Roll With it Refiguring American Music A series edited by Ronald Radano and Josh Kun Charles McGovern, contributing editor l Wi l t o h R Brass Bands i t in the Streets of New Orleans MAtt SAkAkeeny With artwork by Willie BiRch Duke University Press Durham and London 2013 © 2013 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ♾ Designed by Heather Hensley Typeset in Minion Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Sakakeeny, Matt, 1971– Roll with it : brass bands in the streets of New Orleans / Matt Sakakeeny ; with images by Willie Birch. pages cm — (Refiguring American music) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-8223-5552-6 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-8223-5567-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Brass bands—Louisiana—New Orleans. 2. African American musicians—Louisiana—New Orleans. 3. Brass instrument players—Louisiana—New Orleans. I. Birch, Willie. II. Title. III. Series: Refiguring American music. ML1311.7.L8s34 2013 785.06509763′35—dc23 2013013827 Duke University Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the AMs 75 PAYs Endow- ment of the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which provided funds toward the publication of this book. Tulane University also provided funds to commission the artwork used in the book. “Roll With It” is a song composed by Tyrus Chapman and Glen Andrews of the Rebirth Brass Band. You can check out music, images, and videos related to each episode on the "ReadingGuides" page at www.mattsakakeeny.com. The paintings in this book were not selected to illustrate the writing. The artwork and words are meant to be an artistic pairing. All pieces were created between 2000–2008, using charcoal and acrylic on paper. The pieces dating from 2003–2004 were created when Birch was artist-in-residence at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Frontispiece. The Gang’s All Here. 2000. 60″ × 48″. © WiLLie birch. contentS vii liSt of ARtWoRk ix PRologue cRoSSing the thReShold 1 intRoduction foRWARd Motion 13 chAPteR 1 onWARd And uPWARd 1.1 A Funeral Fit for a Duke 1.2 An Eventful History 1.3 Second Lining with Rebirth 1.4 Developments in the Tremé 1.5 The Bass Brothers 1.6 Lives in Motion 1.7 When This Life Is Over 1.8 Voices and Instruments 1.9 Life at the Top 69 chAPteR 2 conStRAintS 2.1 Down on the Corner 2.2 Where Culture Means Business 2.3 Bennie’s Dilemma 2.4 The Business of Culture 109 chAPteR 3 PRogReSSionS 3.1 You Don’t Want to Go to War 3.2 A Renaissance 3.3 Tradition on Parade 3.4 Music by Any Means Necessary 3.5 Productive Friction 143 chAPteR 4 VoiceS 4.1 Structural Violence, Interpersonal Violence, and Musical Articulation 4.2 Joseph “Shotgun” Williams 4.3 Why Dey Had to Kill Him? 4.4 Dinerral Jevone Shavers 4.5 Voices and Instruments at Dinerral’s Funeral 4.6 Voices Amplified, Muffled, and Distorted 4.7 Voices Lost and Found 179 concluSion engAgeMentS 187 AfteRWoRd iMAge And MuSic in the ARt of Willie BiRch Willie Birch and Matt Sakakeeny 195 AcknoWledgMentS 199 APPendix liSt of inteRVieWS And PuBlic eVentS 201 noteS 213 BiBliogRAPhy 227 index liSt of ARtWoRk ALL iMAges bY WiLLie birch FrontisPiece The Gang’s All Here ii P.1 Tuba Player on Villere Street viii P.2 Like Father Like Son xiii i.1 July 4th Birthday Celebration for Louis xvi i.2 Mule Leading Funeral Procession 9 1.1 Jazz Funeral for Big Moose 12 1.2 The Revolution Got Soul, Soul, Soul 21 1.3 Musician Sitting on Drum 37 1.4 Olympia (Old- Timer with Saxaphone) 66 2.1 No Tears for Ernie K- Doe 68 2.2 Dancing Nasty (Uncle Lionel Doing the Bambara) 88 2.3 The Last Mile of the Way (Mock Funeral) 89 2.4 The Leader (Michael White) 106 3.1 Second Line Parade (Females in White) 108 3.2 Three Musicians for Tom Dent 121 3.3 Steppin’ 124 4.1 Children Watching Parade as Drummer Passes By 142 4.2 I Can Still Hear Buddy Bolden Play 151 4.3 Playing a Dirge for a Victim of Violence 160 4.4 A Fitting Farewell for Ed Buckner’s Son Brandon (Unfinished Piece) [detail] 176 c.1 Two Tubas Playing for the Crowd 178 c.2 Brother with Straw Hat, Sunglasses, and Cross 183 A.1 New Birth 187 A.2 The Second Liner 188 APPendix.1 Saxophone Player (Waiting for Parade) 198 P.1 Tuba Player on Villere Street. 2003. 63″ × 48″. © WiLLie birch. PRologue cRoSSing the thReShold o n a sunny Sunday afternoon in November 2006 I stand with a few hundred others outside a New Orleans bar- room, waiting for the Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club to start their annual second line parade.1 Prince of Wales is one of fifty or so clubs that organize these parades, in which the members dress in matching outfits and dance through their neighborhoods to the beat of a brass band. Throughout the year Prince of Wales holds meetings and fund- raisers at a neigh- borhood bar called the Rock Bottom Lounge, in the Uptown neigh- borhood where I have lived since 1997, all building up to this day. My eyes are fixed on eight men in their twenties and thirties leaning against the brick wall of the Rock Bottom, in a strip of shade underneath the roof overhang. They mill about, in no par- ticular hurry, until the tallest of them picks up a street-w orn tuba from the sidewalk and the others gather around him with their in- struments: two trumpets, two trombones, a saxophone, bass drum, and snare drum. When the first note is sounded, the doors of the Rock Bottom fly open and the Prince of Wales strut out one by one. This is the moment club members anticipate all year; they call it “crossing the threshold” or “coming out the door.” Men ap- pear first in double- breasted red suits, gold fedoras, and matching shoes made of alligator leather, and then the Lady Wales dance out