Sun 8/4 @ 8PM
There’s nothing quite like New Orleans brass band music. It’s a distinctive genre that radiates a sense of place and that place’s musical, social and cultural roots. New Orleans youngsters coming up in today’s music scene can’t help being influenced by it. I’ll never forget coming down the escalator to the ground transportation area at Armstrong Airport the year after Katrina to find the Algiers Brass Band playing “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?,” the1947 tune first performed by Billie Holiday and the airport’s namesake Louis Armstrong. There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.
There are countless such ensembles. Once of the best known is the Rebirth Brass Band, formed in the mid 80s by high school classmates, as many such bands are — there are probably more musical teens per capita in this city than any other. It grew from being a local band, where many are content to remain, to being an internationally touring recording act with the first of its many albums released in 1984. Like many of the younger brass bands it augments the traditional second-line sound with funk, soul and hip-hop influences. But then that’s a New Orleans tradition too and what makes it unique: the diverse cultures and influences that come together at this crossroads city.
Rebirth will be performing at the Beachland Ballroom, with Cleveland’s own Da Land Brass Band opening. This ensemble, with its drummer propelling its front line of horns, plays its Rust Belt interpretation of the sound and has the New Orleans crowd-rousing factor down pat. They’re currently one of the area’s most entertaining bands.
Get tickets here. You won’t regret it.
Cleveland, OH 44110