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Goodbye, Leave It to Beaver-land, hello, Treme
By John T. Edge

Brass Band music. No, not that sleepy, saccharine, "Pennies From Heaven, Boogie Woogie Shoeshine Boy" drivel that your parents thought was hip and swinging. That's Big Band music; and yes, it is boring. Brass Band music, on the other hand, rocks. Think New Orleans. Think second-line parades. Think Mardi Gras.

Listening can be dangerous, and infectious. With the first lick of the bass drum, you will feel like someone just kicked you in the gut -- leaving you gasping for air and begging for more.

Brass band members are street musicians at heart; loose groups of four to six instruments; usually a base drum, a snare, a trombone, sax and tuba. Rarely restricted to a stage, brass bands are at their best when leading a second line parade.

The occasion need not be grand. In fact, there need not be an occasion at all. Second line parades are a long standing Sunday afternoon tradition in the New Orleans neighborhood known as The Treme (pronounced Tre-may).

Why am I telling you all this? Because brass band music is hot and the epicenter of it all is in that most hedonistic of cities: New Orleans, Louisiana. Twenty-plus bands are active at the moment. My advice: get your butt down to Treme before the culture vultures descend and the scene dies.

Before you go, there is one thing you must know about me, your virtual tour guide. I have an uncommon sense of adventure and aesthetics. As my friend Nelson says: "If the health department has threatened closure and the building inspector just condemned the place, John T. is sure to love it." When venturing into a city for the first time, I invariably seek out the seedier sections -- the underbelly. Lord knows, New Orleans is eaten up with underbelly.

Just across Rampart Street from the tourist-infested French Quarter lurks the object of my affection and your musical epiphany. On the surface, Treme is not the most hospitable of neighborhoods. Truthfully, it's downright dangerous. Crack is in ready supply. Abandoned cars litter the streets. This ain't no cul-de-sac in Leave it to Beaver-land. Bounded by Canal Street on the south, Esplanade on the north and the I-10 expressway on the west; Treme has seen its better days.

Currently home to a defunct casino (a legacy of former Governor Edwin "Vote for the crook. It's important" Edwards) and the infamous Iberville Housing Project, the only vestige of those better days can be heard in the music that remains the heart and soul of the neighborhood.

Olympia Brass Band, Storyville Stompers, Rebirth Brass Band, Pinstripe Brass Band, Little Rascals, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers. They all play The Treme. They all are hot. But the hottest thing going, by far, is the Treme Brass Band.

Though their reputation is growing "Gimme My Money Back," their new CD, made numerous 1995 top 10 lists), they remain a true neighborhood band, playing for weddings, funeral dirges and rent parties. Don't worry, you need not die or get married to see them. If you play your cards right, you may be buckin' down the street in a second line parade by evening.

Raucous is the best word I can come up with to describe their style of play. The first time I saw them, they flat wore me out.

Imagine this: you wander into a cramped, hot, dank bar, lured by the wail of a pitch perfect tenor sax. The whole place is in upheaval. Everyone is dancing. Sweat is flying. Booze is flowing.

One song ends and the next begins with three swift kicks to the bass drum. The song is faintly recognizable. It's the gospel standard "Jesus Is On The Main Line," isn't it? Surely this can't be church music. Halfway through the 10-minute aural orgy, you are suddenly swept along on a current of frenetic musical energy.

The band is now belting out "Food Stamp Blues." You find yourself in a modified rumba line, snaking through the club and out the door into the street. You aren't alone. You aren't afraid. Those streets which 30 minutes ago seemed mean and uninviting now beckon you on. 50 others are fast beside you.

Where are you going? Where were you? If you must know, you just left Little People's Place and you're part of a second line led by The Treme Brass Band (Like a Jim Jones acolyte in search of the next glass of kool-aid, you can't deny them.) enroute to their next gig at Joe's Cozy Corner.

It's 7:00 P.M. Sunday evening and you quickly resolve that Mondays are wasted on the sober. Dance on!

This was not as chance encounter. In fact, if you do a little bit of homework and exercise a modicum of caution, you can easily replicate this experience. For an exhaustive New Orleans music calendar, point your Web browser to Offbeat magazine. In addition to the clubs profiled, look for Donna's and Trombone Shorty's. And hey, be careful out there.


"Gimme My Money Back," on the Arhoolie label, is available from Louisiana Music Factory at 225 N. Peters, New Orleans La. 70310. Phone: 504-523-1094

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