Roll With It by Matt Sakakeeny Intro

7/29/2019 Roll With It by Matt Sakakeeny Intro

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roll

withitBass Bandsin he Sees of

Ne Oleans

Matt SakakeenyArtwO rk By

willie Birch


2/31


3/31

Rol

lWithitBass Bans

in h Ss of

Nw Oans

MAtt SAkAkeeny

Wih awok by

Willie BiRch

Duk Uvy Duam a 203


4/31

203 Duk Uvy

ll v

U Sa ma a- pap D y Ha Hly

yp y Ima Sym, I.

ay C Caal--ula Daa

Sakaky, a, 97

Rll w : a a Nw Ola /

a Sakaky ; w ma y ll B.

pa m (Ru ma mu)

Ilu lapal a .

isbn 978-0-8223-5552-6 (l : alk. pap)isbn 978-0-8223-5567-0 (pk. : alk. pap)

. Ba auaaNw Ola.

2. a ma muauaaNw Ola.

3. Ba um playuaaNw Ola.

I. B, ll. II. l. III. S: Ru ma mu.

ML3.7.L8s34 203

785.065097633523

20303827

Duk Uvy aully akwl upp AMs 75 PAYs Ew-m ma ulal Sy, u pa y Naal Ewm

Huma a w . ll ua, w pv u wa

pula k. ula Uvy al pv u mm

awk u k.

Rll I a mp y yu Capma a Gl w R Ba Ba.

Te paintings in this book were not selected to illustrate the writing. Te artwork and words

are meant to be an artistic pairing. All pieces were created between 20002008, using charcoal and

acrylic on paper. Te pieces dating rom 20032004 were created when Birch was artist-in-residenceat the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation.

p. Te Gangs All Here. 2000. 60 48. WiLLie birch.


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contentS

v liSt of ARtWoRk

PRologue cRoSSing the thReShold

intRoduction foRWARd Motion

3 chAPteR 1 onWARd And uPWARd

. ual a Duk

.2 Evul Hy

.3 S w R

.4 Dvlpm m

.5 T Ba B

.6 v

.7 T I Ov

.8 V a Ium

.9 a p

69 chAPteR 2 conStRAintS

2. Dw C

2.2 Culu a Bu

2.3 B Dlmma

2.4 T Bu Culu

09 chAPteR 3 PRogReSSionS

3. u D a G a

3.2 Raa3.3 a aa

3.4 u y y a Nay

3.5 uv


6/31

43 chAPteR 4 VoiceS

4. Suual Vl, Ipal Vl,

a ual ula

4.2 Jp Su llam4.3 y Dy Ha Kll Hm?

4.4 Dal Jv Sav

4.5 V a Ium a Dal ual

4.6 V mpl, u, a D

4.7 V a u

79 concluSion engAgeMentS

87 AfteRWoRd

iMAge And MuSic in the ARt of Willie BiRch

Willie Birch and Matt Sakakeeny

95 AcknoWledgMentS

99 APPendix

liSt of inteRVieWS And PuBlic eVentS

20 noteS

23 BiBliogRAPhy

227 index


7/31

liSt of ARtWoRk

ALL iMAges bY WiLLie birch

FrontisPiece Te Gangs All Here

P. uba Player on Villere Street v

P.2 Like Father Like Son

i. July 4th Birthday Celebration or Louis v

i.2 Mule Leading Funeral Procession 9

. Jazz Funeral or Big Moose 2

.2 Te Revolution Got Soul, Soul, Soul 2

.3 Musician Sitting on Drum 37.4 Olympia (Old-imer with Saxaphone) 66

2. No ears or Ernie K-Doe 68

2.2 Dancing Nasty (Uncle Lionel Doing the Bambara) 88

2.3 Te Last Mile o the Way (Mock Funeral) 89

2.4 Te Leader (Michael White) 06

3. Second Line Parade (Females in White) 08

3.2 Tree Musicians or om Dent 2

3.3 Steppin 24

4. Children Watching Parade as Drummer Passes By 42

4.2 I Can Still Hear Buddy Bolden Play 5

4.3 Playing a Dirge or a Victim o Violence 60

4.4 A Fitting Farewell or Ed Buckners Son Brandon (Unfnished

Piece) [detail] 76

c. wo ubas Playing or the Crowd 78

c.2 Brother with Straw Hat, Sunglasses, and Cross 83

A. New Birth 87

A.2 Te Second Liner 88APPendix. Saxophone Player (Waiting or Parade) 98


8/31

P.1uba Player on Villere Street. 2003. 63 48. WiLLie birch.


9/31

PRologue

cRoSSing the thReShold

o a uy Suay a Nvm 2006 I a

w a w u u a Nw Ola a-

room, waiting or the Prince o Wales Social Aid and

lau Clu a aual l paa.1

Wales is one o y or so clubs that organize these parades, in

w mm ma u a a u

a a a a. Tuu

ya al l m a u-a a a -

borhood bar called the Rock Bottom Lounge, in the Uptown neigh-

w I av lv 997, all ul up ay.

My eyes are xed on eight men in their twenties and thirties

leaning against the brick wall o the Rock Bottom, in a strip oa ua va. Ty mll au, pa-

ula uy, ul all m pk up a -w ua

m walk a a au m w -

struments: two trumpets, two trombones, a saxophone, bass drum,

a a um. u,

Rock Bottom fy open and the Prince o Wales strut out one by

one. Tis is the moment club members anticipate all year; they

all l m u . ap-pa ul-a u, l a, a ma

ma alla la, a ay al a u


10/31

PrOlOgue

a l pau w , a a a la a

a w w Prince oF WALes, . 928. T paa maal lw

wl, mua all p lu, a uly w a

.Te band and club members make up what is known as the rst line,

wl u ma , a al , mak up -

l. w mv u ak, mauv u

parked cars. Roving vendors wheel ice chests and yell Ice cold beer. Get

your water, while others set up car bars on the roos o pickup trucks

parked at designated stops. Plumes o marijuana smoke ll the air. Te

Prince o Wales take up the center o the street, fanked by rows o men

l p la pa. u y a l awl p

pa a, a w p pau

m .

T a play a a wu pau val lk;

v wll p, a ay pu, l a la. T u

k ppl u u, a a w mak u way pa my u

paa pa. a a appa a um ma

aually a v: Ja, a lak pama w w ully -

va u , a Rk, a w lv

a u-w u w ly; w a lak apl, p-

essional photographers, and journalists intermingle with others here or

. a w a, la, a upa

a ll ly mu au w w llv. Gal la-

u, m av a vl a a l, wk a

a uv a a l aua; al a mm a Sal

a lau Clu all N m a, al w llw lu mm-, au a k all Coming Out the Door or the Ninth Ward.

Gal a a p aaly y: alway m.

Te music draws us together. Our pace is set by the bass drum, snare

um, a ua, a w m u vlvm a u

proximity to the band. Along the perimeter, black motorcyclists wearing

ma la jak av m am, a ak m

pa u v ua laap. B a,

l w ma, a ma a wla a y l a akwa a p l. I mma vy


11/31

PrOlOgue

Prince o Wales the action is more concentrated and intense. Gerald is danc-

l mua a a uk u m Jm

J l av .

When we turn onto busy Magazine Street, police on motorcycle andhorse patrols have blocked o the trac. Gerald makes use o the extra

space to twirl and jump while tourists pour out o local shops to catch a

glimpse. He likes to dance alongside the band in what he calls the side-

w: a walk, jump a, al

pj, l pl, a ju wl, w k. T

mu ju p m.

T au a ua Kalamu ya Salaam v:

T a av a way m jk w l. . . . Ty

mm m fa w , l a am all uv,

al. T uly, y z up lk yv y lv w,

y p u a yu k m w. Bu

a mm la a y ak ju fa aa lk

v app.

T u w a kll a m lm a al wlm a l

a w papa: av yu , yu ju . . . . u av

av ay al kll a yu av ak pm. Ju j

a y ay a.

T l all au papa, a u az u

movement, working to bring us into synchrony. Some sounds are meant

upv: l jump a a mak w

open hands, and hip- hop blares rom the open windows o cars parked

al paa u. O u a ma aum y mu: paa maal fw w ym u a

wl wa au k, wl a upl m l wll a

mpy l l I R av a, a u ypa

ym w a umk.

Underneath it all, orming the subterranean layer o the soundscape,

mu H 8 Ba Ba. T a a ppual-m ma-

, p a ma u a amla uma w l

um a a u m lk l ppl mv.T H 8 w a w , mp , a u a


12/31

PrOlOgue

the action whoop and shout in recognition. When the procession turns onto

Louisiana Avenue, the band is playing an original song rom the 2005 album

Rock with the Hot 8, a m u a a:

Its real

We aint talking no shit

Everybody jump when the Hot 8 hit!

B a paa w m a . H a m-

p p, --, v 350 pu. Ta wy wa

play a um, ak a w wa alay

wa a z 9 m a a a 38- wa. I wa ju lk I am

w, I wa k u, l m w w m 2006. T a

k lk a m a a m ua. Nw

thirties, and everyone recognizes Bennie or his tuba playing. Hey, Big

ua! y m w ak a ak w .

echnically Bennies instrument is not a tuba but a sousaphone, and

u m tuba u m a v y kam

B ua, ua a, a ua l ll. I

890 ama J lp Sua mm w um

because the tuba was too cumbersome to march with, and o course it is

pl ma w a a, uap wa ky -

abling the mobility o marching bands. Because the development o the New

Ola a a a u alu w m yl

lak ppula mu (aal jazz, w, p, r&b, ul, uk, p-

hop) that increasingly emphasized the lower spectrum, the sousaphone

am au m pmly mual aam a am

u lak a a mu Nw Ola m yl apla. S wl B a ypa v ym -

w ml am, , a a aa w uk

and hip-hop, he can move people, literally, in ways that James Brown or

Jay-Z ul .

T w ym a y aju pu a-

sionally interrupted by a sputtering drumroll rom Dinerral Shavers, a small

ma a vz w - w a lv mall a a a

um ap v ul. Dal pwul am a wk v-time, but his eyes never look down; he is constantly scanning the action

around him while keeping in step with Bennie and bass drummer Harry


13/31

Cook to keep the crowd moving. Te rhythm sectionBennie, Dinerral,

a Hay pl maa yy a mamz -

tensity, and even at leisurely tempos their rhythmic activity has a way o

up-mp lw mu, a Gal m.

About a month aer the Prince o Wales parade, at a concert at the House

o Blues nightclub, I witnessed Dinerrals ingenuity in bringing togethermaal ym, ypa u aal Nw Ola a

a, a p-p a. T w wa ll a a Ba Ba Blwu

a wa p y Me-FM (Ol Sl a ay r&b), a

w a d Capa Cal kp au a w a am-

less mix o contemporary hip-hop (e.g., Beyoncs Irreplaceable) and local

music (e.g., Lil Rascals Brass Bands Knock with MeRock with Me).

Tu w wa ma up mly lak Nw Olaa amla

w a a mu, ay aay pyal paa -tween audience and perormer and the deaening sound system have the

potential to limit participation and encourage passive spectatorship. On-

P.2Like Father

Like Son. 200.

57 42.

WiLLiebirch.


14/31

v PrOlOgue

a Dal wk vm uu, aum um

up w a amu, wll, w lk, a ymal p-

la l. T lvl mulak a mpl plyy-

m v, k up y la, lk a Dal G Up, w a pa l m play a umll a

ul ym valu a vlum la w a crash!

o the cymbal. Cold style. Like an octopus, is how trombonist Jerome

J umm up Dal appa.

S H 8 a al paa I a a u

B, ak I ul vw m a a m I wa pu.

H l, appa ply a aa m, p ml

a mp, la ak a a, a fa a m

ml wl u z m up.

I a , al v pk w a a al u, uavl a

p aav ma w mly a v.

He spoke with gratitude about the pleasure he brought to audiences on

the street and onstage. (Its just like a eel- good music, is how he de-

Nw Ola a a a.) H pk w m p

about the Hot 8s original hip-hopinfected compositions that have ex-

pa aal p a a mu. ( y m up

a ll .) H pk w a ap w ulual apal

a a a a Nw Ola ulu a m apal

l u y lu, val, a Sal a lau Clu. (Im

ju a am ap a.) pk w pa au

l a mm, lu m Jp l-

lam, w wa u w y pl 2004 a a wy-

two, and o the diculty o perorming at their unerals. (I elt I had to play, ma w a I la, u, wa y, yI a play

au I w m a.)

a I ul av kw a m wa a B wa la

me into topical areasthe power o the brass band to move people, the

a v a a va, pm a pall ul-

tural economy, the power o music as a mediating voice in interpersonal and

uual vla wul pv m k. I al

ul av kw a, w a w wk, Dal wul m u mm H 8 yu, w k a ull appa-

ly p, Tau, lav a w a a , a


15/31

PrOlOgue v

m a , a a a yu m w a w up w

m a lv m.

So it was that two months aer rst seeing Dinerral perorm, I was watch-

B a z mua m vy a a ylead a uneral procession in his honor. In a New Orleans jazz uneral, riends

a amly a ma m u ual , ly

mvm a mal a v y mua. , p-

mv lwly a laly u a ; ,

a a a la, aally pla ual, a k up

a up-mp pual a muul ma am a -

v paa. T mu a uu ual vually all um-

al, pm ump, m, ap la, ua, a

drum, and snare drum.6 Te sound is intended to communicate to the living

a a wu u laua.

Te intensity o emotion at a jazz uneral, especially or a young musician,

u au a m a, pu, a aal m

lal lak ulu. y play ual a u avy all

a a mua, a mmu v a lly ml mua

v ll qu. av mal vau mm-

H 8 w u a Dal, y a pu

m a au uual u, play a ay pay a

a aqu a uw.

T p Nw Ola mua lk H 8 Ba

Ba ay m au valy lal lak ulu. Ty al ay

something about the insecurities o lie or many in urban centers across

the United States at the start o the twenty-rst century, a perilous state

o unending limbo that has been described as precarity. Tere is much la way a yu m u a pv

ppl w a mmuy u mu, u -

u a a w mpay p, a aly

aumula au a a a lv y play mu v .

Bu al mu m way y ma vulal

vau m k. T k llw mua a y mlz

a w am . a y R Ba Ba

pa v a v, l ll w .


16/31

I.1 July 4th Birthday Celebration or Louis. 2004. 75 60. WiLLie birch.


17/31

intRoduction

foRWARd Motion

in the summer o 997 I was working as a sound engineer

Sma, avl up a w pp

Rv am w Pbs umayRiver o Song

w u w av Nw Ola. Tu wa al

a u avlu pp, I a ay I ully

ap mau Nw Ola pua a a mual

city. Tat was about to change because I had just accepted a job

with a public radio program based in the French Quarter and

wul la Nw Ola a w m. I p,

p wa k a a a w l I wa au a a

a ma lal ulu a wul m a

al pa l. w a y Sul Rl

a J Czy C m . I mm lu-

au qupm u amp am a J

and into the back room that served as a makeshi perormance

area, with two olding tables, a space in the rear or the band,

a m a w. Camp a , u

shoulders with an energetic crowd, steadying the table that held

the recording equipment while someone climbed up to dance, Iwa l a m k a m a I wul

lv a pla w u a v wa v pl, l al


18/31

2 INtrOductION

u. Ou , J a w a v k pa

w aw paula a up l a vu ak

l.

I wa wy- a u k a ypal a a. , l-a, w ua m , aau-

, a a pual y, I a w up play k mu a

a vay uy laal ua a au .

My embrace o serious music may have been subconsciously motivated

y my aa a amak, Sakaky, a Sya ma w

wk l mll a a l a llw a ll pa ml-

class assimilation. Regardless, an internship in Europe making recordings o

l mua m pak, mak uma a Sm-

sonian Museum o American History and then as an engineer and pro-

u wkly a pamAmerican Routes. mv Nw

Ola w my l l, I p ya amlaz myl w

lal mu , w a vw w mu-

a y pam a a , Nk Spz.

I have vague, unprocessed memories o encountering brass bands in

those years. Te sound o the brass band ensemble permeates daily lie

Nw Ola a a, lk may Nw Olaa, I k

granted. Out running errands on a Saturday morning, Alex and I might stop

a a a jazz ual p ul pa y, mu

ma p ap a um, u a um,

and the boom o the tuba. When a tricked- out Monte Carlo with shiny

m uap v w u , wa uuual au

u ump, m, a ap la u p

ww. w w ma 2000, wa mm ava a a la u a mal paa u Qua.

I 2002 I a jazz ual Hal Dja, w l a ll

mp m, ly my pw lal ulu

a a a mu. Sll, yu a l m a I wul p ya

my l a a w a k au a a mua,

pma, a p, I wul av lau.

I am lak mu y way lu ua play, l

aAmerican Routes, a u -a-um p -pp ll uy, jk j uk mp, zy a

ayu, a aual u my ap mw. T wa m


19/31

INtrOductION 3

, u, my aa lak mu wa mva y a aa-

w a, m y aal plaza I w my aual

mw a wll a my a lal mu maly a ju

m ppv a my, w my la pull a vay au m ll. I 200 I ak

l a ula Uvy, ally a mu a Ga

Indians and then writing a thesis on &M Studios, where virtually every New

Ola ym a lu a ul wa ma. I u Nw Ola

mu qually a a laal mu: aally , u, a

ar more socially inclusive, but with a comparable learning curve regard-

l mu a a a y a a a

ulual w pa a p. T w

aa w maalza a a, w, a a au-

u a m Baaka, l uay, Samul ly, Cal Kl, a

Ral Raa, I a ly w pual, ul,

and hip- hop but also in the pleasurable and seemingly innocuous social

a mu a uu m.1

I 2003 I a D pam aplal uy mu

a Cluma Uvy a l m am my p Nw

Ola. Nw Ola mu ly a m pv ulu;

al a w mp al, plal, a m v ;

New Orleans musicians cannot be reduced to a collective o tradition-bearers

vual p a au ; a Nw Ola a a

ual pla vl a uly ma ua w

all pvy, aal maalza, a, a plm

a aaz pual . I my la ya uy, ju a I wa

ppa a appla u lwk Nw Ola, HuaKaa uk, all m ualz lal ulu w mu

la plal uu. I wa a a a paa p

itsel as a point o intersection or my main interests: race, power, and music.

T wa y ma a ap vy a ulual

a; ay, Nw Ola a a av ppulaz

u , val appaa, a u a av

uj uu laly uy a ma pa. I wa p-

ly mu uquy a mam a w m ; a a a y, a mual a lly lk a

a pla, a u alway , wa au vy .


20/31

4 INtrOductION

Up u Nw Ola uu 2006, I a alk w a

a mua, a paa a , a vually llaa-

pul pam, a wa u u a my a

au Nw Ola mu w m puly v a pa.T pa k a a z ppl w app

p m, mak lv, a aula p play

music. Tese musicians share qualities that evidence their collective identity.

Ty a all lak, y a all m, a m am a pvl

rights period (sometimes reerred to as the hip- hop generation). So in

, vy lm , k a a a l l u

pv ulual pa am ua lak m U Sa.

Hwv, I al my a w al a u a a a

a all a llual la u pj a ul-

u pvy a a apl ula, w av ula wly

pul u. B a lvl mal w a

a mua I av a wI valua w -

p la mam a plal .

Tese musicians are rom New Orleans and are members o three o

the citys most prominent brass bands: Rebirth, the Soul Rebels, and the

Hot 8. As such, they share qualities that evidence their collective culture.

I u paa a, y a amaa a lay a

ak m jazz a u w uy,

a u, lav a C Squa a Qua. B-

au a a paa a m a avl yml lal lak

ulu, mua av ma ak a all,

val u, a u. I a , , k

uy Nw Ola a a pal pla a mu athe ultimate barometer o the citys uniqueness.4 Where else, I wondered

a m I aw Sul Rl a J Czy C, yu lak

ma u play um a a lv mu a a -

uly umakal pa vyay av? Vually w, I

k, a ll .

Yet my investment in the idea o New Orleans exceptionalism has

changed character over time. Te experiences o New Orleans musicians

a lalz a uy aal a lal aa lakculture that is part o an equally deep and dark history o struggle or human

rights and equal citizenship. Teir stories speak not only to the power o


21/31

INtrOductION 5

local culture but also to the uneven terrain that characterizes U.S. urban

centers in the postcivil rights period, particularly or black men. Teir

au a ual zpal la a ulu-a a

unremarkable subjects whose lives and livelihoods are orever at riskmak m ally p a la pw.

As the oundation upon which my study rested began to shi

problematized by scholarship, politicized by tragedy, and humanized by

intimacymy research became less directed, more improvisational, and

messier. I could no longer conne my data within a theoretical rame-

work (expressive culture in a particular place) while other rameworks

(race, class, economics o culture, transormation o tradition, interpersonal

vl, ua uu) kp v, , a am

my u uy. T pal pav am au a a ul a

aw uj u: aul ppl I a w -

tently, the diverse experiences that they shared with me, and their public

lv a wk mua m al az ppl

k. Bau a a mua Nw Ola a vually all m, I

av u p la pul u a ma

representations o urban black men as a problem category, but women

a p a av a vy u: a m, u, a mm -

al lu, a mmuy la, pma vu, a aally

a. T ppl am am, a w am wa

ml a ll l, w w all ppual m.

During the period o most intensive eldwork, rom 2006 to 2008, I

caught people at parades and concerts, conducting research that oen inter-

sected with my work in radio. Tough I was no longer working orAmerican

Routes ulaly, Nvm 2006 I pu a m a aa l my vw w ala B

H 8, lp az R, a uma Bla Sul Rl.

S a, I al a u a umm K az R

up a vw, a y ya I wa lp a um-

m Dk a lau a al mu pam, R u.

my av al au am v w w al a a jazz

ual, a l paa, a lu , a a paa

a Haa Ca pa w ay. umm Dal Sav wa mu Dm 2006, I

l a p Naal ul Ra pam All Tings


22/31

6 INtrOductION

Considered, vuly p ala B ak wul

wll a a Dal kll w a a au. O

a ay mpyAmerican Routes u, B a H 8

m Jm J allw m ap aw m a amoment. I dont know how to describe the eeling in that room, but listening

ak I a apu m y a-

, m, p, a a v a l pau.

u u ppaa Sauay ual, B

k a l m p, a u y w au -

aw a , lw v: I kw. I ll ukw m,

ma. I ll lk a al. I v ally k w u.

Our conversation that night wound through what would become the

al m kay, ujvy, mlyy way a-

: voice. V a a alk ; a

u ma y mua u um; a a v

as a symbol o subjectivity, o the basic capacity to have a voice and the

a u . alk w m au play a jazz ual

a ama, B aly u v mmua

w a m. a a v: pak-

ing to his lost riend through music without language or music in which

laua u val lay ma . ally, v

vk a a map ay; w B la a p p-

maly lak Nw Olaa u pul pa w ly,

a , a, a a av all ak pla, a

musicians and marchers give voice to these submerged histories. Trough-

u pa a llw, mulpl ma v a w

inseparable. In a perormance such as that o the spiritual Just a Closeralk w T a Dal jazz ual, a v p:

l ma a v u um a ual

p a ymlz a mmual v.

a a plypy v ll u au a, pw, a mu?

Ba a mua a a pul p w ulz v a

instruments as technologies or producing subjectivity, identity, and cul-

ture. Teir musical practices are orms o social action, and when evalu-

ated as such they oer insight into agency as the exercise o, or against,power. Parades and musical events are mobilized by people committing

val a, ppl m l v al la-

w m, w l llam Swll J.


23/31

INtrOductION 7

ay, w u mpl aly am al la

m . T apl Sy O u a -

raphers studying living people have particular insight into the dynamic,

pwul, a mm amav lap w pa al ppl a uu y, ulu, a y. u

way a ppl uy am kw mlv a Nw O-

laa, lak ma, a ulual .

T a a v mua l m v my uy a

au subjectivity. I ma l ma plpal

mua a av vual, la lkl mua

as undierentiated carriers o culture, than in the contemporary anthro-

pological sense o individuals as subjects and agents o power, the vul-

al, al, a apaal uma wm apl

J Bl, By G, a u Klma a a a a p-

u a a a y. T u kSubjectivity:

Ethnographic Investigations pu a ulual aaly a mak

visible dierences o interests, access, power, needs, desires, and philosophi-

al ppv am vual ua w a pw.1

Human agency and subjectivity are measurable in voices material and

metaphorical, musical and verbal, including my own voice as a scholar,

jual, l, a ua Nw Ola mu. ypal a-

plal a mulal u, my v a lu w

ll a am a a lwk, u

this case the eld encompasses a diverse set o engagementsradio seg-

m, pul pam, la v, a pmaa u my

aly l Nw Ola.

Also in this network are ellow anthropologists and researchers whoa a am w lal ulu a llaa v a p-

am. I m Hl R 2006 a paa p-

lu I wa alay amla w a Sal a lau

Clu u a al. a paa la a, Hl (a a-

pl a uaa Sa Uvy) u m Ral Bu-

l (a apl a Uvy Nw Ola), a llw-

ya w a a m pal a Sy ply

N ma Nw Ola. T pal w H 8ala B , Sal a lau Clu ak mm

amaa Jak a y a, a Hu Da a a mu-

um ua Ral . w. Ral, w N


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8 INtrOductION

Sy j, a Hl, w lp u , a ulual aza-

Sv a , wk mak v a u

llaa. Ty al pv m w a ml pul am,

k a a a aaz ap lap l.11 Ral ak B av H 8 play a w

am wk a , a a my w a au a I

alz w a, y play a auu la w Ral a

ua, Da, a w y a Gal a mm

N m.1

By m I a my a a ak a j Dpa-

m u a ula Uvy, ay mla mpam-

alza my wk, m, a al lv. ula I v mua

v wkp a la la u ampu, a I v

la u a pu my u a w yu mua a

R u al pam. a ulual may, I am

mm all up a , lu aam -

, vw mua a pul pam. T I m

a l paa a a a w amly, ,

a a l am u (lu a mall um -

mul a apl).1 T a u ppal

my wk u a a al , appa pa al

k ual a ma aplal , u a

ual p Hal Dja, ala Olympa Ba

Ba w pa away a a y- 2002 (p .), a p-

ma y Ba Ba a a ak-a-w a (p 3.).

T a a events a ak pla a a pul p, lu-

wa apl Sally alk m a v aval a f a mp a

pv, upp, p .1 Tuu u azaa,

Moore draws attention to the actions o individuals in relation to larger

uu, a va v a pa ulual -

u pa a y a a paula m a ua w

a aa la pual mpla lal mm.1 Hu-

cane Katrina was, o course, a diagnostic event that directly impacted every-

one in this book, but the ull signicance o Katrina can be measured only in, w m vulal vaa a ap y

lavm, a, mpwm, a ual -


25/31

m. T l Baak Oama a lak ma p

in November 2008 was a global event that instantaneously revised these his-

a wa al a mlvl aulay a

a aul - al paa u. paa a ual

l a a v lk pa, m p, a

ap uu.

I v pally a pw la, I ak mo-

bilityo musicians practicing various orms o agency.1 Just as voice is a

kyw w lal a mapal ma, mly a

pyal a yml mvm. T jv a a mua

is to mobilize audiences to march and dance, and this work requires them totraverse social landscapes such as the bureaucracy o client-patron relations,

ppu a u a a- a, a a

ua vl. a a a a a mua yu lak m

pal al mly, u pa upal a l

with obstacles; the trick is to generate momentum within structures that

a; mamz mly pa a Blak Su

la Hu . Bak J. a aa lak p-

.1 I pa, mua au a a llw .

By ollowing musicians as they move and propel the movements o

i.2Mule Leading Funeral Procession. 2005. 72 99. WiLLie birch.


26/31

10 INtrOductION

, a y v ap a a- a au a a-

nation, I witnessed them navigating across terrains that are traditionally

segregated in subdisciplines o anthropology and ethnomusicology and I

a ak m al a pav qu: Hw a lv? aa up Hua Kaa val au -

al y vulaly, a w mu w

histories? How do deeply rooted traditions remain relevant in the dislocated

pa my? mua a m av mlz a-

, a w av mlz u vl, a, a-

a, a?

T a a paa a m, m aal jazz

ual, mmuy l paa, a my

model or contextualizing the mobilizations o individuals. Parades reside at

the center o this book, but that center is not xed; parades are always travel-

ing restlessly orward or entrancingly round and round in circles, going

ak a v am a u-plu ya u v

remaining static because the people, the music, and even the landscapes

a. Evy ay m, ul al y a up

y u m m mua, a v up -

a m a v ma. Nw ma a l

w a p.

a mak a a paa uaal my a

wa y val au a la aa u way y w may

aa, ll ppl w y a p a

a. T paa a v ma up uv a v-

lapp v, u a pma a paula , a a

rerain, the display o a dance step, or the passing o a site endowed with locala. y am w muamv al m, a

pa, a al uaam my mpla w.

T al laua a uu k wul a mm p-

la a a a paa. S a u ap a u

uv mpa p, ym mv a

paces, in a continuous fow o activity with breaks, interruptions, deviations,

val, a vly. pal aa u a v, ay, uj-

vy, a mly av ly l au I wll appa m m u, mm pau l a

times decelerating just enough to make a connection beore moving on.


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INtrOductION 11

O a pa, a ma vay a

pmy. T ppl vl a a ulm mm-

alza mu jazz ual ma k a u

mplay, pla yu a p v, aja mu-sicians, where the musical and emotional intensity makes bodies vibrate.

Other stories are recounted rom the perimeter, where interactions are more

casual, feeting, and unstructured. Participants orient themselves dierently

paa, a way I ua myl ml mpl pl-

papa a I p .

Words, as the literary critic Walter Benjamin idealized them, have the

pal u up lly aa a a p

wa p u .1 T p k

ap aav a a p p ppl, pa-

tices, and topics.1 For some scholars, this experiential mode o narrative

storytelling may limit the potential to generate exportable theory, and I have

pupully ual al aa a la may a

, lm w a m ua

a u. T v mua mml w

v aam wu a ma, u

mla u w.1

Interspersed throughout is the artwork o Willie Birch. As we discuss

in the aerword, my writing tools are comparable to Birchs methods as

a visual artist; composition, scale, contrast, and perspective are used not

mply p paa u a a ml j ym a m

a w-mal aw. Tu ppv, pla, Im

yu p a Im allw yu la

au . Ra a p al, ll a I a intentionally creating other maniestations o the real. His are dierent rom

m a, m pa, uj my a appa

in his drawings, and his musician-subjects tend to be older than those I

a u w app u uj maal a a m-

lal ml u av wk.

I w av u yu m ma a yu a a paa, -

mu u , a w w v

a, l plau u, lu la, mpw-m vulaly. mv, alway mv.


28/31

1.1Jazz Funeral or Big Moose. 2004. 85 84. WiLLie birch.


29/31

noteS

Prologue

1. Te Prince o Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club was the subject o a ulane Uni-

versity documentary project and anAmerican Routes radio segment in 2009. See

http://tulane.edu/americanroutes/pow/index.cm, accessed June 12, 2012. Joel

Dinerstein (2009) has written an article on the club, and his interactions with

club member Joe Stern, known as white Joe, as well as Dinersteins subsequent

joining o the club, indicate that black membership in clubs is not without excep-

tion. See also Dinerstein 2013.2. Nine imes Social and Pleasure Club 2006: 118.

3. Salaam 2008.

4. On assemblage, see Deleuze and Guattari (1987: 34286). Tough I do not reer-

ence Deleuze and Guattari, throughout the text I approach the brass band as an

assemblage, along the lines o Deleuzes (2007: 176) description: In assemblages

you nd states o things, bodies, various combinations o bodies, hodgepodges;

but you also nd utterances, modes o expression, and whole regimes o signs.

5. Tere are brass band traditions in many Arican and diasporic cultures, and evi-

dence suggests that they developed in dialogue with recordings o American jazz

and popular Caribbean styles. For an overview o brass bands in ormer colonial

territories, see Flaes 2000; Reily and Brucher orthcoming.

6. Te clarinet was the original reed instrument used in marching bands but was

gradually supplanted by the tenor saxophone starting in the 1920s. However,

since the clarinet became associated with the traditional New Orleans style, it

continues to be used in explicitly traditionalist jazz and brass bands (as well as

school marching bands). See Hazeldine (1984: 22) regarding the debate among

musicians about the traditional use o the clarinet.

7. Precarityis a term encompassing the eects o the neoliberal state on its subjects.

See, or example, Neilson and Rossiter (2008).


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202 NOteS tO INtrOductION

Introduction

1. Studies o black American music explicitly situated in the context o race and

power include Jones 1963; Keil 1966; Murray 1976; Floyd 1995; Radano 2003. For

anthropological studies o the politics o pleasurable music and dance, see Meint-

jes 2004; B. White 2008.

2. Studies o the New Orleans brass band tradition include Schaer 1977; Knowles

1996; White 2001; Burns 2006.

3. I am reerring to three strands o scholarship: (1) the sociology o the ghetto

pioneered by members o the Chicago School such as Louis Wirth (1928), car-

ried orward in the culture o poverty studies initiated by Oscar Lewis (1961),

and then theories o the underclass proposed by William Julius Wilson (1987),

which have been ormidably critiqued by Robin Kelley (1997), Micaela di

Leonardo (1998: 11227), and Loc Wacquant (2002), even as they continue to

reappear (Small, Harding, and Lamont 2010); (2) the anthropology o black

American expressive culture, led by Franz Boass students Zora Neale Hurston

(1935) and Melville Herskovits (1941), reaching peak activity in the civil rights

era with Roger Abrahams (1964) and other anthropologists (Whitten and

Szwed 1971); and (3) the ethnographic, ethnomusicological study o black

music in U.S. cities, launched by Keil (1966) and then virtually abandoned

(Sakakeeny 2005: 14447), with exceptions including Gaunt (2006), Sakakeeny

(2010), and . Jackson (2012).

4. Foundational studies o New Orleans music include Ramsey and Smith (1939)on jazz and Berry, Foose, and Jones (1986) on rhythm and blues and subsequent

styles. Te critical reevaluation o New Orleans music has so ar been limited to

historical studies o traditional jazz by Lawrence Gushee (2005), Tomas Brothers

(2006), and Bruce Raeburn (2009).

5. On the problem o the black American male, see Mincy 2006; National Urban

League 2007. I recognize that my ocus on black men perpetuates the marginal-

ization o black women in scholarly studies, though I make reerences on occa-

sion to the intersection o racial and gender inequalities. On black eminism, see

Collins 1990.6. Here and throughout I ollow musicians in using horn as a covering term or

any wind instrument, including brass and reeds.

7. Sewell 1992: 20.

8. Ortner 2006: 133.

9. Biehl, Good, and Kleinman 2007: 14. For critiques o musicologys great men

narratives, see McClary 1991; Goehr 1994. For critiques o olklores romanticiza-

tion o the olk, see Bendix 1997; Filene 2000.

10. Biehl et al. 2007: 89.

11. Rachel and Helen have cowritten two articles about collaborative ethnography(Breunlin and Regis 2009; Breunlin, Regis, and Lewis 2011). Teir ethnographic

study o the Nine imes Social Aid and Pleasure Club is a companion piece to the

Nine imes book (Breunlin and Regis 2006).


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NOteS tO INtrOductION 203

12. On ethnography at home, see Peirano (1998) and the introduction and case

studies in Amit (2000).

13. So ar I have had the pleasure o taking academics and riends Mare Abe, Steve

Feld, Jocelyne Guilbault, Anne Lovell, Dave Novak, Ana Mara Ochoa, Ryan

Skinner, and Mick aussig to brass band parades.

14. Falk Moore 1987: 730. See also Falk Moore 2005.

15. Falk Moore 1987: 735.

16. oo ofen, southern blackness is equated with stasis or slowness, the counterpoint

to migration rom South to North, which is nearly always equated with upward

social mobility, as evidenced by the titles o the best-selling books Te Promised

Land: Te Great Black Migration and How It Changed America , and Te Warmth

of Other Suns: Te Epic Story of Americas Great Migration. In ormulations such

as these, movement in the South can only be accommodated in terms o return

and/or redemption, but as someone who migrated rom North to South many

years ago I have witnessed much motion, and I have come to evaluate movement

in terms o circulation rather than unidirectional migration.

17. Baker 2001: 69.

18. Benjamin 1999: 72022.

19. Events I witnessed rsthand, or example, are written in the present tense in an

attempt to retain the sense o immediacy that accompanied their emergence.

Quotes are in the past tense, corresponding to dates o interviews and events

listed in the appendix. In general, I use rst names or people I have interviewed

and otherwise interacted with personally and last names or those I have not beenin direct contact with.

20. Te experimental ethnographic writings o aussig (2004), Stewart (2007), and

M. Jackson (1998) serve as models.

21. Spoken words appear throughout the text in standard English. Tough many

black New Orleanians are capable o speaking in a dialect known colloquially

as Ebonics or Black English, I have decided against attempting to capture

these spoken subtleties in writing, choosing to present speech in denaturalized

orm rather than as naturalized text or eye-dialect (Bucholtz 2000). I made this

choice or two reasons. First, on transcribing interviews there was very rarelyconsistent use o Black English; or example, speakers, including mysel, would

sometimes drop thegat the end o a gerund and sometimes not (i.e.,goingand

goin). Second, this book is o course a written text containing quotations rom

written sources (including musicians autobiographies) in which authors had

some agency in determining how their words appeared in written orm, and in

the vast majority o cases the sources were composed in standard English, so I

decided to present verbal quotations appearing alongside those quotations in

standard English to maintain consistency. Tat said, I have not made grammatical

or syntactical corrections to nonstandard English (i.e., you gotta go would bewritten you got to go and not youve got to go), though I recognize that this

occasionally presents awkward phrasing. Te ew occasions where Black English

appears in the text are quotations o published song titles and lyrics.

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