Members of New Orleans' Hot 8 Brass Band chat with MSJ
Ian Black, MBA 1
Issue date: 1/30/06 Section: Features
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"How many souls hip hop has affected, how many dead folks this art resurrected, how many nations this culture connected, who am I to judge one's perspective?"
- Common
Certain characteristics of American culture, apple pie, the Norman's (Rockwell and Mailer), and backyard barbecues, provide insights into our culture and people. More complex and tangible artifacts include places like Ellis Island, things like the Model T, and the art of jazz. On Friday night, a brass band from New Orleans came and showed us a reflection of our country as it stands now, after Hurricane Katrina; one grieving and in disarray and screaming to be heard, and all the while, holding a steady beat and rockin' the groove.
All nine members of the Hot 8 came to Michigan Theater and blew the roof off. On a surprisingly warm night in Ann Arbor, this band of twenty-somethings took raucous New Orleans jazz and mixed it with hip hop and reggae, and added a little foot-stomping Michigan Fight Song in to make the perfect concert gumbo. I was not sure how the handful RSBers who attended were going to react to a high-energy group like the Hot 8, but somewhere between the time when the entire crowd, including pregnant women and several couples in their sixties, started dancing in the aisles and when the band led a procession into the lobby, playing to chants of, "Ho-o-o-o-o-t 8, We got that Fi-yah!!!" I stopped worrying about it.
On Wednesday, before the gig, I had a chance to interview the band leader, Benny Pete, two horn players, "Doctor Rackle" Williams and "Wolf" Anderson, and the snare drummer, "Dick" Shavers about their reception on the road, their own musical tastes, favorite New Orleans food, and what jazz means to the city of New Orleans post-Katrina:
MSJ: What gave you the opportunity to go on a national tour?
TH8: Katrina really opened the door for our tour. Most of the band members were evacuated after the storm, and cities around the country started asking musicians to come and represent the city.
- Common
Certain characteristics of American culture, apple pie, the Norman's (Rockwell and Mailer), and backyard barbecues, provide insights into our culture and people. More complex and tangible artifacts include places like Ellis Island, things like the Model T, and the art of jazz. On Friday night, a brass band from New Orleans came and showed us a reflection of our country as it stands now, after Hurricane Katrina; one grieving and in disarray and screaming to be heard, and all the while, holding a steady beat and rockin' the groove.
All nine members of the Hot 8 came to Michigan Theater and blew the roof off. On a surprisingly warm night in Ann Arbor, this band of twenty-somethings took raucous New Orleans jazz and mixed it with hip hop and reggae, and added a little foot-stomping Michigan Fight Song in to make the perfect concert gumbo. I was not sure how the handful RSBers who attended were going to react to a high-energy group like the Hot 8, but somewhere between the time when the entire crowd, including pregnant women and several couples in their sixties, started dancing in the aisles and when the band led a procession into the lobby, playing to chants of, "Ho-o-o-o-o-t 8, We got that Fi-yah!!!" I stopped worrying about it.
On Wednesday, before the gig, I had a chance to interview the band leader, Benny Pete, two horn players, "Doctor Rackle" Williams and "Wolf" Anderson, and the snare drummer, "Dick" Shavers about their reception on the road, their own musical tastes, favorite New Orleans food, and what jazz means to the city of New Orleans post-Katrina:
MSJ: What gave you the opportunity to go on a national tour?
TH8: Katrina really opened the door for our tour. Most of the band members were evacuated after the storm, and cities around the country started asking musicians to come and represent the city.
