Rhythm, Dance, and Resistance in the New Orleans Second Line

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles “We Made It Through That Water”: Rhythm, Dance, and Resistance in the New Orleans Second Line A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Benjamin Grant Doleac 2018 © Copyright by Benjamin Grant Doleac 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “We Made It Through That Water”: Rhythm, Dance, and Resistance in the New Orleans Second Line by Benjamin Grant Doleac Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Cheryl L. Keyes, Chair The black brass band parade known as the second line has been a staple of New Orleans culture for nearly 150 years. Through more than a century of social, political and demographic upheaval, the second line has persisted as an institution in the city’s black community, with its swinging march beats and emphasis on collective improvisation eventually giving rise to jazz, funk, and a multitude of other popular genres both locally and around the world. More than any other local custom, the second line served as a crucible in which the participatory, syncretic character of black music in New Orleans took shape. While the beat of the second line reverberates far beyond the city limits today, the neighborhoods that provide the parade’s sustenance face grave challenges to their existence. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina tore up the economic and cultural fabric of New Orleans, these largely poor communities are plagued on one side by underfunded schools and internecine violence, and on the other by the rising tide of post-disaster gentrification and the redlining-in- disguise of neoliberal urban policy. At the same time, second lines are attracting broader crowds ii and greater media attention than ever before, with film crews, journalists, smartphone videographers and scholars like me descending on the parade in droves every Sunday. Drawing from three and a half years of field and archival research and over thirty interviews with musicians, dancers, and educators, I explore the past and present of the second line, its rhythms and its participants, and how the key players in New Orleans second line culture utilize the parade to navigate the challenges of the present, to reconstruct community histories and reclaim neighborhood space, and ultimately to forge an expressive narrative of resistance and pride against the threat of cultural erasure. iii The dissertation of Benjamin Doleac is approved. Münir N. Beken Robin Davis Gibran Kelley Ali J. Racy Cheryl L. Keyes, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix Vita xi Introduction: Second Lining in the Streets of New Orleans 1 The Expressive Politics of Style: Second Line Rhythm and Dance 6 Literature Review 10 Culture as Process/Culture as Memory 10 Culture as Discourse of Resistance 13 Sociopolitical Histories of Black New Orleans 15 Second Line Music: Historical Studies 19 Second Line Ethnographies 21 Original Contribution and Chapter Overview 24 Chapter 1: Roots of the Second Line: African Americans in New Orleans, 31 1719-1896 Black Life in Louisiana: Beginnings 32 Black Mutual Aid Societies in New Orleans: Beginnings 37 Congo Square 41 Black Musical Life in the Antebellum Period 48 The Reconstruction and the Emergence of Second Line Culture 52 Creole and Black Brass Bands at the Turn of the Century 57 Jim Crow and the New Racial Order 60 Chapter 2: Traditions in Transition: Second Lining and the Black Public Sphere 64 in New Orleans, 1896-1985 Storyville, Buddy Bolden and the First Jazz Bands 67 Backlash and Breakthrough 73 Accommodation, Integration, and Organization 80 Migrating Rhythms at Midcentury: Professor Longhair and New Orleans R&B 90 Brass Bands at Midcentury: Bunk’s Brass Band, Eureka and Olympia 94 Danny Barker’s Fairview Band 104 The Dirty Dozen and the Brass Band Renaissance 109 v Chapter 3: No Calm Before the Storm: The Second Line Before and After Katrina, 116 1985-2014 To Be Continued: A Brass Band in the Postindustrial City 119 Brass Band Fusions: Hip Hop and Bounce 124 Conflicts: Tradition Vs. Innovation 128 Social Realities and Community Responses in Turn-of-the-Millennium 134 New Orleans The Storm Hits 141 After the Storm: 2005-2014 147 Chapter 4: The Contemporary Second Line: A First-Person Look 168 Entering the Field 168 Writing About the Parade 170 Rest in Peace, Trumpet Black 178 “STILL ON THE MAP”: Second Lining on the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane 197 Katrina Chapter 5: Second Line Culture Beyond the Parades 211 Club Shows 211 Street Performances 226 School Marching Bands 237 Marching Clubs 255 Conclusion: Dancing Through that Water 262 Concluding Thoughts, Caveats and Future Possibilities 266 Works Cited 274 vi Table of Figures Figure 1: Queen Johanna Vail coming out the door of the Treme Community Center 3 Figure 2: Parading through Treme 3 Figure 3: Dumaine Street Gang 18th annual second line route with stops 4 Figure 4: The “Big Four” 7 Figure 5: The “Joe Avery” horn call 9 Figure 6: “Under the bridge” at the Ladies and Gents second line 9 Figure 1-1: Congo Square 41 Figure 1-2: Contemporary drum circle in Congo Square 41 Figure 1-3: Bamboula beat 46 Figure 1-4: Tresillo pattern 46 Figure 1-5: Clave rhythm 46 Figure 1-6: Habanera rhythm 47 Figure 1-7: Cinquillo rhythm 47 Figure 1-8: The three municipalities: Norman’s Plan of New Orleans and Environs, 51 1849 Figure 2-1: “Tipitina” drum pattern 94 Figure 2-2: Album cover of “The Music of New Orleans, Vol. 2: Music of the Eureka 99 Brass Band” Figure 2-3: Danny Barker and the Fairview Baptist Church Christian Band, 1971 106 Figure 3-1: To Be Continued Brass Band on the cover of their self-titled 2013 album 119 Figure 3-2: The Soul Rebels Brass Band 130 vii Figure 3-3: Former residents “reinvade” the C.J. Peete Public Housing Complex 155 Figure 4-1: Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill’s funeral second line reaches the Trumpet 194 Black mural Figure 4-2: Katrina 10th Memorial Second Line, August 29, 2015 201 Figure 4-3: Dancers summit a moving van under the bridge, Katrina 10th Memorial 204 Second Line Figure 4-4: “Battle of the bands,” Katrina 10th Memorial Second Line 209 Figure 5-1: Original Pinettes Brass Band at Bullet’s Sports Bar 223 Figure 5-2: Free Spirits Brass Band at Jackson Square 229 viii Acknowledgements A great number of people helped me on this journey, providing guidance, feedback, inspiration, and emotional support when I needed it. First and foremost, I want to thank my advisor, Dr. Cheryl Keyes, a Louisiana native, jazz scholar, and brilliant musician in her own right whose deep knowledge of black music history – and of the Crescent City’s rich musical and cultural history – proved invaluable as I embarked on this amorphous ethnographic and historical project, and whose level-headedness, patience, and common sense provided an anchor on the all too frequent occasions when I doubted my work and its value. The other members of my dissertation committee – Dr. Robin Kelley, Dr. A.J. Racy, and Dr. Münir Beken – have all provided critical feedback and wisdom. I could not have completed this dissertation without them. I would also like to thank several of my colleagues and mentors at UCLA and at other institutions, including Dr. James Newton and Dr. Scot Brown; my fellow graduate students Otto Stuparitz, Darci Sprengel, Alex Rodriguez, Eric Schmidt, Deonte Harris, Marc Bolin, Rose Boomsma, Logan Clark, Alyssa Matthias, Helga Zambrano, and A.J. Kluth; Kyle DeCosde at Columbia University; Dr. Matt Sakakeeny at Tulane University; Dr. Rachel Carrico at the University of Oregon; and Dr. Connie Atkinson at the University of New Orleans. The musicians, dancers, and educators I interviewed for this project are some of the most remarkable people I have ever met. I did not have the space to directly quote all of my interviewees herein, but they all have vital stories to tell and deserve greater public recognition for their contributions to the culture. I want to offer my gratitude to everyone I interviewed for this project here: Herlin Riley, Johnny Vidacovich, Charles Connor, Russell Batiste, Natasha ix Harris, Walter “Whoadie” Ramsey, Melissa “DJ Soul Sister” Weber, Raymond Weber, Benny Jones, Gerald French, Roger Lewis, Phil Frazier, Derrick Tabb, Keith Frazier, Russell Batiste, Kenan Batiste, Brenard “Bunny” Adams, George Brown, Christie Jourdain, Darren Towns, Wilbert Rawlins, Irving “Spyboy Honey” Bannister, Floyd Gray, Ellis Joseph, Judy Hill, James Andrews, Jenard Andrews, Roderick “YF Scubble” Davis, Elsie Miller, Belden “Noonie” Batiste, James “Jams” Marotta, Lumar LeBlanc, Jerel Brown, Glen Finnister Andrews, Wilbert Rawlins, Norman Dixon, Jr., Ed Buckner, Craig Adams, Sean King, Luther Gray, Lionel Batiste, Jr., Christopher Herrero, Kerry Hunter, Alexis Pierce, Chris Tero, and Bill Summers. Thank you for your time, your wisdom and your willingness to share your stories with me. Many of the friends I made while conducting field research in New Orleans proved to be invaluable resources, alerting me to important events and helping me make vital connections within the community. I would like to thank Mike Mastrogiovani, Nita Ketner and Dave Ankers at WWOZ, Alex Murcia, Ben Myers, Anna Scott, and Dr. Brice Miller for helping me get oriented to the city and introducing me to so many of the incredible people who keep second line culture alive. Finally, I would like to thank my family – Mom, Dad, and Chris – for their love, support, and encouragement. You believed in me and my work even when I wasn’t sure that I did. I am forever in your debt.

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