Make a Joyful Noise: a Brief History of Modern New

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE A BRIEF HISTORy of—AND TUTORIAl on— MODERN NEW ORLEANS BRASS-BAND ARRANGING By Jennifer Odell 48 JAZZTIMES • EDUCATION GUIDE 2014/2015 ← Caption goes here and here and here. Caption on one line here. Maybe to here. CREDIT HERE hen the Stooges Brass Band For Stooges bandleader Walter “Whoadie” performs Paul Barbarin’s classic Ramsey, an alumnus of the prestigious music pro- homage to New Orleans street gram at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts parades, it doesn’t take long for (NOCCA), arranging usually involves embellishing things to get loose. A trombone the basic structure of a traditional brass-band tune Wgrowls out a raw bottom note, mid-intro. A trumpet with ideas drawn from his experience studying the sidesteps the melody, weaving circular improvisa- wider jazz paradigm. “With ‘Paul Barbarin,’ we were tions weaned on bop. A percussionist taps out trip- able to add some of our bebop elements and feelings lets that swoop over and under the main rhythm, just to make it swing. We added different types of as seemingly weightless as dancers in a second-line backgrounds than what you’d regularly hear when parade. they originally recorded that,” says Ramsey. While the tune retains enough of its original “The Stooges took elements of hip-hop and form to maintain its identity as “(Paul Barbarin’s) bebop, jazz and R&B and modernized it in a brass- The Second Line,” the Stooges’ arrangement reflects band form, so you’re gonna get a lot of different the looser, more updated style that’s overtaken New chord changes and progressions than just a regular Orleans brass-band culture since Barbarin recorded I-IV-V progression. That’s what makes us differ- the song in the early 1950s. On the flip side, the ent from a lot of brass bands: the energy and the CREDIT HERE Stooges’ original compositions and arrangements of progressions,” he adds. more contemporary music tend to stay structurally Of course, melding different stylistic elements rooted in the traditional New Orleans style brass- into brass-band tunes isn’t a new concept. The band form. approach was pioneered in the 1960s and ’70s … by Harold Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band, which began adding R&B like the music of Ray Charles That combination of approaches factors to the mix. By the early ’80s, the Dirty Dozen was into the arrangements of most of the city’s top brass incorporating covers of Thelonious Monk and bands, in large part because no matter how progres- Charlie Parker—inspiring the likes of Philip and sive the players may be, the history of the music Keith Frazier, the tuba and bass-drum team behind continues to flavor the arrangements. The particu- the Rebirth Brass Band, which then continued the lars of the New Orleans brass-band vernacular—the evolution. use of dirges contrasted with uptempo sections, for The culture of uniformed bands performing example, or breakdowns that expand and contract hymns and standards at slower, more regular tem- based on the progress of a moving second-line pos—often with the help of a clarinet and baritone parade—lend a unique style to the arrangements as sax—still exists today. But the popularity of the well. Olympia, Dozen and Rebirth helped trigger an JAZZTIMES.COM 49 explosion of stylistic experimentation on by the rest of the band is usually flexible. the brass-band scene. “I love it. I’m glad “We may change the background or it may they’re doing it,” says Philip Frazier, name- stay the same. That’s spontaneous; that’s checking the Pinettes, the TBC and the just something that comes off of you. … Most Wanted as groups with the chops to Then after the solo section we play the head continue pushing the music forward. together collectively and the song ends.” Meanwhile, Ramsey, a more established In a traditionally styled brass-band tune, member of that new wave of brass bands, the trumpet plays the melody relatively looks to Rebirth as an exemplar of what’s straight, with only a few embellishments, possible within the increasingly blurred Smith noted, while the clarinet plays a boundaries of brass-band music. “The combination of obbligato and runs befit- concept of brass-band music stays the same ting the chord changes or harmony. no matter what music style you add to it,” A few hours after Satchmo Summerfest, he asserts. Smith and PresHall Brass were slated to “If you take a Bob Marley song like ‘I perform an Olympia Brass Band tribute Shot the Sheriff’ and put it in a brass-band set at the hall. And while there’s some flex- arrangement, we might play the melody ibility with certain tunes, Smith noted that twice or different things like that to fit the arrangements they’d use that evening the brass-band format. ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ would stick pretty close to those played by doesn’t have a breakdown but we would Dejan’s original band. “The Olympia popu- add one to it,” he says, referencing the larized several songs which are still played improvisation-heavy interludes of percus- “The concepT OF by everybody, and the arrangements they sion, chants or horns often used when a did are what’s done by everybody [today],” parade’s forward motion (or lack thereof) BRASS-BAND MUSIC he said, citing tunes like “I Got a Woman,” warrants it. “And we know reggae’s got a “I’m Walkin’” and “This Train.” “They certain syncopated beat, so you want to STAYS THE SAME NO weren’t all trad songs,” Smith noted, “but tune the horns so they’re making a similar MATTER WHAT MUSIC this band was also popular for incorporat- syncopated sound that’s repetitive, like ing more R&B into the New Orleans brass- ‘bomp-ah … bomp-ah … bomp-ah … STYLE YOU ADD TO IT.” band style, which is actually the beginning bomp-ah.’ It’s the same vibe. It’s reggae but of the metamorphosis.” it’s the brass-band sense of playing.” – StoogeS BANDLEADER WALter “Whoadie” RAMSEY … … Today, no brass band better Before tweaking the tradition process employed by so many of the bands. represents the evolution from traditional with as much success as the Stooges, Outlining the basic structure, he ex- to progressive than the Soul Rebels. Snare however, an arranger needs a working plained, “The heads of the song are gener- drummer Lumar Leblanc and bass drum- knowledge of the music’s fundamentals. ally played with the melody being done by mer Derrick Moss began moonlighting as Trumpeter Will Smith is among the the trumpet player … and then you have the Soul Rebels in the early 1990s, while city’s most accomplished brass-band the reeds, or in the real authentic, original they were members of Harold Dejan’s players in both the traditional and more style, just the clarinet was mainly playing Olympia incubator band, the Young contemporary styles. Smith grew up visit- obbligato. Olympia. Their alter-ego group represented ing Preservation Hall with his older sister, “The counterpoints are done in general a desire to experiment with hip-hop and Dodie Smith, an employee of the hall who by reed instruments, even though if you’ve pop within the brass-band format. They helped found the New Orleans Jazz & Heri- got two or three trumpets, a trumpet can ultimately broke off from Dejan’s group to tage Foundation. Inspired by what he saw function in that capacity. Also, you have focus on their own sound, which makes and heard at the hall, Smith joined Danny the bass and the trombone creating a copious use of music you can find on Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church Brass tailgating effect. The tailgate is strictly to mainstream radio. The Soul Rebels’ ar- Band before graduating to the Olympia, the come after a phrase in a song: [The player’s] rangements, as well as their collaborations Chosen Few and other influential groups. not gonna be making any kinds of sounds with acts like Metallica and rapper Prodigy, During a break between sets with Pres- other than a harmony note during the underscore the vast potential for riffing ervation Hall’s new PresHall Brass outfit at melody. After that particular part of the on the New Orleans brass-band sound Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans this melody, then he’s playing like a dragging while venturing far outside its traditional summer, Smith reflected on some of the kind of sound that brings it in to where the parameters. key components of arranging in the New chord change is.” One of the Rebels’ most popular tunes Orleans brass-band style. He emphasized He added that “whether it’s rhythmic or is a rendition of the Eurythmics classic that this is ensemble music, a factor that if it’s just holding a note to create a chord “Sweet Dreams,” which is making its way contributes to the group-based arranging behind the soloist,” the background played into the larger canon of New Orleans brass- 50 JAZZTIMES • EDUCATION GUIDE 2014/2015 ← Caption goes here and here and here. Caption on one line here.. band music as younger bands perform it left their second-line with increasing regularity in second-line roots and strictly play parades. It also represents the potential stage and studio per- of almost any style of music to work in a formances). A version brass setting with the right arrangement. featuring Leblanc and “We had been exposed to the tune on sheet Moss also appears on music,” says Leblanc, describing the song’s a recording helmed by path from ’80s synth-pop to brass.

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