New Orleans Brass Bands S/D

x-post--- Yes, of course you should see the Stooges Brass Band.

this is a terrible idea:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/Samplefreq/brassft-punk-daft-punk-tribute-via-new-orleans-bra

Jordan, have you ever heard this? Kinda similar idea. I own it, don't listen to it much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxf-8HkwAMY

x-post-- so the guy who is a recording engineer for the Preservation hall jazz band has released this thing:

In 2009, Scioneaux revived Electronola via the (then) unknown, online pledging platform Kickstarter. By August, he had successfully reached his funding goal, and within a year his once-derailed experiment had become a reality. With an all-star cast of collaborators on hand—George Porter, Jr., John Boutte, Charmaine Neville, Lucien Barbarin and Joe Lastie among others—the Madd Wikkid mixed up an electronic gumbo, one that blends the boogie woogie of old New Orleans rags and the percolating strut of Crescent City funk with the grimy, atmospheric convulsions of dubstep and the spiky loops and stutters of house and drum-and-bass.

http://www.offbeat.com/2010/11/01/the-madd-wikkid-electronola-independent/

wow that is not good.

in general i don't think it does new orleans music any favors to try and make it into something else, although i understand the temptation. usually it just waters it down.

the one that dan posted is pretty cool. a big british-style brass band is probably better suited to that kind of project anyway, and it's recorded really well.

on davidsimon.com I read that the 3rd season of Treme recently wrapped up filming. Simon offers up some stats:

Number of New Orleans musicians filmed: 371

from offbeat.com :

Each year, the Silence Is Violence organization hosts a second line parade with their partner Social Aid & Pleasure Club, the New Orleans Bayou Steppers. This year, the second line was moved to the summer, and will be marching tonight starting at 6 p.m. from the Sound Cafe in the Marigny/Bywater.

The Hot 8 Brass Band leads the second line, with Shamarr Allen acting as this year's king of the parade. Stops include the Hi-Ho Lounge, Abundant Life Tabernacle Church, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Church, and the historical marker on Press Street that recognizes Homer Plessy.

He may be doing a Trombone Shorty or James Andrews style funk n brass combination tonight, but I'm gonna see their cousin Glen David Andrews and band in Washington DC at the swanky newish Hamilton club tonight Monday. He used to be in the Treme Brass band and various others

Glen was fun even if he relies on New Orleans standards too much. Trumpet player was ok. He's working in some new musicians he told me as his bass player and another guy just left his band and joined Dirty Dozen.

Not sure actually which guys left.

Rebirth are touring the US East coast very shortly. Appearing at the same new overpriced, faux-swanky club in DC, the Hamilton.

Uh oh

. Saturday’s concert is dedicated to “Uncle” Lionel Batiste, the ailing brass band leader and drummer, who also is expected to attend.

http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2012/06/drummer_hamid_drake_joins_ashe.html

Hope he recovers. Saw him at Jazzfest

From a Facebook post someone did:

Uncle Lionel Batiste health UPDATE:
During uncles hernia surgery it was discovered that he has prostrate cancer. It has spread to his stomach and the doctors have requested the family to contact hospice. Uncle is at home and resting with his wife Carlethia and visits from his grand children.

Aww, man, not good news. Just looking at Uncle Lionel makes me happy...

http://www.hurricanebrassband.nl/images/Musician%20Lionel%20Batiste.jpg

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/06/21/155522267/in-new-orleans-a-buffet-of-great-music

Just noticed this piece on New Orleans with a mention of brass bands by Ann Powers(now with NPR she used to write for the LA Times, her hubby Eric Weisbard runs the EMP Pop Conference and used to be at the Village Voice)

Soul Rebels Brass Band is reporting on its Facebook page that Lionel Batiste has passed. RIP

Sad

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2012/07/uncle_lionel_batiste_treme_bra.html

Friday, two celebrations of Uncle Lionel's life will take place in the Treme and Marigny. A second line will start at 5 p.m. from Tuba Fats Square, at the corner of St. Philip St. and N. Robertson St., and will go down St. Philip to N. Rampart, then onto Elysian Fields, turning onto Royal and stopping at the Christopher Inn Apartments where Batiste lived. The parade will then finish by turning up Frenchmen St. until St. Claude, where it will disband at Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club.

Following the second line, a benefit concert will be held at Sweet Lorraine's. The show starts at 7 p.m. with a lineup that includes Kermit Ruffins, Kid Merv, Michael Baptiste, Deacon John, Danon Smith and Michael Ward.

The Batiste family also established a memorial fund in Uncle Lionel Batiste’s name with Liberty Bank and Trust. Donations can be made at any Liberty Bank branch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/us/new-orleans-celebrates-life-of-lionel-batiste.html?_r=1&hpw&pagewanted=print

The New York Times

July 16, 2012
New Orleans Celebrates the Life of a Bandleader
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON

NEW ORLEANS — The drums could be heard first and then the brass, and then, far down the street in the twilight, people could be seen dancing and swaying, the bells of sousaphones above them like halos. Shuffling back and forth at the front of the parade was a paint horse named Sunshine that somebody taught how to dance.

This was Day 2 of the party that has lasted over a week in the Treme neighborhood. On some nights there have been small, informal parades like this one; on other nights people from around the city and even tourists have flocked to this neighborhood, New Orleans’s cultural and musical heart, to see or be a part of a certain kind of celebration that takes place almost nowhere else.

On the nights between the death and the burial of one of their colleagues, musicians gather to play and remember. This culminates in the funeral procession, one of those local traditions that is featured in the city’s marketing materials but is no less old and true for it. People still talk about processions from years past, but in terms of size, the one coming up this Friday may be among the largest in recent memory.

“The way things is going, this is probably going to be the biggest,” said Action Jackson, a D.J. who follows cultural events for the local radio station WWOZ.

The man being laid to rest is Lionel Batiste, known to everyone for decades as Uncle Lionel, to many simply as “Unc.” Mr. Batiste, who was 80 when he died of cancer on July 8, was the singer, bass drummer and assistant grand marshal for the Treme Brass Band. He was also one of the great New Orleans personalities, the face of Treme and a consummate man about town.

“In the daytime,” said Benny Jones Sr., who is Mr. Batiste’s nephew by marriage and who founded the band with him nearly 20 years ago, “he liked to wake up and dress up and walk.”

Did he ever dress up: high-shined shoes, on the soles of which he would record the date of purchase; necktie and pocket square, the square at times made of fabric snipped off the back of the necktie to ensure a perfect match; wristwatch worn across his knuckles, so, he said, he would always have time on his hands; brown derby on his head; and then the walking cane, sunglasses and an ever-shifting constellation of jewelry.

And he walked, sauntering along Frenchmen Street in the afternoon, or embarking on a leisurely bar crawl up St. Bernard Avenue, beginning with Sidney’s and on and on to the Autocrat Club or Seal’s Class Act. He would sit at the bar with a Miller High Life, preferably next to a woman, and discuss the proper way to iron the crease into trousers, how to say “pregnant” in Creole or how to cook a pot roast.

Mr. Batiste could have been New Orleans itself: mischievous, unhurried, with an antiquated and singular style, well-acquainted with the hard life but easygoing nonetheless, at once the genuine article and a showman playing for the tourists. As a child he tap-danced for the customers at a whites-only club in the French Quarter. But he also danced to the music of legends like Professor Longhair at a neighborhood club owned by Mr. Jones’s father. And he kept on performing in his off time.

“They’d spin the bottle,” Mr. Batiste said of family gatherings in a 2001 interview included in the book “Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance.” “If it stopped on you, you had to sing. Another thing they’d do, you had to dance with the bottle.”

He knew all the dances — he was particularly proud of his waltz — and he played nearly all of the instruments, including the drums, banjo, piano, violin, clarinet, washboard and kazoo. Until the Treme Brass Band formed in the mid-1990s, he was a journeyman drummer, playing with various bands and working no end of odd jobs, from mortician’s assistant to bricklayer.

But after he and Mr. Jones formed the Treme Brass Band, his music career steadied. And after Hurricane Katrina, his fame grew beyond the city. He was a fixture on the HBO series “Treme,” the poster man for the Spike Lee documentary “If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise,” and a presence at international music festivals — you might run into him on airplanes, his hatbox as his carry-on.

It did not make him rich, but he enjoyed the fame.

The article keeps going on the NY Times link

I know no one gives a fuck, but d'Mo Brass got voted out by America in favor of a shitty dog ventriloquist on America's Got Racism.

Guessing they're not like the Treme Brass Band (whose members are scheduled to play tonight at DBA in New Orleans without the late Uncle Lionel) but who knows. Here's more details:

http://www2.tbo.com/entertainment/breaking-news/2012/jul/03/1/tampas-dmo-brass-gets-lukewarm-review-on-americas--ar-423311/

Distinguished Men of Brass may have earned wild cheers from the audience, but two of the judges were less enthusiastic as the Tampa group attempts to earn the $1 million top prize on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

The band was the first of 12 to perform during Monday's telecast from Newark, N.J. And while the 10 musicians performed a spirited routine that drew ovations, judges Howie Mandel and Howard Stern suggested a few changes if they hope to advance.

"You know I'm a huge fan of you guys," Mandel said. "The question that I have is you have to take it beyond a marching band, beyond a halftime show."

Mandel's comments drew boos from the audience, prompting him to reiterate that he "sees potential, and I hope America sees potential, too."

Howard Stern was equally as candid, questioning whether "d'Mo Brass" – musicians laid off in December 2010 from their jobs as the Mystic Shieks of Morocco at Busch Gardens – can overcome their limited repertoire.

They actually put on one of their best performances, but that particular round was up to audience voting so the judges' opinions didn't really matter. It was kind of infuriating because these guys had the crowd on their feet, going nuts, but nope. America would rather watch a shitty fourth-rate comedian pretend to make his dog talk.

and then the walking cane

^he had a sword in this thing btw

My kid just went to Kermit Ruffin's fairly new place and saw him perform (waiting for a full report when he gets back)

http://uptownmessenger.com/2012/08/owen-courreges-the-latest-weapon-in-the-war-on-live-music/

Blogpost suggests the Mayor and a councilmember are trying to shut down some live music joints

And under 21s can't get into DBA. WHy can't they do a hand-stamp or wristband thing like elsewhere for the youngins?

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Landrieu-announces-partnership-to-cut-down-on-nuisance-bars-162791386.html

http://www.offbeat.com/2012/08/07/new-orleans-supports-circle-bar/?utm_source=WB+08+09+12&utm_campaign=Weekly+Beat+8%2F09%2F12&utm_medium=email

Seeing Howard Tate at The Circle Bar ranks among my best "club" experiences ever.

new new orleans is all about zoning and permits. it's fucking stupid. fuck mitch landrieu.

new orleans was kinda fun once. it's actually gotten less post-apocalyptic after an actual apocalypse. sucks. did yall see the NYT article about new york "mixologists" moving to new orleans to make "craft cocktails" for our new post-katrina yuppie carpetbagger class? kill me.

ha sorry this is like #10000 in a list of supposed improvements that are making this less and less a livable city for regular people

Kermit Ruffins gets OK to re-open Mother-in-Law Lounge. http://www.offbeat.com/2012/08/16/ruffins-wins-mother-in-law-loungesoon-reopens/

Kermit now runs 2 or 3 places. Way to go.

Headed to NOLA in last September and would like to see him, but where? His new joint, Vaughan's or maybe the Blue Nile? Love the fact that he's doing earlier shows.

On Sundays and Mondays he is scheduled to perform early at his new place--Kermit's Treme Speakeasy Restaurant from 6pm through 7:30 pm- with his band the BBQ Swingers at 1535 Basin St., but when my kid was down there recently and went to see him there, Kermit came on later than that because he had also scheduled himself to play another function somewhere. My son said the show was packed and sent me a phone-video clip of Kermit and band doing Black Eyed peas "I Got a Feeling". There were people standing between tables.

My kid said the food was good also.

i would say go to vaughan's to see him but he only shows up like 50% of the time these days, he often sends like corey henry or someone instead, tourists can't tell the difference.

I'm a tourist and I knew the difference LOL! I went to Vaughan's on a Thursday night last year expecting to see Kermit, only to be told at the door that he was out of town. Corey Henry was leading the band and they were great. Can't beat free red beans and rice, too.

Forgot that Kermit plays a lot at Bullets, too. I've read that's a must-go-to club.

corey's great, absolutely. and i suspect you are a more discerning tourist than most.

i've still never been to bullets, people are always pretty positive about it. it's in a neighborhood a lot of people who visit new orleans wouldn't see otherwise so i'd recommend it for that alone.

http://www.offbeat.com/2012/08/22/oh-boo-hoo/?utm_source=WB+08+23+12&utm_campaign=Weekly+Beat+8%2F23%2F12&utm_medium=email

Offbeat re more noise complaints

Just in time for the anniversary of Katrina on Wednesday

New Orleans area now in danger of direct hit by Isaac late Tuesday

Published: Sunday, August 26, 2012, 3:54 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

National Hurricane Center forecasters declared a hurricane warning for New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana, and now predict that Tropical Storm Isaac will make landfall just east of the New Orleans area, at the Louisiana-Mississippi border, as a strong Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 100 mph Wednesday morning. The forecast indicates the storm will be just off the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 1 hurricane at 2 p.m. Tuesday, meaning the storm's weaker western side could hammer the New Orleans area for 24 hours.

Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency this afternoon, recommending voluntary evacuation of areas outside the hurricane levee system in the 15 Louisiana parishes that are in the forecast's hurricane watch area.

12 to 20 inches of rain

many folks without power. Will there be flooding?

http://www.offbeat.com/2012/07/31/glen-david-andrews-faces-attempted-murder-charge/?utm_source=WB+08+30+12&utm_campaign=Weekly+Beat+8%2F30%2F12&utm_medium=email

Glen's got some issues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr5ye3WErWs

Nice. Do you have more bandmembers than a few years ago?

Alison Fensterstock ‏@AlisonF_NOLA
There was a mother hen with storm-ruffled feathers walking on St Claude with chicks & I wish the mobile network worked enough to post a pic

like most brass bands it varies from gig to gig, but we had add extra trumpet there and a few long-time crew members on aux perc.

James 'Sugar Boy' Crawford, New Orleans rhythm & blues singer of 'Jock-A-Mo,' dies at 77
Published: Saturday, September 15, 2012, 10:02 AM
Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune

James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, the New Orleans rhythm & blues singer who wrote and recorded the enduring Mardi Gras season standard “Jock-A-Mo,” died early Saturday after a brief illness. He was 77.

“Jock-A-Mo” borrowed its lyrics from age-old Mardi Gras Indian chants. It was later remade by the Dixie Cups as “Iko Iko.” Artists as diverse as Dr. John, the Grateful Dead and Cyndi Lauper also recorded variations.

Mr. Crawford’s own career came to a premature end following a police beating in 1963. Only in recent years did he return to the stage, and then only occasionally.

Dubbed “Sugar Boy” as a child, Mr. Crawford grew up around LaSalle Street. He played trombone while attending Booker T. Washington High School. He also formed a rhythm & blues band that deejay Dr. Daddy-O dubbed the Chapaka Shawee, after one of the band's instrumentals. The group performed in local clubs and released a single on Aladdin Records.

Leonard Chess, co-founder of Chess Records, happened to hear the Chapaka Shawee at radio station WMRY while in New Orleans. He made what was purportedly an audition tape of the group.

“The man paid me $5, and I went and bought some wine and red beans,” Mr. Crawford recalled for The Times-Picayune’s Sheila Stroup this spring.

Weeks later, a disc jockey at the station presented Crawford with a 78 rpm record of “I Don't Know What I’ll Do.” It was manufactured from the audition tape and credited to Sugar Boy & His Cane Cutters.

In November 1953, at age 19, Mr. Crawford recorded his composition “Jock-A-Mo” at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studio on North Rampart Street, with a band that included Snooks Eaglin on guitar. He did not know what the lyrics meant.

“It was just a couple of Indian chants I put together and made a song out of them,” he said.

In a 2002 interview with OffBeat magazine, Mr. Crawford said he actually sang "Chock-a-Mo." But Leonard Chess, listening to the recording in Chicago, heard "Jock-A-Mo" and dubbed that as the title.

Released on the Chess subsidiary Checker Records, "Jock-A-Mo" was a hit during the 1954 Carnival season and a boon to Mr. Crawford’s career. He became popular on the fraternity circuit at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and toured around the country, even though he was too young to perform in venues where alcohol was served.

“I was so young, they had to send my money home to my people,” he said. "They had to stop serving liquor when I performed."

Over the next decade, he recorded for various labels, including Imperial Records, releasing such singles as "I Bowed on My Knees,” “You Gave Me Love,” "Morning Star" and "She's Gotta Wobble (When She Walks)."

But in 1963, his career, and life, took a tragic turn. En route to a show in Monroe with his band, he was stopped by police and badly pistol-whipped.

"The sheriff in Columbia called ahead, and they had a roadblock set up for me,” he recalled. "It was the time of the Freedom Riders, and the police jumped on me and cracked my skull."

The beating left Mr. Crawford in a coma. A metal plate replaced part of his badly damaged skull. When he awoke, he had lost much of his memory. “I had a brain injury, and it took me two years to come back,” he said. “I had to learn how to walk, talk, play the piano, everything.

“I don't have to hear people talk about those times. I lived them.”

He briefly attempted a comeback, but was discouraged by what he perceived as his diminished talent. He subsequently retired from rhythm & blues. For decades, he confined his singing to the church.

He went to trade school and became a building engineer. For several years he maintained the Masonic Temple building on St. Charles Avenue. Later, he owned and operated C&C Locksmith, and lived in Gentilly. After sorting out the publishing rights to his old catalog, he earned royalties whenever "Jock-A-Mo" or one of its derivatives turned up in movies or commercials, such as when the Belle Stars’ recording of “Iko Iko" appeared on the "Rain Man" soundtrack.

It was his grandson, the pianist and singer Davell Crawford, who coaxed Mr. Crawford out of retirement. He appeared on Davell’s 1995 CD “Let Them Talk,” and subsequently joined his grandson onstage, including at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

In recent years, those appearances became more frequent. Mr. Crawford guested with gospel singer Jo “Cool” Davis as recently as the 2012 Jazz Fest.

Mr. Crawford also taped scenes with Davell for an episode of the upcoming third season of HBO’s “Treme.”

"Jock-A-Mo," both the song and the phrase, is ingrained in the local consciousness. Dr. John, who originally recorded the song for his 1972 album "Dr. John's Gumbo," performed it during halftime of the 2008 NBA Allstar Game in New Orleans. The Abita Brewing Company named one of its beers Jockamo IPA.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Staff writer Sheila Stroup contributed to this obituary.

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