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University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Teses and Dissertations
2012
New Orleans brass band traditions and popularmusic : elements of style in the music of mama
digdown's brass band and youngblood brass bandMahew Tomas DriscollUniversity of Iowa
Follow this and additional works at: hp://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of the Music Commons
Tis dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: hp://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/3287
Recommended CitationDriscoll, Mahew Tomas. "New Orleans brass band traditions and popular music : elements of style in the music of mama digdown's brass band and youngblood brass band." dissertation, University of Iowa, 2012.
hp://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/3287.
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NEW ORLEANS BRASS BAND TRADITIONS AND POPULAR MUSIC:
ELEMENTS OF STYLE IN THE MUSIC OF MAMA DIGDOWN’S BRASS BANDAND YOUNGBLOOD BRASS BAND
byMatthew Thomas Driscoll
An essay submitted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the Doctor of
Musical Arts degreein the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
July 2012
Essay Supervisor: Professor, David A. Gier
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Copyright by
MATTHEW THOMAS DRISCOLL
2012
All Rights Reserved
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Graduate CollegeThe 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 Committeefor the essay requirement for the Doctor of Musical Artsdegree at the July 2012 graduation.
Essay Committee: ___________________________________David A. Gier, Essay Supervisor
___________________________________Jeffrey Agrell
___________________________________John Manning
___________________________________
John Rapson
___________________________________Richard B. Turner
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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.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................v
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................1
Background .......................................................................................................2Review of Literature ..................................................................................4
Purpose of the Study .........................................................................................8Methodology and Organization of Essay .........................................................8
CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF THE NEW ORLEANS BRASS BANDS ......................10
Foundation of a New Orleans Brass Band ......................................................10Military Influence ...........................................................................................14Benevolent Societies and Jazz Funerals .........................................................18Second Line Rhythm (Beat) ...........................................................................20The First Brass Bands .....................................................................................24Brass 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) ..................................................................42Dirty Dozen Brass Band .................................................................................47
My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now ......................................................................49Rebirth Brass Band .........................................................................................51
Do Whatcha Wanna ...................................................................................53Soul Rebels Brass Band ..................................................................................57
Soul Rebels Creative Process ....................................................................60Sour Rebels Music .....................................................................................61
CHAPTER IV. NEW ORLEANS STYLE ARRIVES IN MADISON .........................65
A Brass Band Tradition Starts in Madison .....................................................65Mama Digdown’s Brass Band ........................................................................66
Mama Digdown’s Music ...........................................................................67Youngblood Brass Band .................................................................................70
Influence of New Orleans on Youngblood ................................................74Youngblood’s Music .................................................................................75
Avalanche .............................................................................................78
Brooklyn ................................................................................................80 J.E.M. ....................................................................................................83
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................88
Hurricane Katrina ...........................................................................................88Suggestions for Further Study ........................................................................90
APPENDIX A. LEMAR LEBLANC INTERVIEW .....................................................91
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APPENDIX B. ERIK JACOBSEN INTERVIEW ........................................................97
APPENDIX C. JORDAN COHEN INTERVIEW ......................................................101
APPENDIX D. DAVID SKOGEN INTERVIEW.......................................................103
APPENDIX E. NAT MCINTOSH INTERVIEW .......................................................106
APPENDIX F. CHRISTOPHER OHLY INTERVIEW ..............................................109
APPENDIX G. CHARLES WAGNER INTERVIEW ................................................111
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................117
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1. In the Sweet Bye and Bye ..........................................................................................20
2. Habanera ..................................................................................................................22
3. Tresillo ......................................................................................................................22
4. Cinquillo ...................................................................................................................22
5. 3-2 Clave ...................................................................................................................22
6. 2-3 clave ....................................................................................................................23
7. Mardi Gras Indian rhythm tresillo ............................................................................23
8. Mardi Gras Indian rhythm cinquillo .........................................................................23
9 New Orleans Jazz Funeral ........................................................................................25
10. Maryland, My Maryland ...........................................................................................34
11. Maryland, My Maryland , four-bar introduction. ......................................................35
12. Maryland, My Maryland , interlude...........................................................................36
13. U.S. Army, Assembly Call ........................................................................................36
14. Maryland, My Maryland, O Tannenbaum melody ...................................................36
15. Maryland, My Maryland . ..........................................................................................37
16. Second line bass drum rhythm ..................................................................................37
17. Panama, original piano melody ................................................................................40
18. Panama, Eureka Brass Band introduction ................................................................41
19. Bass drum and cymbal rhythm to Panama ...............................................................42
20. Rhythm of lyric to My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now ......................................................50
21. My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now, St. Thomas melody ....................................................50
22. Sousaphone bass line, Do Whatcha Wanna ..............................................................55
23. Percussion and vocal parts, Do Whatcha Wanna .....................................................55
24. Ffun melody ..............................................................................................................56
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25. Call and response instrumental dialogue, Do Whatcha Wanna ................................57
26. No Place Like Home, sousaphone bass line, Violent Femmes Blister in theSun ............................................................................................................................63
27. Avalanche, introduction, mm. 1-4, score in C ..........................................................79
28. Avalanche, introduction, mm. 5-8, score in C ..........................................................79
28. Avalanche, sousaphone part ......................................................................................80
29. Brooklyn, sousaphone bass line ................................................................................81
30. Brooklyn, sousaphone feature ...................................................................................82
31. J.E.M., introduction ..................................................................................................85
32. J.E.M., measures 19-22 .............................................................................................86
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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 hip-
hop, 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
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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).
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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
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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. (BatonRouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2006).
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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).
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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 Foundationof an African-American Music.” Black Music Research Journal 17, no. 1 (Spring, 1997) 59-80.
10 John Collins, “The Early History of West African Highlife Music.” Black Music Research Journal 18, no. 3 (1989). 221-230.
11 Karl Koenig, “Louisiana Brass Bands and Their History in Relation to Jazz History.” NewOrleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line (1983).
12 Karl Koenig, “Professor Hingle and the Sweet Sixteen Brass Band of Point a La Hache.” NewOrleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line (1983).
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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.20
13 Louisiana Music and Culture, www.Offbeat.com, (Accessed December 2011 and 1 January2012).
14 WHERE Y’AT Magazine, www.whereyat.com/neworleans/, (Accessed November 2, 2008).
15 Magnificent Sevenths, Authentic New Orleans Jazz Funeral , CD 2004.
16 Dirty Dozen Brass Band, www.dirtydozenbrass.com, (Accessed October 6, 2009).
17 Rebirth Brass Band, www.rebirthbrassband.com, (Accessed November 2011 and February 13,2012).
18 Soul Rebels Brass Band, www.soulrebelsbrassband.com, (Accessed February 1, 2012 andJanuary 1, 2012).
19 Mama Digdown’s Brass Band, www.mamadigdownsbrassband.com, (Accessed March 3,2010).
20 Youngblood Brass Band, www.youngbloodbrassband.com, (Accessed December 15, 2011).
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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
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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.
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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: AssociatedUniversity Presses, Inc. 1972),15.
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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., 16.
23 Ibid., 275.
24 Ibid., 16.
25 Freddi Williams Evans, Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans. (Lafayette, LA:
University of Lousiana at Lafayette Press, 2011), 47.
26 Grace Lichtenstein and Laura Dankner. Musical Gumbo: The Music of New Orleans. (NewYork, W.W. Norton, 1993), 19.
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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), 109.
29 Evans, 94.
30 Turner, 5.
31 Kmen,Henry. Music in New Orleans: The Formative Years 1791-1841. (Baton Rouge,Louisiana State University Press, 1966), 226.
32 Evans, 63.
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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.”37
33 Ibid.
34 Turner, 39.
35 Turner, 26.
36 Ventura, 125.
37 Rick Koster, Louisiana Music: A Journey from R & B to Zydeco, Jazz to Country, Blues toGospel, Cajun Music to Swamp Pop to Carnival Music and Beyond . (Cambridge, MA: Da CapoPress, 2002), 58.
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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,15.
39 Kmen, 274.
40 Ibid.
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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,183.
42 Ibid.
43 Kmen, 202.
44 Ibid.
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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., 203.46 Mary Ellison, “Dr. Michael White and New Orleans Jazz: Pushing back Boundaries whileMaintaining the Tradition.” Popular Music and Society Vol. 28, No. 5, (December 2005), 619-638.
47 Kmen, 226.
48 Koenig, 4-11.
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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.52
49 Schafer, 39.
50 New Grove Dictionary of Music, 2nd
ed., volume 12, Jazz , “Schwandt, Erich and Lamb,Andrew.”
51 Schafer, 39.
52 Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street, 113.
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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 OrleansSecond Line.” Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1993): 43-73.
56 Jazz Funerals, DVD.
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respected musicians in the community, with a funeral parade reported in the newspaper as
early as 1830.57
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.”61
57
Kmen, 207. 58 Magnificent Sevenths, Authentic New Orleans Jazz Funeral , CD 2004.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 Jazz Funerals.
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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.
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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. Onewould 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 thereare 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 6.64 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, email questionnaire, 24 August 2010.
63 Lemar LeBlanc, interview by author, digital recorded phone interview, Coralville, IA., 26March 2010.
64 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), 7.
65 Evans, 42-44.
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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 5 3-2 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, 42.
67 Ibid. 40.
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emphasizes the “Big 4,” the fourth beat of measure two, as shown in Figure 6.68 The
clave rhythms are in two bar phrases and the use of the 2-3 clave help to emphasize the
“Big 4.”
Figure 6 2-3 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, 7.
69 Ibid.
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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 1881.71 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, 8-9.
71 Lichtenstein and Dankner, 20.
72 Schafer, 9.
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Figure 9 New Orleans Jazz Funeral73
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, www.hurricanebrassband.nl, (Accessed September 25, 2011).
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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.77
74 Schafer, 22.
75 Ibid.
76 Karl Koenig, “Professor Robert Hingle and the Sweet Sixteen Brass Band of Point a LaHache.” ( New Orleans, Jazz Club; the Second Line, Fall 1983), 4.
77 Ibid., 5-11.
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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, 22.79 Ibid.
80 Burns, The Great Olympia Band, 35.
81 Turner, 113.
82 Sign On. VHS, directed by Barry Martin, (American Music, 2001).
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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. Hesaid “Now, I’d like to change that brass band name.” I said, “Ialways said I’m gonna call my band Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band,’cause the first Olympia Brass Band was organized in 1883 andwhen 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 , 35.
85 Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street , 161.
86 Burns. The Great Olympia Band , 36.
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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
1963. 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.91
87
Lemar LeBlanc, phone interview by author, Coralville, IA., 26 March 2010.88 Burns, The Great Olympia Band , 6.
89 Ibid.
90 Ibid., 37.
91 Burns. Keeping the Beat on the Street . 15.
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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-of-
the-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., 15.
93 Ibid., 18.
94 Turner, 115.
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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 well-
known melodies. Adding syncopation through the second line beat and improvisational
techniques into unique arrangements allowed brass bands to unite popular music (non-
western 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.
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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), 10.
97 New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd
ed., vol. 15, March “Tyrrell, John.”
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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 four-
bar 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.
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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.
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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, 1901-1911. (NewYork: Dover Publications, Inc. 1987), Introduction.
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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, 2nd
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
4.”
100 United States Army Band, http://bands.army.mil/music/bugle/, (Accessed October 2, 2011).
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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 1897.104
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 (1856-1929): An Anthology of Selected Early Readings in Jazz ,(Hilsdale, NY; Pendragon Press, 2002), 67.
104 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.
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Whether deliberate or not, the composition of ragtime took theform of the popular music of the era, the military march. Themusical form of the cakewalk, ragtime and the march are basicallythe same. The march was a composition style that used variousmelodic themes in two or more sections, including a trio withtransitions 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 two-
step, 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 1900-1910.107
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 1898.109 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.
108 http://ragpiano.com/comps/wtyers.shtml (Accessed October 3, 2011).
109 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib (Accessed August 10, 2011).
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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.
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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 Bras