa. 32 Performers used sticks to beat on animal bones, skulls, and drums made from barrels of various sizes. The performers 27 Ibid. 28 Michael Ventura, Shadow Dancing in the U.S.A. (Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1976), Evans, Turner, Kmen,Henry. Music in New Orleans: The Formative Years (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1966), Evans, 63.

22 13 played rhythms of African and Caribbean origin that later become the heart of the rhythmic cells of New Orleans brass bands. Typically, a master drummer was responsible for the foundational beat. His task included sending signals and cues, alerting other musicians and dancers of breaks in the music, and responding to the constantly shifting improvisations of other participants. 33 Other instruments included balafons and stringed instruments that resembled, respectively, the marimba and the guitar. Surrounding participants used their hands and feet to clap and stomp rhythms while the congregation (those not actively playing percussion instruments) danced and sang. Those musical activities reconnected them with their African and Haitian spiritual heritage. 34 Marie Laveau was a free Catholic woman of color, born in 1801, who became the most important spiritual leader in New Orleans. 35 Laveau was a Voodoo queen who combined Haitian vodou with Catholicism, 36 performing dances accompanied by drums. The drummer of the Voodoo ritual was viewed as a holy servant. Like many other religious traditions from Africa, Voodoo rhythms were considered prayer or worship, not music until later generations labeled it as such. The music that was played during the celebrations was improvised and syncopated, and utilized call and response, which created participation with the slaves and free Negroes who were not playing percussive instruments. Improvisation, syncopated rhythms, and call and response are still at the foundation of brass band music today, yet disguised enough to make them accessible to a larger audience Ibid. 34 Turner, Turner, Ventura, Rick Koster, Louisiana Music: A Journey from R & B to Zydeco, Jazz to Country, Blues to Gospel, Cajun Music to Swamp Pop to Carnival Music and Beyond. (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2002), 58.

23 14 Although the music and activities of the New Orleans brass band are largely based upon African origins, European music also had a profound effect on the bands development. Germans, Spaniards, and Italians immigrated to New Orleans before the Civil War, and many of the immigrants were trained musicians who taught free Negroes how to play an instrument. 38 An advertisement in one New Orleans newspaper offered free lessons to black musicians on a brass instrument. New Orleans also had a longtime connection to the Paris Conservatory: a scholarship, established before the United States purchased the territory from France, was provided to a person of color to study in Paris. 39 Studying privately with a teacher introduced black musicians to written music, which led to all-black ensembles that played classical music, music for dance, and Creole folk songs with French lyrics. All-black orchestras performed concerts in a classical setting, in which people listened to the ensemble while seated. These all-black orchestras played for social dances, incorporating African syncopated rhythms into the music, making the music more danceable and helping them become popular. 40 This idea of playing popular music selections with syncopation carried over to the brass band performances. Military Influence Europeans contributed to New Orleans brass bands not only through classical training, but also through the military institutions. Brass bands performed the repertoire of the military bands, giving them music to play at a parade. During the War of 1812, the governor of Louisiana recognized the city s love for brass bands and parades and passed 38 Sterkx, Kmen, Ibid.

24 15 a bill that authorized a new militia unit made up of free Negroes of the state. 41 This bill afforded free Negroes the opportunity to play for social events as well as to march. 42 In 1820, the New Orleans Independent Rifle Company posted an advertisement offering men of color free lessons on keyed bugles in exchange for joining the military. 43 This posting was made in response to the increasing popularity of all-black military units. The training contributed to the free Negroes knowledge of brass instruments and provided an outlet for free Negroes to express themselves during time off from work. Black soldiers in these bands played military-style marches infused with African syncopated rhythms, like those heard at Congo Square. By 1830, a newspaper reported free Negroes playing Yankee Doodle on fife and drums accompanied by a dancing crowd. 44 If this performance had taken place in the twenty-first century, the crowd would be referred to as the second line. This early incarnation of the second line is unique, because if Yankee Doodle had been performed in its standard compositional form, such a large crowd might not have gathered to dance. Traditionally, Yankee Doodle would have been played to march the troops to battle. The band, however, incorporated their musical heritage and experiences from Congo Square into their arrangement of Yankee Doodle. This made it danceable, with syncopated rhythms improvised on drums and fifes playing the main theme. Some may have been embellishing the melody. The militia companies grew and eventually several companies existed throughout Louisiana. By 1838, three thousand free Negro men were uniformed and had their own 41 Sterkx, Ibid. 43 Kmen, Ibid.

25 16 military bands. 45 The all-black militia units marked the start of the brass band tradition in New Orleans. 46 The brass band instrumentation evolved over time. The musicians first played homemade instruments at Congo Square and eventually replaced them with manufactured ones. During the Civil War, many bands were assigned to each regiment primarily playing bugles and drums. Schafer s research shows that when the war concluded, there was an abundant supply of brass instruments available to the general public, because when the ensembles disbanded, soldiers sold their instruments to pawn shops on Rampart Street in New Orleans. 47 Koenig explains that the recently invented keyed bugle was mass-manufactured. He believes that the advancement in valves contributed to the flexibility and range of timbres available, leading to the popularity of the instruments. 48 The keys made it easier for non-musicians to learn how to play, causing an increase in the demand for brass instruments. Schafer and Koenig document the instrumentation of the first brass bands in personnel lists discovered in their research. These lists give the members names and the instruments they played, confirming the scholars theories as to what instruments were used in the first brass bands. They were the Eb and Bb cornet, alto horn, baritone, valve trombone, Eb bass tuba, marching bass drum, cymbal, and marching snare drum. At the turn of the twentieth century, the instruments of wind and jazz dance bands influenced the evolution of brass bands. The cornets that were played were pitched in Eb and Bb. The wind band s repertoire in the nineteenth and early twentieth 45 Ibid., Mary Ellison, Dr. Michael White and New Orleans Jazz: Pushing back Boundaries while Maintaining the Tradition. Popular Music and Society Vol. 28, No. 5, (December 2005), Kmen, Koenig, 4-11.

26 17 centuries had parts written for Bb trumpets and Bb cornets, so eventually Eb cornets gave way to solely Bb parts. The instrumentation of a wind band included clarinets and saxophones, both eventually becoming part of the brass band s instrumentation. An Eb clarinet was popular initially, for its high pitch that could cut through the other brass instruments and carry the melody. 49 Later, the Bb clarinet replaced the Eb clarinet, which probably blended better with the ensemble because of its timbre. The saxophones were added as a result of the popular dance band sounds of New Orleans in the middle to late 1910s. 50 The alto and tenor saxophone replaced the alto and baritone bugles: These instruments inject[ed] a dance-band element into the band s sound. 51 The slide trombone replaced the valve trombone because of dance bands. Brass bands switched from tuba to sousaphone at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, photographs from the middle of the twentieth century show brass bands employing the tuba and the sousaphone. The majority of the bands use the sousaphone because of its lighter weight compared to the tuba, which makes it easier to carry while marching in parades. The percussion section was made up of marching military drums, including the bass drum, snare drum, and cymbal. A wire hoop, made of material similar to a wire coat hanger molded into a circle and clamped together with a wooden handle, was used instead of a regular bass drum mallet. When the wire hoop struck the cymbal, the sound could be heard more easily as it played the upbeats to the bass drum s downbeats. Eventually the Rebirth Brass Band used a screwdriver to replace the wire hoop. It became the mallet of choice for other bands to follow Schafer, New Grove Dictionary of Music, 2 nd ed., volume 12, Jazz, Schwandt, Erich and Lamb, Andrew. 51 Schafer, Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street, 113.

27 18 Contemporary bands play the same three percussion instruments. One exception is the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which replaced the marching percussion with a drum set. 53 Other bands kept the original marching percussion and added auxiliary percussion instruments like the bongos, congas, and suspended cymbal, mainly for performances at clubs or on a stage. Brass bands added microphones to their live performance to ensure the vocals could be heard. The electric guitar was added to some bands, which helped the bands add more effects to mimic the sounds that could be heard on R&B or hip hop albums. Benevolent Societies and Jazz Funerals At a time when many immigrants and former slaves were in need, benevolent societies began to spring up around New Orleans in the middle of the nineteenth century. Predominantly black benevolent societies were established to help former slaves and immigrants when they arrived to America by providing medical services, educational funds, burial funds, and means for self-help. 54 These societies felt it was important to conserve the African cultural concepts and celebrations. 55 Benevolent societies, then known as mutual aid and benevolent clubs, were attracted to the brass bands music. 56 Benevolent societies often hired brass bands for parades, weddings, parties, and funerals. As a result of playing such varied social events, the bands developed a wide repertoire. A significant portion of the literature was derived from different stages of a funeral ceremony: the wake, the procession, and the joyous send-off. Funerals were often provided for members of the benevolent societies and their family members, as well as 53 Ibid. 54 Jazz Funerals, DVD produced by David M. Jones (New Orleans, LA: DMJ Productions, LLC, 1995). 55 Michael P. Smith, Behind the Lines: The Black Mardi Gras Indians and the New Orleans Second Line. Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1993): Jazz Funerals, DVD.

28 19 respected musicians in the community, with a funeral parade reported in the newspaper as early as The wake service took place either at the church or at the home of the deceased. The music consisted of hymns of Methodist and Baptist origin and African-American spirituals. Family and friends gathered to sing these hymns and spirituals like As I Lay My Burden Down, Down by the Riverside, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. 58 For that reason, those hymns became part of the repertoire. On the day of the funeral, the band met at the church and proceeded to the burial, followed in the procession by the casket and the congregation. The band played dirges as accompaniment. The bass drum was struck four times, then the band began playing as the body came out of the church and proceeded to the cemetery. Figure 1 is the introduction to In the Sweet Bye and Bye as performed by The Magnificent Sevenths. The snare drum plays an introductory rhythm with snares off, then a drum roll leads into the bass drum playing the first eighth note on the and of beat three in measure two. Then the second, third, and fourth sound of the bass drum is played in measures three and four as the band begins the melody on beat three of the fourth measure led by the lead trumpet, as seen in Figure 1. Other pieces played, included Just a Closer Walk with Thee; Lead Me, Savior; and Walk Through the Streets of the City. 59 This band ceremony before reaching the cemetery was referred to as cutting the body loose. 60 The band would play Taps for a military person or the blues for a blues man Kmen, Magnificent Sevenths, Authentic New Orleans Jazz Funeral, CD Ibid. 60 Ibid. 61 Jazz Funerals.

29 20 Figure 1 In the Sweet Bye and Bye Once the ceremony was over and the casket was lowered, the bands celebrated the life of the departed with upbeat music. When the cadence of the drum became more active and faster in tempo, the band played syncopated marches, upbeat hymns, and popular ragtime and jazz compositions of the day. One of the most popular upbeat hymns, When the Saints Go Marching In, is still popular today. Other trendy pieces performed were Bourbon Street Parade, Didn t He Ramble, Feels So Good, and Panama. The organizational pattern of the procession placed the band and grand marshal as the first line, with the second line including the people who followed the band back from the burial. The procession of people danced to the upbeat music as they followed the band away from the graveyard. The second line tradition, or second lining, refers to people from the neighborhood who would join in the celebration and dancing as the band marched away. Second Line Rhythm (Beat) The second line rhythm is a common phrase used to describe the rhythms of the percussionist performed in a New Orleans brass band. The second line rhythm, also referred to as second line beat, originated in Congo Square and then became the prominent rhythm performed in brass bands during parades.

30 21 Jordan Cohen, the bass drummer of Mama Digdown s Brass Band was asked to describe the second line beat: There isn t one second line beat, broadly speaking; I d say it involves two different clave patterns and their interplay. One would be two dotted quarter notes followed by the quarter note, and the other is five dotted eighth notes starting on the & of 1. But these don t necessarily have to be explicitly stated, and there are a ton of variations based on an awareness of these claves. Another important element is an accent on the last upbeat of the phrase, but again, it s not a hard and fast rule. 62 Two dotted quarter notes followed by the quarter note is similar to the clave rhythm Evans reports was played at Congo Square as seen in Figure 5 and is referred to as the 3-2 clave. Lemar LeBlanc describes the second line beat as being directly related to Africa and Congo Square, but that it has been modernized and updated over the past one hundred years, combining jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. 63 Cohen discusses the different versions of the second line beat: the bass drum and mounted cymbal play a combination of the African rhythms of Congo Square with European marches. That combination emphasizes the last upbeat of the phrase while the snare drum plays a blending of the march-rhythm and the 2-3 clave beat, shown in figure This blending, combined with the syncopated rhythms of the Cuban and Caribbean clave, tresillo, and cinquillo, are the second line beat. Freddi Williams Evans agrees with LeBlanc in her book Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans, and writes that there were four main rhythms that came from the dance and music celebrations at Congo Square. 65 Those rhythms, the habanera, the 62 Jordan Cohen, interview by author, questionnaire, 24 August Lemar LeBlanc, interview by author, digital recorded phone interview, Coralville, IA., 26 March Stanton Moore, Take it to the Street: A Study in New Orleans Street Beats and Second-line Rhythms as Applied to Funk. (New York, NY: Carl Fischer, 2005), Evans,

31 22 tresillo, the cinquillo, and the clave, provide the rhythmic patterns of the New Orleans street beat, bamboula beat, second line beat, and New Orleans beat. 66 Figure 2 Habanera Figure 3 Tresillo Figure 4 Cinquillo Figure Clave The rhythmic patterns can be traced to Africa and Cuba with the tresillo and cinquillo at the foundation of the New Orleans brass band s street beat. 67 Stanton Moore, the New Orleans drummer who studied the rhythms of the New Orleans brass bands and Mardi Gras Indian rhythms, states that the brass bands use 2-3 and 3-2 clave because it 66 Evans, Ibid. 40.

32 23 emphasizes the Big 4, the fourth beat of measure two, as shown in Figure The clave rhythms are in two bar phrases and the use of the 2-3 clave help to emphasize the Big 4. Figure clave The tresillo and cinquillo from Figures 7 and 8 are two frequently performed rhythms of the Mardi Gras Indians. Moore says, the grooves are played on bass drums (usually turned sideways and often without a bottom head), tom-toms, snare drums (usually with snares off), calfskin-headed tambourines, cowbells and sometimes congas and liquor bottles. 69 Moore implies that there are no strict rules on how to perform these rhythms; rather, it is important to feel the rhythm. Figure 7 Mardi Gras Indian rhythm tresillo Figure 8 Mardi Gras Indian rhythm cinquillo 68 Moore, Ibid.

33 24 The First Brass Bands The Congo Square celebrations, the influence of the military band, and funeral processions contributed to the formation of a New Orleans brass band. Jazz historians generally agree that 1880 marked the official beginning of the New Orleans brass bands. It was during that decade when the brass bands began to be recognized as formal groups and the instrumentation began to evolve into what is known today. The first brass bands in New Orleans were the Excelsior, Eureka, Deer Range, Pelican, Pickwick, Olympia, Onward, and St. Joseph Brass Bands. 70 These were some of the most popular bands, and they performed at many social events in and around New Orleans. Brass bands were so popular in the late nineteenth century that thirteen played at President James A. Garfield s funeral in In 1883, the Excelsior Brass Band played for the opening of the New Orleans Cotton Exposition and was known as the finest black brass band in the city. 72 Just as the brass bands were hired for major events in the beginning of their existence, the bands have consistently been booked for such mainstream events through today. The first brass bands performed for major events, parades, or dances, and they wore matching uniforms, as seen in Figure 2. The brass bands at the turn of the twentieth century wore formal, military-style coats with matching slacks. The cap had a bill in the front and the band s name across the front of it, like a military Marine or Navy cap. Patent leather shoes completed the brass band uniform. 70 Schafer, Lichtenstein and Dankner, Schafer, 9.

34 25 Figure 9 New Orleans Jazz Funeral 73 The brass bands of New Orleans from the 1890s through the beginning of the twentieth century usually consisted of ten to sixteen members. There were two to three each of cornets or trumpets, trombones, and clarinets, though once saxophones became part of the instrumentation the bands included a mix of clarinets and saxophones. There was one tubist, one person playing the bass drum and cymbal, and one snare drummer. All of the bands had a designated leader who called rehearsals and booked performances for the band. The bandleader was likely a musician who was influential in bringing the band together. Often, the leader was the tubist or snare drummer. The people who played in these brass bands were dedicated musicians, and among them were educators of the craft. Brass bands have had important instructors 73 Hurricane Brass Band, (Accessed September 25, 2011).

35 26 throughout the history of the genre. In the beginning of the brass band era, Paul Chaligny, Robert Hingle, James B. Humphrey, and Dave Perkins performed in their own brass bands, and taught young musicians the brass band repertoire and how to improve on their instrument. Humphrey was a black man who taught on the east bank of the Mississippi River that included the Magnolia, Deer Range, and Oakville Plantations. He established a Black Band Academy, where he taught young musicians how to play instruments and introduced them to the brass band music. 74 He was the founder of the Eclipse Brass Band, which met twice a week for three to five hours per rehearsal. 75 Humphrey wrote marches and other exercises for the band to play in the brass band style. In a distinct New Orleans tradition, a family that had multiple musicians participated in brass bands and other musical genres. Humphrey had relatives to carry on the tradition of brass bands in the early twentieth century for example, his nephew, Percy Humphrey, played in the Eureka Brass Band. Hingle, a white man, was a lawyer and musician who taught white and black brass bands on the west bank of the Mississippi, the area of Point a la Hache. 76 The all-white brass bands were most likely more of a community band in the style of a British brass band than one that played marches with the syncopation and elements of Congo Square. Hingle helped start three popular brass bands in the late nineteenth century. The first was the Sweet Sixteen Brass Band that began in 1883; the other two were St. Joseph Silver Cornet Band and the Juvenile Brass Band Schafer, Ibid. 76 Karl Koenig, Professor Robert Hingle and the Sweet Sixteen Brass Band of Point a La Hache. (New Orleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line, Fall 1983), Ibid., 5-11.

36 27 During the Great Depression, the brass band tradition in New Orleans saw a decline. Although a few bands survived within the black communities, they were not as popular as the Excelsior, Eureka, Deer Range, Pelican, Pickwick, Olympia, Onward, and St. Joseph Brass Bands. 78 Harold Dejan was a prominent brass band musician and was the band-leader of Dejan s Olympia Brass Band. Musicians like Dejan kept their skills polished and the bands that survived during those decades hired him to play. Dejan shared that the Eureka, the Tuxedo, Manuel Perez s, and Henry Allen s brass bands hired him during the Depression era. One of the requirements for brass musicians was the ability to read music, If you couldn t read, you couldn t play with them. 79 Dejan states that, New Orleans music went backward because of the Depression, implying that musicians learned by ear rather than through literate training. 80 Brass Band Revival The 1950s marked a revival of brass bands, and the Eureka, Olympia, Onward and the Original Zenith brass bands all rose to prominence. 81 In the middle of the twentieth century, technology assisted the brass bands, resulting in them being heard by larger audiences via radio, recordings, and television broadcasts. Bands also toured cities around the world making this genre of music known across the globe. The earliest recording of a New Orleans brass band was in the middle 1920s, when Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band was recorded performing at Mardi Gras. 82 The first documentary of a working brass band featured Eureka s 1951 tour of Washington, 78 Schafer, Ibid. 80 Burns, The Great Olympia Band, Turner, Sign On. VHS, directed by Barry Martin, (American Music, 2001).

37 28 D.C. 83 The film, by David Ashforth, included footage of the band playing traditional songs, and interviews with the musicians about the repertoire and events for which they performed in New Orleans. One year later, three to four brass bands, including the Jackson Brass Band, were featured in additional films by Ashforth. Dejan played in brass bands the majority of his life, largely the Eureka Brass Band. In the 1960s, Dejan helped to keep the old traditions of the brass band alive. He revived the name of an early brass band from the turn of the twentieth century. While he played with the Eureka band, the band was so popular it was offered more performances than they could play. A second band with whom Dejan played at the time took some of the leftover jobs, and he referred to the latter as Number Two Eureka: I was using the name the Number Two Eureka at that time. I was playing with that band when Barry Martyn came from London. He said Now, I d like to change that brass band name. I said, I always said I m gonna call my band Dejan s Olympia Brass Band, cause the first Olympia Brass Band was organized in 1883 and when I was a kid I played in the Olympia Serenaders. 84 Dejan s Olympia Brass Band wore uniforms like the bands at the end of the nineteenth century. The name of the band was labeled on the front of the bands hats and on the head of the bass drum. At the beginning of the twentieth century, brass bands played for funerals and found any reason to march in a parade, most often on Sundays as a memory to Congo Square celebrations. 85 Dejan s Olympia Brass Band made it a priority to play at funerals and march in as many parades as possible. 86 The Olympia band exposed the culture of New Orleans music and brass bands to people around the globe. As stated by LeBlanc of the Soul Rebels, Olympia band was 83 Ibid. 84 Burns. The Great Olympia Band, Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street, Burns. The Great Olympia Band, 36.

38 29 the first to play at major events overseas, and performed at the Super Bowl. They were featured in a movie, and played for the King and Queen of England. 87 Major European music festivals featured the band at their events, including The David Frost Show in London and the Volks Festival in Berlin. 88 Milton Batiste joined Dejan s Olympia Brass Band as lead trumpet player in He was well respected in New Orleans and also played in rhythm and blues bands. Milton Batiste created and coached three different versions of the Junior Olympia band during the 1980s, based largely on the Tambourine and Fan Club (a neighborhood youth sports and social club). 89 When Dejan s band could not play for minor events, such as a parade or funeral, they gave the job to the Young Olympians, one of the Junior Olympia bands. Dejan states, They re not playing that garbage like other bands are playing, just copying after these rock and roll players. They re trying to play the traditional music, to keep the good New Orleans tradition going. 90 Four members of the Young Olympians Brass Band would later come together to form the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Danny Barker is another musician in New Orleans recognized for perpetuating brass band traditions. Barker was the guitarist with Jelly Roll Morton, a musician who also made efforts to educate youth about brass band traditions. Barker created a brass band composed of young teenagers who wanted to learn and made his headquarters at Fairview Baptist Church Lemar LeBlanc, phone interview by author, Coralville, IA., 26 March Burns, The Great Olympia Band, Ibid. 90 Ibid., Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street. 15.

39 30 Barker taught young musicians the traditions and heritage of second lining, and his pupils became known as the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band. The band played for funerals and parades. 92 In the 1973, the band was featured in an article in Jive magazine discussing the impact of the band members on the community and on music. 93 Jazz musicians in the 1980s were once again inspired, as they had been by the turn-ofthe-century brass bands. Dr. Michael White and Wynton Marsalis were two examples of the new breed to emerge from the Fairview Baptist Church Band. 94 Fairview Baptist Church spawned other bands as well, including the Hurricane Brass Band, Younger Fairview Brass Band, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Contemporary bands like the Dirty Dozen have inspired many other brass bands by continuing to incorporate popular music genres of the day. The Dirty Dozen started in 1977 and updated New Orleans brass band music with aspects of R&B and soul, while incorporating jazz classics of John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, and the Jazz Messengers. They played the traditional repertoire, but often with faster tempi and more intricate rhythms. The Rebirth Brass Band followed the Dirty Dozen s lead as a contemporary group to re-work the repertoire. Rebirth credits the Dirty Dozen as being an influential band who inspired them to explore other popular music genres in the 1980s. Rebirth combined elements of hip-hop with their music and added rap. The fusion of those styles and rhythms with brass band music spawned other New Orleans brass bands in the 1990s, including the Soul Rebels, to be discussed in more detail in Chapter Three. 92 Ibid., Ibid., Turner, 115.

40 31 CHAPTER III POPULAR MUSIC MOLDS THE REPERTOIRE Brass bands survived and flourished by incorporating popular music. Contemporary brass bands are no exception to this tradition. This chapter discusses the specific pieces that have been part of the brass band repertoire since the turn of the twentieth century. It will focus on how the band members adapted popular music into their own style to fit the band s instrumentation, technique, and aesthetic. In addition, the continuation of popular music s influence on the repertoire will be discussed in relationship to specific bands. Early brass bands built their repertoire both from the music played at funeral processions and that of immediate appeal. 95 Often bands were hired to play for public events where the audiences may not have been familiar with hymns and spirituals. To make the audiences comfortable, the brass bands performed familiar pieces, such as marches that were also played by military and town bands at the time. Popular dance music such as the foxtrot, cakewalk, two-step, and eventually ragtime, a jazz precursor were also incorporated into brass band literature. This practice of developing repertoire became part of the present day tradition that attracts an audience through wellknown melodies. Adding syncopation through the second line beat and improvisational techniques into unique arrangements allowed brass bands to unite popular music (nonwestern classical music) with the spiritual roots of their heritage. As jazz became increasingly popular during the 1920s and 30s, these new arrangements were appropriated into the standard repertoire. Songs by well-known jazz artists like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Kid Ory could be heard in the sound of New Orleans street parades. 95 Schafer, 68.

41 32 Beginning in 1948 and lasting through the 1950s, R&B became the next popular music genre to be appropriated. Olympia Brass Band was the first to incorporate R&B into its music. Eventually Dirty Dozen and Rebirth revived the traditional repertoire with the adaptation of new rhythms and electronic instruments from popular music in the 1970s and 80s. Other styles to soon follow were funk and hip-hop, which were eventually adapted by contemporary bands. The Olympia and Dirty Dozen were primary inspirations who continually updated the genre by incorporating popular music. This affected the overall feel of the music through the rhythms in the percussion and harmonies in the horns. Popular Music Genres As stated, one of the first genres brass bands incorporated into their music was the march. With several union bands stationed in and around New Orleans, the march became a well-known form. 96 The New Grove Dictionary of Music describes a march as music with strong repetitive rhythms and an uncomplicated style usually used to accompany military movements and processions. 97 Because of the popularity of the military and processions in New Orleans, the style of the march worked well with the activities of the brass band. The march s repetitive rhythms, steady tempo, and standard meter are much like the brass band style of playing, with the rhythms in the percussion and melodies in the horns. With the additions of syncopation and improvisation from Congo Square and the Caribbeans, brass band music was transformed into a dance driven by the drums and ostinato bass line of the tuba. The brass bands of New Orleans are like a mobile jukebox. This is because originally they were hired to perform a wide repertoire for their audience. Arrangements 96 Karl Koenig, Louisiana Brass Bands and History in Relation to Jazz History, New Orleans Jazz Club: The Second Line, (Summer 1983), New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2 nd ed., vol. 15, March Tyrrell, John.

42 33 of familiar tunes became a popular outlet because it was a way that the bands engaged the crowd s participation before the band performed original compositions. Maryland, My Maryland Elements of the march can be heard in the brass band arrangement of Maryland, My Maryland. The band took the Maryland state song and made it into a march with rhythms that are heard in the drums with a light syncopation. In 1861, as the Civil War began, James Ryder Randall, caught up in pride of his home state, wrote a nine-stanza poem titled Maryland, My Maryland. In 1939 the song was set to the tune of the popular German folk song O Tannenbaum, or as Americans sing it, O Christmas Tree, and was adapted as the state song. Figure 10 is a facsimile copy of the original composition. The compositional structure is ABA form with a fourbar introduction and scored for voice and piano. The Eureka Brass Band featured an arrangement of Maryland s state song on volume two of The Music of New Orleans. 98 The band s arrangement was transposed down a whole step, from its original key of G major to F major. The meter was changed from 3/4 to cut time, resulting in the sound of a march, with syncopated upbeats in the cymbal, and the bass drum Big 4, and swung eighth notes in the melody. The instrumentation was changed from voice and piano to alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, two trumpets, trombone, tuba, snare drum, bass drum and cymbal. 98 The Music of New Orleans, Vol. 1.

43 34 Figure 10 Maryland, My Maryland Traditionally, New Orleans brass band arrangements and original compositions most often begin with the tuba or drums. The Eureka Brass Band followed this style of arrangement in Maryland, My Maryland and began their arrangement with the drums. The lead trumpet joins the drums in the third bar of the four-bar introduction as seen in Figure 11. The Eureka Brass Band arranged the song into a two-part song with a four-bar introduction and an interlude, which is played at the beginning of the second part, and every time the second part is repeated. The first melody will be referred to as the A Section and the O Tannenbaum melody will be referred to as the B Section. An Interlude is performed before each return of the B Section.

44 35 Figure 11 Maryland, My Maryland, four-bar introduction The interlude melody is also played during the second section, the A part of the O Tannenbaum melody, but not the B section of the original. The interlude played by the lead trumpet includes the following melody from Figure 12 while the rhythms of the marching percussion continue through to the B section. The trumpet interlude was likely inspired by a military bugle call because of its rhythm and the sound. An example is provided in Figure 13. It sounds as though it could be the Assembly or Adjutants bugle call of the U.S. Army because of the similar dotted-eighth rhythms found in both. Another plausible reason for the bugle call is Irving Berlin s popular Alexander s Ragtime Band, which incorporates the bugle call from Swanee River. 99 Alexander s Ragtime Band became yet another popular source upon which the brass bands could draw. 99 David A. Jasen, Alexander s Ragtime Band, and Other Favorite Song Hits, (New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1987), Introduction.

45 36 Figure 12 Maryland, My Maryland, interlude Figure 13 U.S. Army, Assembly Call. 100 Figure 14 Maryland, My Maryland, O Tannenbaum melody The O Tannenbaum melody in Figure 14 is from the Maryland state song arrangement that constitutes the B Section of the Eureka Brass Band s rendition. The saxophones, 2 nd trumpet, and trombone play this melody while the lead trumpet plays the interlude. The percussion and tuba parts kept a simplified version of the second line beat as the foundation. The percussion rhythm was in a march style playing on the beat, with the incorporated and of two in the second bar of the two bar phrase known as the Big United States Army Band, (Accessed October 2, 2011).

46 37 Figure 15 Maryland, My Maryland The percussion instruments maintain a driving beat as rhythmic accompaniment. The snare drum plays a march-like rhythm while the bass drum plays quarter notes on the beats of one and three; this measure alternates with the second measure, when the bass drum plays on one, two, three, and four of the A section. The tuba plays on the same beats as the bass drum in order to emphasize the strong beats of this ostinato rhythm. The marching bass drum seen in brass bands has a cymbal attached to the top of the instrument, allowing one performer to play both instruments simultaneously. As a result, one player is manipulating the syncopated rhythm of the cymbal against the bass drum throughout the arrangement. Figure 16 Bass drum second line rhythm In New Orleans, brass bands rhythm was more about being familiar with what the other musicians were playing rather than everything being as precise as possible. Lemar LeBlanc, the snare drummer of the Soul Rebels Brass Band, said in an interview

47 38 that the way percussionists have always played in a brass band in New Orleans is that the player had to feel the rhythm, and its roots date back to Congo Square. 101 The feeling to which Leblanc is referring is the syncopation that occurs on the and of two in bar two, which can be seen in measure two of Figure 16. During the B section, the bass drum only plays on beats one and three. The tuba plays on beats one, three, and four. The syncopation is created by the cymbal as the tuba emphasizes the bass drum s down beat and allows the music to be heard as if it were moving forward to the next measure, thus giving the piece the feeling of a dance. Cakewalks to Ragtime Cakewalks were a popular genre in the 1890s dating back to the 1840s when black slaves performed plantation dances to imitate their owners. 102 Koenig describes the cakewalk, and its rhythm of sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth, as a main motif and claims that ragtime had similar rhythms. Because of the similarity in rhythms between the cakewalk and ragtime, they are commonly mistaken for one another. 103 The most commonly mistaken cakewalk is the Mississippi Rag by William H. Krell, published in Ragtime was created by African Americans and was most popular in the first decade of the twentieth century. Because of the ragged, syncopated rhythms the style was given the name ragtime and primarily was written for piano. It was written in the strict form of a march, but with folk song material and rhythmic flexibility. 105 Koenig describes how the ragtime was constructed: 101 Leblanc interview. 102 The Harvard Dictionary of Music, 9th ed. Cakewalk Kernfield, Barry. 103 Karl Koenig, Jazz in Print ( ): An Anthology of Selected Early Readings in Jazz, (Hilsdale, NY; Pendragon Press, 2002), David A. Jasen. Cakewalks, Two-Steps and Trots for Solo Piano: 34 Popular Works from the Dance-Craze Era. (Mineola, New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1997), iii. 105 Koenig, 67.

48 39 Whether deliberate or not, the composition of ragtime took the form of the popular music of the era, the military march. The musical form of the cakewalk, ragtime and the march are basically the same. The march was a composition style that used various melodic themes in two or more sections, including a trio with transitions to proceed from one section to the other. Of course, the main difference was in the rhythm. Both utilized steady rhythm, but ragtime included syncopation. 106 Syncopation is characteristic of both styles, with the cakewalk being lightly syncopated as compared to the rag, which had more prominent syncopation. Because of that similarity, the rag is a more accessible rhythm for dancing and reproduction by the majority of the population, and works well with the style of the brass bands. Panama Panama, or Panama Rag, is commonly mistaken as a ragtime piece. It is a twostep, which is a sub-genre of the rag that is lightly syncopated, similar to a cakewalk, but not to the degree of a rag. The two-step was most popular at the beginning of the twentieth century and lasted through World War I. Panama and other two-steps were printed most frequently from William H. Tyers is the composer of Panama. Tyers was born in Petersburg, Virginia in 1870; his parents were former slaves in the state. 108 He was a prominent black composer and performer in the late nineteenth century who experienced immediate success arranging for musicals in New York City after Panama, arranged by Louis Dumaine, is a frequently performed piece of the New Orleans brass band repertoire. Harold Dejan said, He s (Dumaine) the one that arranged all the hit numbers 106 Ibid. 107 David A. Jasen. Cakewalks, Two-Steps and Trots for Solo Piano: 34 Popular Works from the Dance-Craze Era. (Dover Publications, INC. Mineola, New York, 1997), iii (Accessed October 3, 2011) (Accessed August 10, 2011).

49 40 like Panama. 110 His brass band arrangement has been recorded by Eureka, Olympia, and Onward brass bands and often performed by jazz artists such as Kid Ory. Tyers original composition is in 2/4 time, therefore the brass bands did not change the original meter. The original follows the military march form as discussed by Koenig, written into sixteen-bar phrases, with each phrase being a strain. There are three different strains of sixteen-bar phrases and a trio section in the middle before the last two strains end the piece as a recapitulation of the beginning theme. The brass bands use the same phrasing and form as both the original and Dumaine s interpretation. A slight modification is found within the trio section, which is replaced as a repeated solo section. The main themes in each strain are variations of the original melody, with the tuba and bass drum playing a march-like rhythm as an accompaniment. The marching rhythms were popular and easily recognized because the repertoire was performed in parades throughout New Orleans. The first measure of the first strain in the original piano composition has the melody starting on the second sixteenth of the first beat, as seen in Figure 17. Figure 17 Panama, original piano melody The brass band arrangement shifts the first sixteenth note to begin on beat two of the first measure, with the eighth notes being swung, as seen in Figure 17. When the melody line is shifted to the upbeat, it becomes more accessible to brass band instrumentation. This version is simpler to play with swung eighths notes, fitting the tuba 110 Burns, Great Olympia Band, 35.

50 41 and percussion parts within the brass band. (The adaptation of music to fit a New Orleans brass band will be discussed later in relation to interviews with Lemar LeBlanc.) Figure 18 Panama, Eureka Brass Band introduction The shifting of the rhythm allows the bass and percussion rhythm parts to play solos before the other instruments enter. The bass and percussion play on the pickup to the downbeat of the first strain. The tuba plays from beat four of measure two into beat one of measure three, which becomes a standard rhythm with the bass drum, as seen in both Figures 18 and 19. The emphasis is placed on the fourth beat of measure two or the upbeat of two in cut time. The bass drum (the top line) mimics the tuba rhythm while the cymbal syncopates the weak beats. The cymbal plays on the weak beats, beats two and four, as seen in Figure 19.

51 42 Figure 19 Bass drum and cymbal rhythm to Panama. Jazz to Rhythm and Blues (R&B) World-renowned jazz artists from New Orleans fused brass band styles with ragtime into their music. These musicians built on an African heritage that would mutate from ragtime to jazz, and eventually, R&B. Long before anyone coined the word jazz, New Orleanians were accustomed to hearing the sound of these brass instruments marching through their neighborhoods. 111 Some of the first jazz musicians remembered the profound effect that brass bands had on their lives and musical output. Popular brass bands such as Eureka and Tuxedo employed jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Buddy Bolden, and Jelly Roll Morton. 112 The development of brass bands and jazz blended the Uptown and Downtown neighborhoods of New Orleans through parades and second line activities. Uptown was generally a poorer, black, Protestant population while most Downtown musicians came from the middle class and were educated through private music instruction. Many of the Downtown jazzmen were Creoles of color, children of African mothers and French or Spanish colonist fathers. 113 The Downtown people did not think highly of the rough 111 Lichtenstein and Dankner Turner, Jason Berry, Jonathan Foose, and Tad Jones, Up from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II, (Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1986), 9.

52 43 Uptown jazz, but were forced into collaboration by later segregation laws (i.e. Plessy v. Ferguson) in order to make a living performing music. 114 Uptown musicians like Buddy Bolden interacted with Downtown musicians like Sidney Bechet to create a distinct style in the brass bands leading to the beginnings of jazz. Buddy Bolden came from a family of musicians with roots in the church and is reported to be the first jazz musician. His participation in brass bands was limited when compared to artists such as Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, and Louis Armstrong. Anthony Holmes Brass Band hired the young Bolden to play parades, which became his stepping-stone into the future career of an artist. Sidney Bechet remembered the second line parades going through his neighborhood. People made any excuse to have a parade and often dropped what they were doing to come outside, enjoy the music, and participate in the second line. 115 Bechet believed the experiences of participating in the second lines and performing with brass bands helped his career as a jazz musician. Louis Armstrong was inspired by brass band performances and remembered participating in second line activities as a young boy. Later, he played as a member of brass bands at funerals and parades and participated in Mardi Gras Indian rituals and celebrations. Jelly Roll Morton, in his interviews with Alan Lomax, describes the influence of second line traditions in his music and hints at his own participation as a spy-boy for one of the Mardi Grad Indian tribes. 116 These artists went on to have careers outside of New Orleans and gave credit to the brass bands, noting the bands impact on their careers and music. The repertoire created by jazz artists in the 1920s and 30s was immediately embraced by brass bands and remains part of their repertoire, today, in the twenty-first 114 Ibid. 115 Sidney Bechet, Treat It Gentle, (New York, NY: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1960), Alan Lomax, Mister Jelly Roll, (New York, NY; Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950), 15.

53 44 century. Some of the most performed and recorded jazz pieces are Basin Street, Muskrat Ramble, Monday s Date and What a Wonderful World. Just as brass bands performed jazz repertoire, so did the jazz artists in turn perform the repertoire of the brass bands. Some of the common repertoire that is heard in jazz is from the brass band, including the hymns and spirituals from the funeral processions and ragtime favorites such as Panama Rag, Tiger Rag and the Maple Leaf Rag. Bebop and R&B were introduced in the 1940s and 50s. In the early 1940s jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis were credited with creating bebop. Bebop musicians wanted to create music that was not part of the New Orleans jazz revival, which they saw as Jim Crow entertainment with segregation values 117 or the standard jazz of the thirties designed for dances like the foxtrot. Their explorations into form, rhythm, and harmony affected both the repertoire and the instrumentation of brass bands. The influence of bebop led some brass bands to replace the snare and bass drums with a drum set, and to incorporate a bebop style on the ride cymbal that provided more freedom in the accompaniment for improvisation. The Dirty Dozen was one of the first bands to integrate the drum set and bebop style with intricate melodic and improvisational material in the horns into the repertoire of brass bands. R&B was introduced in 1949 through what was known as race records by the US Billboard Magazine and is a combination of African-American styles such as blues, jazz, and gospel. 118 Jazz records in the R&B catalogs tended to be those especially aimed at African-American dancers and party-goers, and placing a stress on overt swing and blues feeling. 119 With its foundation of rhythm and style, R&B became a popular 117 Jack V. Buerkle and Danny Barker, Bourbon Street Black, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1973), New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2 nd ed., vol. 12, Jazz Tucker, Mark. 119 Ibid.

54 45 genre that brass bands added to their existing repertoire. As a result, R&B changed the role of the sousaphone from playing basic chord-structured bass lines on the beat to syncopated, riffing bass lines (or ostinati) with the wind instruments. This sousaphone riffing is the antecedent to electric bass styles in R&B and funk bands. 120 Before R&B was added, drumming was march-like, with syncopated upbeats, but after the influence of R&B, the rhythms became more syncopated. 121 Percussion rhythms were affected by R&B variations of Latin and shuffle rhythms that had impacted contemporary brass bands. Commonly the drumming style of R&B is referred to as shuffle and also shuffle-beat. The shuffle-beat of R&B made the beat a little more relaxed while still emphasizing the upbeat of four or Big 4. Fats Domino s I m Walking is an example of an R&B shuffle that is a popular piece performed by many brass bands. R&B rhythms enabled drummers [in brass bands] to produce a backbeat embedded in grace notes, larded with flams, drags, and rolls. 122 Mardi Gras Indians, another parade tradition in New Orleans, was brought to popular attention by the Neville Brothers when they recorded repertoire such as Indian and Red, Big Chief. Hey Pocky Way, recorded by The Meters, included Mardi Gras Indians performing on percussion instruments. 123 R&B influence was credited to a musician in the Olympia Brass Band by the name of Milton Batiste Jr., who also played with R&B groups in New Orleans. Mick Burns believes that for the local musicians who were born in the 1930s, R&B was the natural idiom for them to play because it was the popular genre during their teenage 120 Antoon Aukes, 100 Years of New Orleans Second Line Drumming, (Oskaloosa, IA: C.L. Barnhouse Company, 2003), Burns. Great Olympia Band, Ibid., Ibid., 54.

55 46 years. 124 Milton embodied the most important aspect of New Orleans musical tradition, the tradition of evolutionary change. 125 New Orleans brass bands have never been interested in copying older styles, and as a result the addition of R&B to the brass bands sound and repertoire was a natural progression. 126 Second Line was the first New Orleans brass band piece to add R&B and was arranged by Batiste. The book The Great Olympia Band, compiled by Burns, includes an interview with Batiste where he describes how he arranged Second Line. There were school dances at this place called the Longshoremen s Hall and Dave Bartholomew had a band; Dave used to do a thing where he played with a horn Badabaaaa Ba Badabaaa Ba and they d go Babadobado Babadobado, you know, into the blues. I heard a clarinet player in the street playing the Whooping Blues or Picou s Blues, or what you know as Joe Avery s Piece. So I put the two together and now we record something that hasn t been recorded, a mixture of rhythm and blues and jazz. 127 Harold Dejan s Olympia Brass Band in the 1950s and 60s played arrangements of R&B songs and was the first band to add these elements to the brass band repertoire. 128 Ray Charles and Little Richard were a few of the artists Dejan s Olympia Brass Band included in its repertoire. 129 Olympia s style changed along with its repertoire and reflected the evolution of popular music, which at that time was rhythm and blues. 130 This, in turn, gave them enormous popularity and credibility with their home crowd and provided the inspiration for a whole new generation of brass band playing, which 124 Ibid. 125 Ibid., pg Ibid. 127 Burns. The Great Olympia Band, LeBlanc interview. 129 LeBlanc interview. 130 Burns. Great Olympia Band, 15.

56 47 included the Rebirth, the Dirty Dozen, and all of the young bands you hear on the streets of New Orleans today. 131 Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band grew out of Danny Barker s Fairview Baptist Church project that started in Barker s mission was to teach young musicians about the traditions and repertoire of the brass bands in New Orleans. The musicians were in a large band that was referred to as the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, where the members learned about the second line traditions and African heritage of the New Orleans brass band. The band s repertoire is comprised of jazz standards, popular music from the 1970s, and updated traditional brass band repertoire. The following section will describe the genesis of the new direction that was created by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Following an initial participation with the Fairview Baptist Church, the original members of the Dirty Dozen played in brass bands such as the Olympia and Tornado. Each musician brought a distinct musical background to the band. For example, trombonist and original member Charles Joseph studied with avant-garde reedman Kidd Jordan, while Roger Lewis, the baritone-saxophone player, performed in Fats Domino s band. 133 When the Dirty Dozen played in parades and second lines, they incorporated songs like Thelonious Monk s Blue Monk, Jimmy Forrest s Night Train, Lee Morgan s The Sidewinder, and the television theme song from The Flintstones. 134 While the younger crowd was in favor of the new songs the band performed, this new repertoire 131 Ibid. 132 Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street, Scott Jordan, Second-Line Evolution: after 25 years, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band makes its own New Orleans traditions, Down Beat, September 2002, Ibid.

57 48 caused some controversy with purists because it was not the traditional music played during second line parades. Originally, the Dirty Dozen had planned to learn more about the traditional New Orleans repertoire because it was their interest and what Barker had taught them. Gigs were lacking in the late 1970s and early 1980s and performing traditional repertoire provided more opportunities for work. 135 The band s interest in other popular music led to incorporating these new styles into their existing traditional repertoire. Gregory Davis, a trumpet player in the Dirty Dozen who interviewed with Jordan Scott, states that the members started bringing in Charlie Parker and Miles Davis tunes, or James Brown and Marvin Gaye, trying to figure out a way to do something with it. Bebop was not considered by previous brass bands, but the jazz musicians of Dirty Dozen were inspired by their artistry and improvisational skills. Once the Dirty Dozen figured out how to blend the styles of the popular music, jazz, and R&B, they found repertoire to play and were eager to present it to people in parades. Popular music from R&B artists such as Brown and Gaye influenced the bass line and horn melodies through rhythm and style. Traditionalists felt the new songs were not part of the culture and the authentic sound of the brass bands of New Orleans. Matt Sakakeeny discussed the contrasting notions of traditionalist and non-traditionalist in his dissertation, Politics of Power: New Orleans Brass Bands and the Politics of Performance. Sakakeeny says, Though the members of the Dirty Dozen were schooled in traditional brass band music, they came to represent a musical, aesthetic, contextual, and ideological break with tradition. 136 Regardless of the controversy, the Dirty Dozen merely continued with what brass bands had done since Mick Burns agrees with the continuation of the tradition in his 135 Ibid. 136 Matt Sakakeeny, Instruments of Power: New Orleans Brass Bands and the Politics of Power (PhD diss., Columbia University, 2008), 194.

58 49 book, Keeping the Beat on the Street; the New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance. He discusses the Dirty Dozen and states that the brass bands in New Orleans have always adapted the music that was popular in their time, in a sense, they (the Dirty Dozen) were part of that same tradition. 137 The Dirty Dozen s evolved brass band sound was wellreceived, and they were signed to Columbia Records, a major recording label, in My Feet Can t Fail Me Now Before signing with Columbia Records the Dirty Dozen first released My Feet Can t Fail Me Now for Concord Jazz. The album not only featured original compositions, but also included arrangements of jazz standards such as Bongo Beep by Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk s Blue Monk. Additionally, the album included brass band standards like, Li l Liza Jane and St. James Infirmary. Li l Liza Jane was composed in 1916 by Countess Ada de Lachau and was a song from the three-act comedy Come Out of the Kitchen. The Dirty Dozen played the song faster and more energetically with an upto-date bass line played on the tuba. R&B and funk influenced the percussion rhythms mixed with the second line rhythms. In the last section of the song, the Dirty Dozen s version of Li l Liza Jane incorporates The Isley Brothers 1959 classic Shout, a song that was popular throughout the 1960s and 70s and was covered by many bands. The call and response melody can be heard in the coda where the lyrics a little bit softer now are sung as the band diminuendos before rising again to a little bit louder now in a raucous fortissimo. The last track, My Feet Can t Fail Me Now, displayed a more energetic and faster tempo than typically heard among traditional brass. The sousaphone and baritonesaxophone were also added on this initial presentation of the melody. The trombone joins the ensemble on the repeat of the melody, while the sousaphone plays constantly, ornamenting the rests that are in the baritone saxophone and trombone s lines. The main 137 Burns, Keeping the Beat on the Street, 64.

59 50 lyric in Figure 20, my feet can t fail me now, is a combination of R&B and funk influences. The rhythm of the phrase is from I Don t Believe You Wanna Get Up, released in1977 by the R&B group, The Gap Band. 138 The lyric comes from the 1978 Funkadelic song, One Nation Under a Groove. 139 Figure 20 Rhythm of lyric to My Feet Can t Fail Me Now My Feet Can t Fail Me Now presents a coda that quotes a popular Sonny Rollins jazz piece, St. Thomas, in the trombone part in Figure 21. The melody is played by the trumpets and saxophones while the sousaphone and percussion play second line rhythms mixed with R&B and funk influences. 50? b b B œ œ œ Ó œ. œ. œ# œœ Ó œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J Œ œ J 56 f Bb b 2.. œ œ œ œ Ó œ œ œ nœ J œ Ó 61 Bb b rit. œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ J Figure 21 My Feet Can t Fail Me Now, St. Thomas melody. 138 Jacobsen, interview. 139 Sakakeeny, pg.183.

60 51 In 2009 the band released a 25 th anniversary copy of the album, My Feet Can t Fail Me Now, having recorded a total of twelve albums. Their 2006 album, What s Going On, featured rappers Chuck Dee and Guru. Chuck Dee was the lead rapper of Public Enemy, a hip-hop group from the 1990s. Guru, a rapper from Gang Star, combined rap with jazz. 140 The success of Dirty Dozen s recordings and performances during the past thirty years has given a face-lift to the New Orleans brass band repertoire. Having toured frequently in the U.S. and over 30 countries, the Dirty Dozen have left their mark. They have opened for artists such as David Bowie, Dr. John, and the Black Crowes, 141 and have spread the sound of the New Orleans repertoire across the U.S. and the world. Their work has promoted the creation of brass bands such as the Rebirth Brass Band and Mama Digdown s Brass Band, a group located in Madison, Wisconsin. Rebirth Brass Band The Dirty Dozen s revolutionized sound inspired a group that would also be influential in the propagation of the New Orleans traditional repertoire, Rebirth. Borrowing Dirty Dozen s technique of mixing traditional New Orleans brass with popular musical trends, Rebirth has been producing cutting edge music since the early 1980s. This section will discuss the popular music motives utilized in their original composition, Do Whacha Wanna (1984). In 1983, brothers Phillip and Keith Frazier, along with their friend Kermit Ruffins, formed Rebirth Brass Band. They attended Joseph S. Clark High School where they participated in the marching band together and were able to convince friends to join their group. Initially, Phillip Frazier was tasked with forming a band for a Mardi Gras parade. Since then, with the exception of a few personnel changes, the band has remained 140 New York Times, (Accessed July 15, 2011). 141 Dirty Dozen Brass Band webpage, (Accessed July 22, 2010).

61 52 together (Ruffins left the group in 1992). 142 Like the Dirty Dozen, Rebirth continues mixing popular music into their brass band sound, playing in second line parades and funerals, and touring the world. In the beginning, Rebirth listened to the recordings of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Olympia Brass Band, inspiring them to learn the jazz style and traditions of a brass band. 143 The most influential band was the Dirty Dozen. Philip Frazier stated the first time he heard the Dirty Dozen was when his father drove him to the Glasshouse, a club where they had a weekly Monday night performance. Frazier said he could hear them through the door and it piqued his interest to become a brass band musician. 144 In addition to popular brass bands and jazz records, Rebirth also was interested in R&B, funk, and eventually hip-hop. Specifically, the music of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder influenced Rebirth s sound through the rhythms in the percussion and horns. 145 Philip Frazier explained in an interview that Rebirth s music is supposed to make one want to dance. Frazier stated, when people want to go out and dance, they don t care about chord changes. 146 Music with simple chord changes allows the sousaphone to play a repetitive set-line, which makes the music more danceable. Frazier believes that people want to hear a hook. A hook is the melody that the audience will remember and want to hear again. With a good hook, they always recognize that song, and it makes them feel like dancing. 147 A hook has a rhythmic element, which promotes the dance 142 Burns, pg Burns, pg Ibid. 145 Philip Frazier, phone interview by author, 15 March Ibid. 147 Ibid.

62 53 quality of the music. For that reason, R&B, funk, and hip-hop naturally progress into the brass band music. Rebirth s first album, Here to Stay (1984), was recorded at The Grease Lounge in New Orleans. This album showcased the band s traditional repertoire, like Lord, Lord, Lord, alongside jazz pieces such as Sweet Georgia Brown and Blue Monk. The original works on the album use dance rhythms, noted by Frazier, in the percussion parts and syncopated melodic bass line of the sousaphone. These elements are also heard on Chameleon, a Rebirth hit and now part of the new traditional music of New Orleans brass bands. Rebirth s second album, Feel Like Funkin it Up (1989), documents the band s maturity and creativity by incorporating hip-hop along with jazz and R&B. Feel Like Funkin it Up features three traditional brass band songs, Big Fat Woman and I m Walking by Antoine Fats Domino and Big Chief played during Mardi Gras by Earl King. Rebirth was the first brass band to incorporate the style of Michael Jackson into their music. Shake Your Body (Down to the Floor) is an arrangement of Michael Jackson s song from 1978, now a staple in the brass band repertoire. Three original compositions are featured: Do Whatcha Wanna, Feel Like Funkin it Up, and Leave That Pipe Alone. Do Whatcha Wanna Do Whatcha Wanna, one of the most popular Rebirth pieces composed by Kermit Ruffins, was rated number one on the charts for fifteen weeks straight on a New Orleans R&B radio station. 148 Recording a popular original work more than once is a common occurrence among the New Orleans brass bands. Works that have been recorded twice by Rebirth include Herbie Hankock s 1973 hit Chameleon and original Feel Like Funkin It Up. Rebirth features their original work, Do Whatcha Wanna, on two different recordings. The first work is from the album Feel Like Funkin It Up (1989) and was 148 Sakakeeny,

63 54 recorded again on the album, Ultimate (2004). Both are based off of the track Ffun that is featured on the R&B group s self-titled album Con Funk Shun (1977). 149 From that album there is another track with the name of Dowhachawannado. When listening to the lyrics sung phonetically, they sound like, do what ya want ta do, repeated sporadically throughout the track. When Rebirth incorporated this lyric they sang do what ya wanna in a syncopated rhythm. The main thematic materials that construct the work are presented on both recordings. On the Ultimate album, there is an added introduction that begins with the bass line, shown in Figure 22, and is the most noticeable difference besides the extended solo section. The bass melody stays the same throughout the piece with some variation to the notes while keeping the same rhythm. The percussion parts are improvised and are similar in both recordings. They are performed on the snare and bass drum, cymbal, vibra-slap, and various auxiliary percussion like the cow bell and wood blocks. The rhythms played on the percussion instruments, seen in Figure 23, display second line rhythms that can be heard at a Mardi Gras Indian parade. Percussion instruments are important in the parades because the Mardi Gras Indians use them to improvise rhythms while the second line participants join in the celebrations. In Do Whatcha Wanna the syncopated rhythm is sung during the percussion interludes between the repeat of the first horn melody and the tenor saxophone solo. Following the introduction, the first melody is played. The trumpets and trombones play off of each other creating a call and response pattern. The trumpets start the melody and are answered by the same melody and rhythm from the trombones (Figure 25). The middle section features a solo that is improvised on the tenor saxophone and mixed with counter melodies on the trumpets and trombones. The solo section is 149 Jacobsen interview.

64 55 followed by the Ffun melody (Figure 24) played repeatedly to the end of the piece as the tenor saxophone continues to improvise. Rebirth plays the Ffun melody in a slightly slower tempo and swung rhythm that gives it a more laid back feel. Figure 22 Sousaphone bass line, Do Whatcha Wa Figure 23 Percussion and vocal part, Do Whatcha Wanna

65 56 Figure 24 Ffun melody Their recent album, Rebirth of New Orleans reached number one on the CMJ jazz charts for 2011 and won a Grammy award for the Best Regional Roots Music Album on February 12, Rebirth Brass Band, (Accessed November 2, 2011 and February 13, 2012).

66 57 Figure 25 Call and Response instrumental dialogue, Do Whatcha Wanna Soul Rebels Brass Band Members of the Soul Rebels grew up in New Orleans, bringing a variety of experiences to their musical style. They were influenced by local brass bands, jazz musicians, marching bands, and the popular music heard on the radio. Nick Pope, an author with Where Y at Magazine, describes the Soul Rebels sound as a foundation of

67 58 melodic grooves by the sousaphone and percussion over which rap verses and horn solos alike can flourish without any awkward moments. 151 Their musical inspiration and training brought new traditions to the New Orleans brass bands. Members of the Soul Rebels attended Fortier and McDonough high schools in New Orleans, meeting through the schools marching bands. Later, they attended and performed at historically black colleges in the Southwestern Atlantic Conference (SWAC). These marching bands played arrangements of popular music with choreography. LeBlanc believes that the audience attending the football games did not want to hear Sousa marches, but music they could connect to, similar to music they heard on the radio. 152 Derrick Moss, the bass drum drummer of the Soul Rebels, says the marching bands played the music they heard on Soul Train. 153 He learned leadership skills from participating in college-level marching band exercises, which continue to serve him as the Soul Rebels co-leader and bass drummer. He was a drum major at Southern University and says it was there he learned how to stop and start the show, set the tempo for songs, and set up dance routines. 154 Those movements became a key element of the Soul Rebels showmanship. The Soul Rebels became a group in 1991 with eight members; four of the original members performed with the Young Olympians, taught by Milton Batiste, after returning from college. When they played with the Young Olympians, Batiste taught them how to play traditional brass band music and gave them a better understanding of second line rhythms, bass line grooves, and the construction of compositions. The other four 151 Nick Pope, The Soul Rebels New Regime, Where Y at Magazine, (Accessed November 2, 2008). 152 LeBlanc, interview. 153 Roger Hahn, The Soul Rebels, (Accessed January, ). 154 Ibid.

68 59 members played with a band named Def Generation, where they met Cyril Neville, who helped them form the Soul Rebels. Neville said that the band resembled Bob Marley s song Soul Rebels (1970) and that is where the band s name originated. 155 The Soul Rebels foundation gave them a point from which to start building their own style. Popular music of the 1970s and 80s influenced the development of their sound, with rap and reggae as major inspirations, along with R&B, funk, and rock. Lemar LeBlanc, the snare drummer and leader of the Soul Rebels, reflects on popular music influences on the Soul Rebels. Rap and hip-hop groups that personally influenced the Soul Rebels were: Public Enemy, Tribe Called Quest, Digital Planet, and Naughty by Nature. These groups were classified more as positive and got the party going. Other groups were from the gangsta rap scene like, on the West Coast, NWA and Ice Cube. Amongst these styles of rap, the band was also heavily influenced by R&B and other music that was reflective of that time. Music of the 1980s and the early jazz greats can also be heard in the Soul Rebels sound. 156 The band experiments with all forms and genres of music. One of LeBlanc s favorite bands is The Doors. LeBlanc believes it is important to establish a good foundation by learning the traditional repertoire, because it is crucial to understanding the feel of the music. The Soul Rebels basically started playing all traditional repertoire and we know all of those tunes. All the way back from Indiana, Lord, Lord, Lord, gospel tunes, and traditional Armstrong songs and jazz artist songs like Bill Bailey and Sweet Georgia Brown. Those songs help to give you a solid foundation, so that when you re ready to play the funk songs you are able to do so much with them. A lot of the younger guys start off just at the funk songs, which are in Bb and do not have chord changes; therefore, when they want to add something to the songs, they are not able to do it because they haven t learned the basics and a good foundation LeBlanc. 156 Ibid. 157 Ibid.

69 60 Soul Rebels Creative Process LeBlanc refers to reading music on a staff, such as classical music or the music a student learns in school band, as the scholastics of music. Although the musicians in the Soul Rebels know how to read music they learn their repertoire through the aural tradition. He compared popular music s compositional process to that of the brass bands, noting that in the beginning stages the music is not written down. This creative process usually starts with an initial idea, such as a melodic motif. That motif could end up being the main melody or a catchy accompaniment riff, which is built up by adding different melodies, accompaniment sections, percussion rhythms, and sometimes sung or rapped lyrics. An example: When Leblanc has an idea, he presents it to the band and they build on that initial idea. Leblanc explains: When I come up with a bass line or a drum beat, I ll throw it out there like a baseball, then another member will catch it and throw it to the second baseman. That member will then take it and add something and throw the ball to the third baseman. Hopefully by the time it gets to the home plate, it will be a homerun. 158 As a result, an original composition by the Soul Rebels is a collaborative effort. Sometimes, the band member who comes up with the initial idea for the song might not have the popular melody or accompaniment that grabs the audience s attention. It is important to a have a catchy loop or riff in a song in order for it to appeal to a large audience. Once the band develops the ideas, the new composition will start with either the sousaphone or drums and then the first melody begins. Lyrics are sung or rapped and also imitated by the trumpets, saxophones, and then trombones. The first melody is referred to as the head and is repeated two times, usually about sixteen measures. After the head, the solo section begins. The saxophone usually is the first to perform an improvised solo, then the trombone and trumpet. After the solo section, the composition 158 Ibid.

70 61 goes back to the head followed by an outro. The outro, as quoted by LeBlanc, is a coda or tag to the end of the piece. Leblanc shared that when the Soul Rebels are in a rehearsal, the band sometimes will go into it with a goal of creating a new song, and they will not leave until they have done so. The band is constantly coming up with new ideas to present in a rehearsal or a performance to keep it fresh. Brass bands in New Orleans have always played their own arrangements of popular music. The Soul Rebels have arranged popular music and classic jazz, which they do to connect to the audience before playing their original compositions. Once the Soul Rebels have the attention of the audience, the crowd welcomes the band s creativity. Playing an arrangement of a song is a slightly different process compared with the creation of an original composition. LeBlanc explains the difference: With the cover songs and arrangements, it s a little easier. That is someone else s song and ideas and all we re really doing is imitation and adding something else to it. The foundation of the song has already been laid, then we put our own spin on it. It still has the original idea. You don t want to disrespect any of the original composer s ideas. That is kind of the code of ethics with artists: We always respect each other s works. 159 On their tour of France in March 2010, the band was asked by a large choir for permission to get a transcription of one of their songs so the choir could sing it. Although the compositional process is aural, the band does read and write music. When a request is made for a transcription, the members take the time to transcribe the music on paper to distribute. Soul Rebels Music Leblanc says that he and the other members of the Soul Rebels are jazz artists first who draw inspiration from other jazz artists like Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and all the greats. This is demonstrated on the band s first 159 Ibid.

71 62 album, Jazz Classics: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong, released in On Jazz Classics, the Soul Rebels recorded classic jazz charts as well as traditional brass band music. Included on the album are Ain t Misbehavin, What A Wonderful World, Basin Street, Dark Town Strutters Ball, Monday s Date, Back O Town Blues, Lord, Lord, Lord, Canal Street Blues, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Jesus in on the Main Line, Big Leg Woman, and Sleepy Time Down South. The Soul Rebels distinctive sound was developed in 1994 on their second album, Let Your Mind Be Free. The album consists mainly of original compositions, with several tracks displaying the band s lyric rap skills. There is also an arrangement of Miles Davis Footprints (1967) and Grover Washington Jr. s Santa Cruzin (1978). Both have been made into true New Orleans brass band songs through the second line rhythms and danceable melodic ostinato groove played on the sousaphone. New Orleans radio stations regularly played reggae music in the 1980s and 1990s, and that style of music soon found its way into the brass band repertoire. Let Your Mind Be Free borrows the vocal styles and rhythms of percussion from reggae. Let Your Be Free became part of brass band repertoire based on the new traditions and styles of the Soul Rebels. No More Parades, the band s third album released in 1999, continued with their flowing rap lyrics and creative melodies. By the time No More Parades was released, the band had decided to concentrate more on marketing and their creative potential. They rap about playing in a second line parade and how they are finished with that part of the brass band. That is not to say they do not participate in parades anymore, they are more focused on their music and promoting the band. In the ten years following their decision, the Soul Rebels released three albums. The first was Rebelution (2004), which featured jazz artist Josh Roseman and hip-hop artists CopperTop, Rasheed, and Scratch. Urban Legend was the Soul Rebels 2006 release with more original compositions, and two songs, Skin and Work it Out, previously recorded by the band.

72 63 LeBlanc states that the band likes all music and has experimented with varied genres included classical and country-western. Although no material has been recorded by the Soul Rebels in those styles, rock has made its way in the band s music and can be heard on their album No Place Like Home (December 2009). The song No Place Like Home features the band singing and rapping about why New Orleans is home. During those lyrics about New Orleans, the sousaphone plays a repeated bass line from a Blister in the Sun, a song by the Violent Femmes (a popular music group from the 1980s and 90s), during the rapping. Figure 26 No Place Like Home sousaphone bass line/ Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun. In November 2011, the Soul Rebels performed in London on BBC s television show Later with Jools Holland. There they met the superstar heavy metal group Metallica. Impressed by the Soul Rebels performance, Metallica invited the band to perform with them on their 30 th anniversary celebration in San Francisco. By December, the Soul Rebels not only were performing on the same stage as Metallica, but the band had also added heavy metal music into their repertoire. Each show kicked off with a tribute by the Soul Rebels, who rebelized Metallica classics, including Enter Sandman and One. 160 The Soul Rebels experience seemed to have given them the necessary boost to complete their first radio-ready album, Unlock Your Mind (2012). This album features the Grammy-nominated recording artist Trombone Shorty. 160 Soul Rebels Brass Band, (Accessed February 1, 2012).

73 64 In a follow-up interview, LeBlanc was asked how hip-hop has affected the Soul Rebels. He states that the popularity and business side were very appealing because he is trying to learn from and promote the Soul Rebels music the same way by having a booking agent and a manager. Brass bands have also influenced hip-hop artists like Li l Wayne and Master P, both of whom are from New Orleans. Although they may not admit to the brass band s influence in their music, LeBlanc says that it can be heard in the rhythm and the slang and syntax of their words. Brass bands were the first major superstar of New Orleans because of the organic quality of the music. 161 When the major hip-hop acts perform for a live audience they have electronic instruments such as a keyboard and a drum machine, and people want to hear the emotion behind the music. That is what the brass bands of New Orleans bring to their performance each and every time. The Soul Rebels have toured all over the United States and worldwide. The Rebels were booked in 2005 on the Xingolati: Groove Cruise of the Pacific, a three-day music cruise that showcased the band alongside popular music groups like, G Love and Special Sauce, the Flaming Lips, Medeski, Martin and Wood, and the John Popper Project. 162 More recently, the Soul Rebels have performed at the London Jazz Festival in 2010 and again in LeBlanc. 162 Pope, Where Y at Magazine.

74 65 CHAPTER IV NEW ORLEANS STYLE ARRIVES IN MADISON Chapter four is the discussion of the brass bands in Madison, Wisconsin, all based on personal interviews with the band members, and extensive listening to their music. Mama Digdown s Brass Band will be discussed first because of its members key role in Youngblood Brass Band s existence. The majority of the research presented is on the Youngblood Brass Band and its music, and will explore how it is an extension of the New Orleans brass band genre. A Brass Band Tradition Starts in Madison As the sound of New Orleans brass moved into Madison, Wisconsin, change occurred not only in the race of the players, but also in the cultural source of the music s influence. Contemporary brass bands such as Dirty Dozen and Rebirth influenced bands world-wide through their recordings, especially in the Midwest. The New Orleans bands appealed to many people because of the second line rhythms in the percussion, which gave the music a dance quality. The dance rhythms were appealing to the musicians in Madison who began to study the music. As the music of New Orleans migrated to the Midwest, two bands emerged, Mama Digdown s Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band. These Madison brass bands formed in high school, where they first gained exposure to and began imitating the repertoire of other New Orleans brass bands. Most of the members of these groups also went on to receive some form of classical music training at the university level. Mama Digdown s Brass Band was the first brass band in Madison. It had members in common with the Youngblood Brass Band in the beginning, until those members broke off to start their own brass band and to create their own sound, based off of the New Orleans style. Mama Digdown s and Youngblood have many original compositions in the New Orleans style. Mama Digdown s learned the traditional

75 66 repertoire from the early twentieth century through the contemporary bands like Dirty Dozen and Rebirth. Youngblood Brass Band also learned the traditional and contemporary repertoire, but they took the New Orleans style of playing, composition, and instrumentation to a new level. They experimented with the acoustical boundaries of the ensemble, with hiphop-influenced rhythms on the percussion and extended techniques on the sousaphone, and rapping by David Skogen. For further study of the style, they traveled to New Orleans to listen to as many bands as possible. While there, they met the most popular bands, including the Dirty Dozen, Rebirth, Soul Rebels, and the Hot 8. Other musical genres that can be heard in Youngblood s sound are jazz, R&B, funk, 1980s pop music, rock n roll, and drum and bugle corps. Other bands have formed because of this renaissance in Madison. About ten other brass bands exist in Madison and the surrounding counties, all of whom play in the New Orleans styles inspired by Mama Digdown s and Youngblood. Mama Digdown s has a list of substitute musicians who play with the band if regular members are not available for a performance. The majority of the musicians on the list come from New Tradition Brass Brand, an up-and-coming band that plays many local shows. The Madison scene has spread to other regions of the country, as well. Examples are the King Pin Brass Band (based in Milwaukee), BS Brass Band (Chicago), Jack Brass Band (Minneapolis), and the Sugartone Brass Band, which was started in New York by Moses Patrou, who used to play with Mama Digdown s and Youngblood. This connection to Madison introduced Kenny Warner to the New Orleans style. Warner is the sousaphone player for Sugartone and was the featured sousaphone player for Youngblood on the band s last album, Is That a Riot? Mama Digdown s Brass Band Erik Jacobsen is the leader of Mama Digdown s Brass Band. He grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he fell in love with the New Orleans brass band sound

76 67 after an initial listening session. He brought that passion for New Orleans music to college in Madison. Jacobsen describes his experience of listening to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for the first time: When I was a sophomore in high school, I had a band director that would go and listen to records every day during lunch. He would play different records, and if the students listening to them liked them, they were allowed to borrow the records. My high school teacher gave me a Dirty Dozen Brass Band record, My Feet Can t Fail Me Now, to listen to. I had never heard anything where the tuba played real funky, and I had never heard a New Orleans brass band. I started to learn some of the bass lines off of the Dirty Dozen records, with Curt Joseph playing tuba on the recording. Since that time, he has collected many recordings of any New Orleans brass band. Out of all his recordings, Jacobsen was drawn to Rebirth because of the members experiments with contemporary genres of music. Rebirth incorporated popular music from artists such as Michael Jackson and R&B groups like The Gap Band and Rick James. When he was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Jacobsen thought he wanted to start a brass band because of his deep passion for the style of music, by way of New Orleans. He introduced his friends to the New Orleans style of music, and through word of mouth, other musicians became interested. Four of the members were music majors and four were non-music majors. Mama Digdown s first performance was at The Art Fair in the Square in Madison. Jacobsen said, We crashed that art fair. By this he means the band brought something different to an art fair that the crowd was not expecting to see or hear. From that point on, they were booked for gigs. Mama Digdown s Music The majority of the music of Mama Digdown s is not written down. The repertoire is learned aurally, much the same way New Orleans bands learn their music. In an interview, Jacobsen explained his belief that sheet music stops people from listening to each other, and that such communication is at the core of the New Orleans brass band style. Out of a couple hundred songs Digdown s knows, only about five have

77 68 a written lead line. Many of the popular brass bands in New Orleans have a large repertoire, ranging from the traditional through the contemporary. Mama Digdown s made a point of learning the entire standard repertoire. There are at least twenty traditional songs the band keeps in its repertoire, such as High Society and A Closer Walk With Thee. Both are examples of songs that most people can recognize and that relate to New Orleans. 163 At Mama Digdown s inception, the band started to play riffs from other brass bands and popular songs on the radio. It was through their riffs that they came up with their original songs, although the band always tried to stay close to the New Orleans brass band style and sound. In an interview, Christopher Roc Ohly, the saxophonist for Mama Digdown s, comments: We didn t really get the music until we started going down there, meeting, and becoming friends with the people who actually live this. We play it, we represent it the best we can. I think we do a pretty good job as compared to other brass bands I ve heard that aren t from New Orleans. But, it is something that is part of a culture that we didn t grow up in so we re just trying to do our best. Jordan Cohen, the bass drummer of Mama Digdown s, also comments on the band s attempts to stay true to the New Orleans sound: Learning to play second line music in a convincing and authentic style without growing up in New Orleans took years and many, many hours of listening and playing. It was indispensable to have people like Jeff Maddern in the band, who had lived in New Orleans and played in the Hot 8, and who was able to say when the music didn't feel right and encourage us to get there. We went to New Orleans a couple times a year and listened to as many bands as we could, which was valuable, but in my opinion it takes immersion to really learn to play the music. In a sense, it is like learning a foreign language. A person can learn through a class, audio, or video recording, but the best way to synthesize the information is to go to that country to fully immerse oneself in that specific language. 163 Jacobsen, interview.

78 69 Later in the same interview, Jacobsen said that, whether it s via the arrangement, the quoting of a pop song within an original piece, or the music s influence on the band s repertoire, New Orleans brass bands always have incorporated popular music. In the true style of New Orleans, Mama Digdown s does this too. On its newest album, the band stays true to its roots by playing traditional brass band repertoire like St. James Infirmary, an arrangement of Terence Trent D Arby s R&B song Sign Your Name, and originals like Mojito. A standard piece like St. James Infirmary is featured on their most recent album, We Make Em Say Ooh (2009). They play the song in the standard form through a couple of times, then on one of the repeats of the chord changes, the accompaniment in the horns quote an Outkast song, Spottieottiedopalicous. Sign Your Name, a popular R&B song that was released in 1987, was arranged for this album. When Mama Digdown s plays Sign Your Name as a brass band, the trumpets play the melody and counter melodies and the trombone plays a large role in supporting the sound of the shout chorus or counter melody to the main chorus line. 164 Mojito is recorded twice on We Make Em Say Ooh. The first time the brass band plays Mojito in their traditional instrumentation, but the second recording of Mojito is a bounce remix. Bounce refers to a style of New Orleans rap that deepens the connection to New Orleans music, where the artists take a rhythm or phrase from a local brass band, then incorporate it into a loop. A loop is a short phrase or rhythm that is repeated many times, also referred to as a riff. The loop is programmed into a drum machine and played by a DJ. Sometimes lyrics are rapped over that loop. For the Mojito bounce remix, a DJ mixed the melody with other digital sounds and scratching to create the loop. Mama Digdown s makes a point of sounding like a well-rounded New Orleans style brass band and does not set out to purposefully incorporate new music in its 164 Christopher Ohly, phone interview by author, 15 November 2010.

79 70 repertoire. Jacobsen says, I don t think one could say that Mama Digdown s is breaking any ground with our music other than the fact that we are a bunch of white guys who are really good at it. Jacobsen also says that they are not creating something new, like Youngblood. Youngblood Brass Band While Mama Digdown s stayed at the heart of the traditional New Orleans brass band style, the Youngblood Brass Band built a new sound from the traditional music. As Jacobsen comments, In Youngblood Brass Band there is a conscious thinking about how they are going to push the brass band farther, or in a different direction that it has not gone before. That direction is shown through the progression of their albums. In the beginning, the sound of Youngblood was very close to traditional New Orleans brass bands with regard to the form of the music, style of playing, and instrumentation. But as the band evolved, their repertoire and style changed as the members experimented with various genres of popular music. Youngblood, like the Soul Rebels of New Orleans, is moving the genre forward by experimenting with the sounds of the brass band. The differences between the two groups are that the Soul Rebels are from New Orleans and have a different musical background with a true connection to Congo Square, while Youngblood has created an ensemble pushing the acoustic barriers through the study of New Orleans brass bands. The two bands offer the listener two different representations of how far these ensembles have come over one hundred years. Both however, are similar in that their beginnings are influenced by cutting-edge popular music. The Soul Rebels were a major inspiration for Youngblood s music. One of the founding members of Youngblood, Nat McIntosh, started playing tuba when he was ten years old. He always enjoyed playing the tuba, but he did not get hooked until he heard the possibilities for the tuba in brass band music. He has a story similar to that of Jacobsen s introduction to New Orleans brass bands. Nat and his

80 71 brother, Ben, started listening to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band growing up in Colorado before moving to Oregon, Wisconsin. Nat always liked loud, intense, and danceable music but never found a way to play that kind of music on the tuba until he was thirteen, when his mom played a Dirty Dozen record in the other room while he was playing video games. After listening to approximately four tracks from the music, he realized the funky bass player was a sousaphonist. 165 From that day he started to experiment with ways to make the bass lines he was hearing come alive on his tuba. First it was through the music of the Dirty Dozen, then Rebirth, using their Rollin album as an example, and more recently, he has been most interested in the group the Soul Rebels. McIntosh brought two key components to Youngblood. The majority of Youngblood s pieces on the Unlearn and Center: Level: Roar albums grew out of McIntosh s creative compositional skills. The technique in which McIntosh presents his ideas to the band is like that of the New Orleans brass bands. As LeBlanc discussed, the Soul Rebels creative process is a collaborative effort through which the band members ideas are combined to compose a new piece. In McIntosh s original works, he creates all of the ideas. Charles Wagner, a trumpet player with Youngblood, describes the process by which McIntosh teaches a new piece to the band. He has ideas in his mind of how the piece will go, and he either plays each part on his sousaphone or sings it. Then, he puts it all together. 166 Secondly, McIntosh has contributed his use of extended techniques on the sousaphone. He explains how he uses his extended techniques, and the effects he is trying to achieve when performing them: Most of my extended techniques have no names because to the best of my knowledge I m the only one who does them, but the main pre-existing one is called multiphonics. That s where I play a 165 Nat McIntosh, interview by author, 19 February Charles Wagner, interview by author, 24 February 2012.

81 72 note and sing a note at the same time to harmonize with myself. The hard version of that technique is what I call independent multiphonics, which is where you play a bass line and sing a melody on top. All of the high-pitched, tweety sounds are my scratch sounds, which are mostly an imitation of cuts and scratches a hip-hop DJ makes. I do those both by singing high and by playing high into the horn and tonguing really fast and rhythmically. I also make a distorted sound that I call cosmic bass where I change the shape of my mouth cavity to put a flangestyle effect on the notes, which can be augmented by doing multiphonics with it and making different vowel sounds with the voice, which flanges the sound more. I m a fan of authentic extended techniques that you can produce by yourself as opposed to pedals or mic manipulation to make it sound different. That said, I would love to play around with a boomerang pedal someday so I can loop myself. That would be pretty awesome. After arriving in Oregon, Wisconsin, the McIntosh brothers met David Skogen, a founding member of Youngblood. Skogen is the bandleader, snare drummer, and emcee of the band. He began his musical training in the school orchestra in fourth grade, where he played cello, before moving to percussion in fifth grade. He joined the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra in seventh grade and the Oregon Marching Band in the eighth grade. These were his first two serious musical experiences, and he says that both pushed him to try hard and taught him about work ethic and community building. At the age of thirteen, not long after he joined the marching band, he began African drumming classes. After his initial experiences with Mama Digdown s, he became interested in Cuban, Brazilian, and jazz music, and thoroughly enjoyed drumline in the marching band. All of these influences are represented in Youngblood s music. Skogen primarily occupied his time with classical music, marching music, and the music of the African diaspora. By the end of his high school career, he had learned of hip-hop and punk rock. Skogen was introduced to Mama Digdown s through Matt Ravenport, who played with that band at the time. Ravenport was Skogen s percussion instructor and taught the African drumming class that Skogen attended. Mama Digdown s was Youngblood s main influence in Madison and the group who opened their eyes to the greater musical tradition of New Orleans brass bands. It was not long after being introduced to Mama Digdown s that Ben McIntosh began to play trombone with them. After Ben moved to

82 73 college, Nat played trombone in the band, and when Digdown s snare drummer left the band, Skogen took his place. Two other musicians joined the band from Oregon High School: Moses Patrou, a percussionist, and Youngblood s lead trumpet player, Mike Boman. The members who attended Oregon High School were eager to start a band in the New Orleans style after listening to Dirty Dozen and Rebirth. Nat McIntosh thought starting a brass band seemed to be the obvious outlet. The McIntosh brothers talked their friends into forming a group and they played recordings of Rebirth s tracks, including Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, featuring the R&B and jazz saxophonist Maceo Parker. Skogen says, Within a year or two, it (the band) had branched out to include Joe Goltz (trombone), Charles Wagner (trumpet), and Carl Barstch (tenor saxophone), who attended Monroe High School. Wagner met Skogen through the Wisconsin Youth Symphony in Wagner remembers his first jam session with McIntosh and Skogen during rehearsals for the 1995 Badger Conference Honors Band. He sets up the moment in a recent interview: I was sitting there during a break and the guys were in the back kind of jamming. Dave Skogen and Nat and others were jamming and playing rudimentary stuff, and Dave asked if I would like to come back there and jam. Dave knew me from Wisconsin Youth Symphony. Wagner remembers the tune they were jamming to was Rebirth s Chameleon. From then on, the interest spread to their friends in high school. The next members to join were Carl Barstch, the original tenor saxophone player, who no longer is playing with Youngblood, and trombonist Joe Goltz, who is still with the band. Wagner and Barstch approached Goltz about joining the band by playing him a recording they had put together. At first, Goltz was not interested in brass band music, but he thought it was a great sound being driven by the horns and percussion. Goltz enjoyed the music and thought it was cool because he already liked ska and jazz. In the

83 74 summer of 1996, Wagner asked if Goltz wanted to play trombone with them because a trombone player had left the band. At first Goltz was hesitant to say yes, because he was not sure he could handle the repertoire. He decided to try it out, and with the additions of Goltz and Barstch, the brass band was complete. The four from Oregon High School joined forces with the four from Monroe High School and began under the name, One Lard Biskit. The newly formed band played the traditional New Orleans repertoire and experimented with imitating the contemporary brass bands by whom they were initially influenced. By the middle of the 1990s, this meant groups like not only the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth, but the Soul Rebels and the Hot 8. Sometimes the members from Monroe High School would meet up with the Oregon High School members to play as a pep band for the high school basketball games. This was where they experimented with their sound and caught the public s eye. For example, one of their first tunes was the theme from the video game Super Mario Brothers. This experimentation with music through the form of a pep band at a basketball game is similar to a New Orleans band playing in a parade and presenting new material to the second line participants. The band shared members with Mama Digdown s until they decided to commit fully to One Lard Biskit, which shortly afterward became Youngblood Brass Band. The first album released under that name was Word on the Street (1998), which features original compositions but is in the traditional New Orleans style. During that time, when they were experimenting with the New Orleans bands repertoire and incorporating their own interest into that style, they traveled to New Orleans to learn the style hands-on. The Influence of New Orleans on Youngblood Youngblood s instrumentation and compositional technique are directly related to the brass bands of New Orleans, and they are a fusion of music genres. Youngblood s music has clear evidence of jazz and rap influences, including swung rhythms, incorporation of improvisational techniques, hip-hop effects imitated in the percussion

84 75 and horns, and rapped lyrics. During the first five years of the band s existence, they studied the music of the brass bands, traveling to New Orleans and befriending, playing along, copying, trying, failing, trying again to do what they were doing, and the elusive character was the gravity of the music, the groove, the fire... things that have nothing to do with playing notes well. 167 Youngblood gave extra gratitude to the Hot 8 Brass Band for being incredibly gracious and patient. Skogen says, It should be noted as well that many of our first trips to New Orleans were with Mama Digdown s, who gave us the model of how serious one had to be about attempting to represent this culture accurately, or at the very least not misappropriating it. They pay homage to their predecessors by performing a traditional song by one of the New Orleans brass bands during their live performances. The New Orleans brass bands foundations are their rhythms and their homage to their African heritage. For Youngblood, the foundation of their music exists primarily through the rhythm and compositional structure. As the band got older and gained more experience, they realized they wanted to go a different direction. Other musical interests and influences created Youngblood s sound. Youngblood s Music This section discusses three pieces: Avalanche, which demonstrates rap skills; Brooklyn, an instrumental piece; and J.E.M., a dirge without percussion. These pieces demonstrate how Youngblood have infused New Orleans style brass band music with popular music, and created unique compositions. Nat McIntosh credits Youngblood s sound as stemming mostly from New Orleans street funk with lots of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian elements, 70s soul sounds, thought-provoking, conscious hip-hop, basically anything that rocks. 168 His extended 167 David Skogen, interview by author, Microsoft word questionnaire, 18 February Nat McIntosh, interview by author, Microsoft word questionnaire, 2 April 2010.

85 76 techniques were developed through the imitation of the sound effects in the music. Nat also draws inspiration from the artist Frank Zappa and pop icon Michael Jackson, as well as bands from a variety of genres, such as Rage Against the Machine, Jerseyband, The Roots and Carlinhos Brown. The diversification in his musical influences accounts for the melodic ideas that are heard in his compositions. Charles Wagner, like McIntosh, has developed a compositional style that is influenced by popular music and his experiences in Latin, jazz, and salsa groups. Wagner shares his classical knowledge with the group. He received a degree in classical trumpet performance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a master s degree in classical performance from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. In addition to those accomplishments, Wagner has professional experience with a small orchestra outside of Pittsburgh and is a former member of the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony. He performed with those orchestras until he decided to concentrate on jazz, thinking it was time to study improvisation before he got too old. He brought his jazz improvisation, classical chops, and compositional skills to Youngblood. Wagner s experience with Latin and salsa groups improved his improvisational skills as a trumpet player and influenced the harmonic language of his compositions. Skogen s contributions as a percussionist combine with Wagner s compositional and harmonic skills to give the music its drive and danceable qualities. In addition to his interest in Afro-Cuban drumming, Skogen s percussion writing and improvisation were influenced by drum and bugle corps. The drum and bugle corps style of playing is demonstrated through the precision of articulation, dynamics, and percussion features that are an exaggerated element of Youngblood s live shows. In a drum and bugle corps, the percussion focuses on technique and tight ensemble playing. The percussionists of Youngblood demonstrate strong technique and ensemble skills by playing intricate rhythms and grooves on each piece. The style brings a dance quality and a sense of raw energy to the performance. The majority of the band s musical influences

86 77 are sample-based, experimental, hip-hop, and music with guitars. 169 Skogen says it is nice to hear musical motifs from experimental popular music like heavy metal, hip-hop, and electronic music played by all-acoustic group meaning Youngblood. Youngblood constantly experiments with sound combinations and orchestrating. This is proven on their album Unlearn (2000). The album features hip-hop artists Talib Kweli, Mike Ladd, DJ Skooly, and Frank Zappa s longtime vocalist, Ike Willis. DJ Skooly s techniques are featured on Acousticon Theme, amongst the original compositions. The Trilogy represents a hip-hop battle with McIntosh on sousaphone and Skooly trying to outdo each other. In true New Orleans brass band fashion, Youngblood arranges a Stevie Wonder and a Michael Jackson song. One of the featured arrangements is Stevie Wonder s Pastime Paradise. To add to this arrangement, We took the chorus from the song It s a Shame (1973) by The Spinners and made that the trombone part for the song. 170 Also featured is Michael Jackson s Human Nature (1982), from which they maintained all of the original themes and bass lines, with a second line beat addition in the percussion. The members of Youngblood established themselves as a band, presenting some of their most popular repertoire on Center: Level: Roar (2003). This album was inspired by hip-hop and was recorded at a time when the band members were listening to artists such as The Roots, Buckshot Lefonque, and Busta Rhymes. After realizing his talent at writing, Skogen decided to try rapping. Before the album was released, Youngblood played a few shows in Madison and tried out new techniques that featured Skogen rapping. They noticed that the crowds were interested in the new songs and that the audiences grew show after show. Skogen s rapping is featured in the popular original work Avalanche. 169 Skogen, interview. 170 Joe Goltz, phone interview by author, 30 March 2010.

87 78 Avalanche Avalanche is molded together by the extension of the bass line and the technique of the sousaphone and percussion. In the introduction of the song, shown in Figure 27, the loud, tenuto, quarter notes are played on the downbeats. The bass drum and cymbal are struck on the downbeat as the snare drum plays fortissimo upbeats. The strong syncopation brings energy, thereby intensifying the emotion of the song. Similar to Busta Rhymes or The Roots, Skogen s rapping begins once the band has settled into a rhythmic groove. The lyrics are rapped over the horn accompaniment with interludes of DJ effects played on the sousaphone. McIntosh does this through the use of multiphonics, wide vibrato, growl sounds, and scratching sounds. Starting in measure fifteen of Figure B, McIntosh plays multiphonics and wide vibrato on the tied eighth note to the half note through measure twenty-two. Following the whole note in measure twenty-three (Figure 28), there are two written measures of rest, then the sousaphone plays the scratching effects to take the listener back to the beginning theme. Skogen continues to rap over the effects into the rhythmic theme that began on measure three in Figure 27.

88 79 Figure 27 Avalanche introduction mm. 1-4, score in C Figure 28 Avalanche introduction mm. 5-8, score in C.

89 80 Figure 29 Avalanche sousaphone part Brooklyn Nat McIntosh s Brooklyn is another feature song on the Center: Level: Roar album. Like Avalanche, Brooklyn is an original composition. This piece is one of Youngblood s most popular works and in 2004 it was featured in an interview on NPR. 171 Youngblood s talent and musical influences are blended through the driving rhythms of the percussion, the melodic lines of the accompaniment, improvised solos, and hip-hop effects demonstrated on the sousaphone. When compared to LeBlanc s description of the Soul Rebels compositional form, the overall structure of the piece is similar to that of the New Orleans brass bands. LeBlanc refers to the basic structure of a piece as beginning with an introduction. Then it moves to the head, which has one or two melodies played in an eight to sixteen-bar phrase. Following the head there are two or three improvised solo sections, then a shift back to the head before the closing outro or coda. Brooklyn is structured in a similar way: it begins with an eight-bar introduction followed by a head consisting of two eight-bar melodies. The middle section is improvised solos played on the trombone and on the tenor saxophone. There is a recapitulation of the introduction at the end of the solos. The repeat of the introduction is followed by a drum break and a sousaphone feature then returns to the head with a short outro at the end. 171 National Public Radio, archive interview (accessed on March 4, 2005).

90 81 A preface to the published transcription of Brooklyn provides instructions to the percussionist playing the piece, the parts are simply blueprints. 172 The variations of rhythms and embellishments that Youngblood includes in live performances are left out of the transcription. The instructions finish by stating that the groove is more important than the technique. The beats for each section are based on a single pattern, which we interpret relatively freely (with a degree of improvisation), much the way one would approach a rhythm based on clavé. 173 That is fair to say for the sousaphone part too. Figure 30 Brooklyn, sousaphone bass line The musical example in Figure 30 is the bass line played by the sousaphone. McIntosh embellishes the bass line with DJ effects during the rests on beats three and four of the first three measures of rehearsal H. Rehearsal H is the repeat of the introduction before the eight-bar drum feature at rehearsal I. Beginning at the fifth measure of rehearsal I, as seen in Figure 31, the sousaphone part is notated with a fourbeat glissando for two measures and is then repeated. This effect is a combination of slurring through the harmonic series and singing at the same time to imitate a hip-hop sound. At the end of the drum-break, the sousaphone takes over and is featured using 172 Brooklyn has been transcribed by Youngblood and is now for sale on the Layered Arts Collective webpage, Nat McIntosh, Brooklyn, (Madison, WI: Layered Music, 2003/2010).

91 82 independent multiphonics in which McIntosh sings the same melody he is playing (Figure 31). Figure 31 Brooklyn sousaphone feature After the release of Is that a Riot? (2006) Nat McIntosh, the band s creative mind, left to play with the Dallas Brass. Kenny Warner of Sugartone Brass Band replaced McIntosh for this album. It was the most challenging time for the band and forced more members to create musical ideas. McIntosh s absence elicited more talent in the band, resulting in a collaborative effort in the creation of the repertoire for the album. According to Wagner it was an unfocused album and there are a wide variety of tunes, which he believes represented the full personality of the band. The end result was the most experimental album they have produced: