In the 19th and 20th centuries, Britain’s brass bands were a mainstay in coal-mining/industrial communities, but they are fading, as depicted in the 1996 film Brassed Off. There still are military, village and church bands including the Salvation Army. Over in the US, brass bands are still booming, enjoying prominence with school concert and marching bands in parades and especially at American football games. That’s how the Hot 8 Brass Band got their start, but they’re not your mother’s old-fashioned version. No sir. The original members got together while in their local high school marching band. They had so much energy zooming that they started meeting up after school jamming in another band. Music kept them off the streets and off the drugs. In 1995, some members of two of the after-hours bands merged into the Hot 8 Brass Band.
The New Orleans’ natives have continued to play in second line parades, traditional jazz funerals (cue Bond film Live And Let Die) and local joints but now have performed and collaborated with veterans, toured internationally, put out four albums, including 2015’s Vicennial – 20 Years Of The Hot 8 Brass Band and the just-released EP Can’t Nobody Get Down and have a new mini-documentary out. They are tooting their horns al l over the UK and Europe again this summer, spreading their sound – which is a blend of funk,hip-hop/rap, jazz, reggae, R&B and soul.
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Things haven’t always been so upbeat for the Grammy-nominated band in the Big Easy, though. Death and illness have decimated five past members and if that wasn’t enough, Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped out their beloved Crescent City in 2005. Another tragedy was their trumpeter Terrell “Burger” Batiste being struck by a car and losing both legs.
One of the founding members, sousaphone player (that’s tuba to you and me) Bennie Pete spoke with Buzz with much candor about the good times and bad:
What got you through member’s deaths (some by gun violence) and illnesses? Religion? Music?
I would say that was a part of it. It’s New Orleans, so we’re all exposed to the music in the culture, in the experience. I would say besides that, a great big part was the dream and the vision we all shared while we was living together and when we were young. When we were young and we started the band, we had a vision and we had a dream to become great musicians and great entertainers and great culture bearers for our culture. We envisioned ourselves playing for thousands of people when we were actually playing for ourselves, trying to learn the music. Maybe having one or two people passing by and just stopping to check out what we were doing but not really interested in it. Just saying, ‘Oooh, look at these guys with instruments. Let me see, let me take a listen.’
You also had to endure the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
Yeah, it was a lot. Still affects us to this day. It was kind of the same situation when we lost the band members. Katrina came through, ruined a lot of people’s lives, took a lot of people’s lives. People had to start over with their life, with their living conditions. Houses people lost… no where to live. The city was under siege. It was under water at that time.
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Did you feel socially obligated to be in Spike Lee’s great documentary When The Levees Broke?
Definitely. It was an opportunity for us to show the world. To represent our city and all the people that we lost. We embraced the opportunity to work with Spike Lee on that film. We hung out with him a long time trying to give him whatever he needed to try to capture the reality of what we were going through and what our fellow New Orleanians were going through.
You did the cover of Ghost Town because of Katrina…
Yup, you’re right. I’m thankful to the Specials that they allowed us to do it. They liked it. They reached out to us and said it was a job well-done. Thanks for covering the tune.
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Do you get flack from the old-timers traditional Dixieland jazz musicians about how you dress and what you play?
Yeah. Yeah.
What do they say?
For awhile, they had a mouthful of stuff to tell us. They don’t like it. Nooo. Not all of them, but the majority of them give us flack. You got to understand. The majority of them worked hard. They were working under difficult conditions. Think about the times. It was rougher then. Things were more serious. I mean, you’re talking about slavery and coming out of slavery. It meant a lot to them. So how they look at it now is that ‘We paved the way for you.’
words RHONDA LEE REALI
Hot 8 Brass Band, Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Fri 22 July. Tickets: £15. Info: 029 2023 2199 / www.clwb.net