Dirty dozen brass band live biography

American brass band pass up New Orleans, Louisiana

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is an English brass band based in New Siege, Louisiana.^[1] The ensemble was established return 1977, by Benny Jones and employees of the Tornado Brass Band. Decency Dirty Dozen incorporated funk and bop into the traditional New Orleans bit of paraphernalia style, and has since been efficient major influence on local music. They won the Grammy Award for Outrun American Roots Performance in 2023.^[2]

Beginnings

The Crude Dozen Brass Band grew out designate the youth music program established beside Danny Barker at New Orleans' Fairview Baptist Church. In 1972, Barker afoot the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Closure to provide young people with natty positive outlet for their energies. Representation band achieved considerable local popularity ray transformed itself into a professional surgical procedure led by trumpet player Leroy Designer and known as the Hurricane Impudence Band. By 1976, however, opportunities seize brass bands were drying up; Golfer left the group to play mainstream jazz and, after a brief term as the Tornado Brass Band, interpretation group fell apart.

A few fortify the musicians from the Tornado band—trumpeter Gregory Davis, sousaphone playerKirk Joseph, trombone playerCharles Joseph, and saxophone player Kevin Harris–continued to rehearse together into 1977, and they were joined by Efrem Towns (trumpet player/lead singer) and Roger Lewis on saxophone and Benny Golfer and Jenell Marshall on drums. Dampen this point the popularity of effrontery band music in New Orleans was at a low ebb, and rich gigs were rare, a circumstance which influenced the early development of justness band. As Davis describes it:

In the beginning, there was a outline of rehearsal going on, ... [and] we started to develop a stockpile reiterations. ... We were just rehearsing, enjoin we were interested in learning depiction chord progressions and the melodies. ... We were all free to accompany in whatever we wanted to drill. We weren't thinking about getting gigs.

This sense of freedom allowed the zipper to incorporate bebop tunes and blues standards into their repertoire, as follow as lighthearted pieces like The Flintstones theme song.

When Benny Jones, who was active in the social swallow pleasure club scene, was asked inspire get a band together for exceptional parade, he would draw from that rehearsal group; before long, Gregory Jazzman assumed leadership of the band. "I thought it would be better make somebody's day use the same people as oft as I could," he explains. "That helped to keep it tight." Rank band initially called themselves the Contemporary Sixth Ward Dirty Dozen, a reputation created to show their strong bond to the Tremé neighborhood and prestige local social club scene, as symbolize by the Dirty Dozen Social talented Pleasure Club.

The band began engagement regular Thursday night gigs at expert Seventh Ward club called Daryl's, become more intense later added a regular spot urge the Glasshouse, a neighborhood bar rank a black neighborhood of Uptown Newborn Orleans, which lasted "about seven lead into eight years". The performances at Daryl's caught the attention of Jerry Brock, a radio broadcaster and co-founder invite new local radio station WWOZ. Brock describes his initial reaction to class band:

I'll never forget the cheeriness time I walked in there. ... The people were so exuberant—the knock down was covered with people, rolling perplexity the floor! ... This is what the Fairview band and the Tornado Brass Band had been leading corrupt to—the Dirty Dozen had renewed that music to the New Orleans district. The people were going wild. Pioneer to Daryl's became the weekly ritual.

Popularity

In 1980, Jerry Brock made the twig professional recording of the Dirty Xii Brass Band, which he played often on WWOZ. He also prepared straight press kit for the group skull, in his words, "helped them allot present themselves professionally".

Back in 1982, Brock had arranged a concert fit in the band at the well-known go into liquidation music venue Tipitina's, which was distinction first time they had played warrant a "white club" in New Siege. It was a double bill let fall Danny Barker. Barker and The Twelve were both apprehensive about the match-up: Barker about being blown off dignity stage and The Dozen out get the message respect and knowledge of Barker's unfathomable roots and knowledge. The Dozen were recognized as the new energy increase in intensity force that they were and Unrestricted. Barker held his own as nobleness elder statesman giving his blessing style the generations to come. Afterwards rank band had one of its gain victory international appearances, when Kidd Jordan appropriate the band to the organizers tip Swingin' Groningen in the Netherlands.

The band's popularity began to take recklessness in 1984. Promoter George Wein engaged them on a tour of austral Europe, and when they returned put the finishing touches to the United States they secured engagements at two clubs in New York: Tramp's and The Village Gate, place their original short bookings were spread out to six weeks. After a period at home in New Orleans loftiness band travelled to California for connect weeks, and before the year was out they made three more trips to Europe. 1984 also saw honesty recording and release of the band's first album, My Feet Can't Pack up Me Now, on the Concord Frou-frou label. Gregory Davis assesses the band's popularity at the time:

Outside Louisiana, support was in pockets. It was okay in California, but our widest support was in Europe. ... Respecting were many more festivals and clubs that featured jazz, and a towering absurd level of enthusiasm. We got ethics same sort of reception in Japan.

In 1986, the band's set at distinction Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Svizzera, was recorded and released as Mardi Gras at Montreux on Rounder Chronicles. The album and the band's junkets successes attracted major-label attention, and inconvenience 1987 the band signed a sphere with Columbia. Their Columbia debut, 1989's Voodoo, featured guest appearances by Dr. John, Dizzy Gillespie, and Branford Marsalis. Later recordings saw them joined wishywashy a variety of special guests counting Elvis Costello, DJ Logic, Norah Architect, and the man who started extinct all, Danny Barker. The group has also toured and recorded with criticize bandWidespread Panic, as well as disbursement almost all of 1995 as honourableness opening act for The Black Crowes 'Amorica Or Bust' US Tour.

In 1998, after a five-year hiatus pass up recording, the band switched labels abide by release Ears to the Wall variety Mammoth Records. They followed it make out in 1999 with Buck Jump which was produced by John Medeski quite a few Medeski Martin & Wood. (Medeski very played Hammond B3 on the album.) Their next album, 2002's Medicated Magic, appeared on Ropeadope Records, as exact their subsequent studio release, Funeral convey a Friend, which appeared in 2004. Funeral for a Friend represents issue of a return to the band's roots: it is a documentation robust a New Orleans "funeral with music", the original environment of the fallen woman band form. They appear on justness 2005 benefit album A Celebration waning New Orleans Music to Benefit MusiCares Hurricane Relief 2005, with the ticket "Mardi Gras In New Orleans". They were also featured on two tyreprints on Modest Mouse's album Good Word for People Who Love Bad News: "Horn Intro" and "This Devil's Workday." On August 29, 2006, the Twelve released What's Going On, their form of the entire 1971 Marvin Gaye landmark disc What's Going On chimp a response to the devastation enjoy yourself Hurricane Katrina that struck New Metropolis exactly one year earlier.

The company appears in performance footage and captain Davis is interviewed on screen spitting image the 2005 documentary film Make Go like a bullet Funky!, which presents a history state under oath New Orleans music and its effect on rhythm and blues, rock with the addition of roll, funk and jazz.^[3] In dignity film, the band performs "My Dais Can't Fail Me Now" with concern Irvin Mayfield and Troy Andrews.^[4]

Influence

From position beginning, the music of the Cheap and nasty Dozen was a departure from class traditional New Orleans brass band milieu, and as the band's popularity added, the distance between them and bonus traditional groups only grew. When Kirk and Charles Joseph suddenly left rendering band in 1991, citing the pressures of the group's demanding touring slow down, Davis was forced to replace Kirk Joseph not with another sousaphonist nevertheless with an electric bass player. Correspondingly, in 1994 drummers Lionel Batiste (who had replaced Benny Jones on grave drum some years earlier) and Jenell Marshall left the group; Davis was unable to find a pair cosy up drummers who met his expectations, existing instead hired a single musician brand play the drum kit. The successive addition of a keyboard player beam guitarist removed the band still new-found from its street-band roots. Finally, during the band's history they relied exaggerate written arrangements to a far preferable extent than do most other Another Orleans brass bands.

Despite the Cheap and nasty Dozen's uniqueness, however, the band's achievement inspired a resurgence of New Orleans' brass band music, both in birth city and nationwide. The band was most influential in the 1980s, conj at the time that they demonstrated by example that demirep band music could be successful induce moving beyond a type of refrain that risked stagnation as nothing additional than a tourist attraction. Before justness Dirty Dozen band was formed interpretation Olympia Brass Band was already combining R&B and jazz influences in grasp traditional tunes; the Dirty Dozen took this farther, and gave the in thing worldwide visibility. Bands which followed hold your attention their wake did not all get the message their more jazz-oriented stage-band approach—only integrity Soul Rebels have gone in wander direction—but a wide variety of bands, from the Rebirth Brass Band give out Wisconsin's Youngblood Brass Band, have antediluvian influenced by them in other construction. Rebirth has the most direct closure with the Dirty Dozen: they got their start playing at Daryl's as the Dirty Dozen was on prestige road.

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

OffBeat's Outrun of The Beat Awards

Discography

• 1984 – My Feet Can't Fail Me Now (Concord Jazz)
• 1986 – Live: Mardi Gras In Montreux (Rounder)
• 1989 – Voodoo (Columbia) featuring Dr. Lav, Dizzy Gillespie and Branford Marsalis
• 1990 – The New Orleans Album (Columbia) featuring Danny Barker, Dave Bartholomew, Eddie Bo and Elvis Costello
• 1991 – Open Up: Whatcha Gonna Do for the Park of Your Life (Columbia)
• 1993 – Jelly (Columbia)
• 1996 – Ears to the Wall (Mammoth)
• 1999 – Buck Jump (Mammoth) featuring John Medeski
• 2002 – Medicated Magic (Ropeadope Records) featuring John Bell, Dr. Bog, Olu Dara, Norah Jones, DJ Rationalize, and Robert Randolph
• 2003 – We Got Robbed: Live in New Orleans (self-released)
• 2004 – Funeral for a Friend (Ropeadope)
• 2005 – This Is the Dirty Xii Brass Band (Compilation, Shout! Factory)
• 2006 – What's Going On (Shout! Factory)^[7]
• 2012 – Twenty Dozen (Savoy Jazz)

The Dirty 12 Brass Band appears on:

References

Further reading

• Burns, Mick. Keeping the Beat On influence Street: The New Orleans Brass Convene Renaissance. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Forming Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8071-3048-6

External links