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Dirty Dozen Brass Band

New Orleans music ushered in the 20th century with the wail of a joyful noise: collective improvisation, syncopated rhythms, eclectic stylings, and an infectious joie de vivre that was exhilarating. Indeed, thanks to New Orleans musicians such as King Oliver, Jellyroll Morton, and above all, Louis Armstrong, the 1920s became known as the "jazz age."

Just like early jazz was an amalgamation of the music of its era, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band's musical revolution was actually a reintroduction of the basic eclecticism that made jazz the most dynamic music of the 20th century.

Founded in April of 1977, the formation of the Dirty Dozen created a musical revolution in New Orleans. For over seventy-five years, the brass band tradition existed largely unchanged until this forward looking, bebop influenced ensemble completely changed both the style and the repertoire of brass band music.

As trumpeter and bandleader Gregory Davis points out, "The concept of the Dirty Dozen is to play and experiment with all types of music. We will take a song - and not worry about if it is a jazz song or any particular type of song - we'll just take a song and see what we can do with it as The Dirty Dozen."

For over three decades the Dirty Dozen has been touring the world. They've played all the major festivals - Newport, New York, New Orleans Jazzfest, Playboy, Montreaux - and they have played one-nighters in no name venues in small towns you need a local map to find. If they didn't love the music, they couldn't keep up the pace, but, as their signature song exclaims, they roll on.

Davis believes, "being a New Orleans band has marquee value. The other side of that coin is that people expect you to do a good job. The audience expects something special. So our challenge is, every night, to make sure that you are not only playing some good music, you have to also put on a good show."

In a world of war, poverty, ecological disasters, dissent and conflict in the social fabric of society, Marvin Gaye found himself looking to the heavens in 1971 and asking the heartfelt question “What’s Going On?” And with that Gaye created the unqualified masterpiece of his astounding career, an album addressing these questions of an uncertain world.

In 2006, with the same questions looming even larger, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band borrowed on Gaye’s inspiration to create a crowning achievement in their own career, which spans more than three decades of innovation and leadership in New Orleans music and beyond.

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226
Album Review

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band: Jazz Moods | Hot

Read "Jazz Moods | Hot" reviewed by Jim Santella


Go ahead, make my day!

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band does precisely that every time out. This compilation, drawn from Voodoo (1989), The New Orleans Album (1990), and Open Up - Whatcha Gonna Do for the Rest of Your Life (1991), brings on some of the best street celebrations that the band has to offer. With Kirk Joseph's sousaphone out in front, the group steps out to a stirring drum cadence and folds in hot jazz with its ...

151
Album Review

Dirty Dozen Brass Band: Funeral for a Friend

Read "Funeral for a Friend" reviewed by Joel Roberts


Jazz permeates everything in New Orleans, a city where, as Sidney Bechet once said, “Music is as much of a part of death as it is of life.” Funeral for a Friend, the stirring new CD from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, proves that Bechet’s remark still holds true. The Dirty Dozen, who helped revive the languishing brass band scene some 25 years ago with their modern twist on a tradition that dates back to the early ...

181
Album Review

Dirty Dozen Brass Band: Funeral for a Friend

Read "Funeral for a Friend" reviewed by AAJ Staff


After following the tradition long enough, sometimes you reach a point where you become the tradition. Such is the case with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which has over 27 years and ten records occupied a central place in the musical life of New Orleans. At this point the brass-heavy group (the core here an octet) is the preeminent voice of traditional New Orleans street music, to the extent it can be separated from marching bands, jazz ensembles, and gospel-heavy ...

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be back in St. Louis to perform next Thursday, July 12 at the Old Rock House. Founded in 1977 in New Orleans, the DDBB helped reinvigorate the city's brass band tradition by incorporating modern jazz, funk, and other genres, inspiring a new generation of players, bands and fans in the process. The most recent of DDBB's 14 albums is Twenty Dozen, released back ...

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Festival

Dirty Dozen Brass Band Celebrates 35th Anniversary At Newport Jazz Festival

Dirty Dozen Brass Band Celebrates 35th Anniversary At Newport Jazz Festival

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations

2013 NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL® CELEBRATES THE 35th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, WHICH REVOLUTIONIZED THE CLASSIC NEW ORLEANS BRASS BAND STYLE WITH FUNK AND BEBOP NEWPORT, RI: Showcasing the powerful and enduring excitement and influence of New Orleans brass band music on American culture, the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management is celebrating the 35th Anniversary of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Sunday, August 4, at 1:25 pm on the Harbor Stage. The ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," and More

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

For a lot of St. Louis jazz fans, there's a hole in this weekend approximately the size and shape of tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins, who, up until a couple of weeks ago, had been scheduled to play this Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Unfortunately, Rollins' continuing health issues forced him to cancel the show here, along with the rest of his summer schedule. Fortunately, there are lots of other jazz and creative music events on tap ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," Dave Dickey Big Band, and More

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," Dave Dickey Big Band, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

For a lot of St. Louis jazz fans, there's a hole in this weekend approximately the size and shape of tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins, who, up until a couple of weeks ago, had been scheduled to play this Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Unfortunately, Rollins' continuing health issues forced him to cancel the show here, along with the rest of his summer schedule. Fortunately, there are lots of other jazz and creative music events on tap ...

Performance / Tour

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to Play Sunday, June 23 at off Broadway

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to Play Sunday, June 23 at off Broadway

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to play at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 23 at a new venue for them, the south side rock club Off Broadway. The best-known popularizers of the modern New Orleans brass band sound, DDBB made their most recent visit to St. Louis in May of last year to play at the Old Rock House. This time, they're playing the same night that their fellow New Orleans based band Bonerama is ...

9

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Stanley Clarke Trio, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Dead Kenny Gs, Glendale Jazz Festival, and More

Jazz This Week: Stanley Clarke Trio, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Dead Kenny Gs, Glendale Jazz Festival, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Memorial Day weekend is always a busy time, and there's lots to do in St. Louis over the next several days, including the annual Bluesweek Festival, which this year has moved from fall to spring. Fortunately, that packed calendar of events also includes a number of jazz and creative music performances worth checking out. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, virtuoso bassist Stanley Clarke (pictured) opens a four-night stand continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Clarke was at ...

16

Performance / Tour

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to Perform Friday, May 25 at Old Rock House

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to Perform Friday, May 25 at Old Rock House

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) are returning to St. Louis to perform at 9:00 p.m., Friday, May 25 at the Old Rock House. Jazz/funk/"world music" band Snarky Puppy will open. The DDBB last played in St. Louis in February 2011 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. This time around, their show comes just one day after the New Orleans Suspects, a new band featuring DDBB saxophonist Kevin Harris and guitarist Jake Eckert, are scheduled to play the Old Rock House. ...

20

Music Industry

Dirty Dozen Brass Band Sign With Savoy Jazz, New Album "Twenty Dozen" Set for Release May 1st

Dirty Dozen Brass Band Sign With Savoy Jazz, New Album "Twenty Dozen" Set for Release May 1st

Source: Michael Ricci

Band Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary With Live Dates Including BAM Residency With Dr. John & Headlining Jazz Fest SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 27, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — Exactly thirty five years ago born in the New Orleans neighborhood of Treme, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revolutionized the New Orleans brass band by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional style. Anchored by original members Roger Lewis, Kevin Harris, Gregory Davis, Efrem Towns and Kirk Joseph, the band has signed with ...

58

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Jon Cleary, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, the Bosman Twins, and More

Jazz This Week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Jon Cleary, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, the Bosman Twins, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's jazz and creative music menu in St. Louis features all sorts of sounds, from big band to cabaret to New Orleans roots music to several different flavors of modern jazz. Let's go right to the highlights... On Thursday evening, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, performs at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and pianist Ptah Williams and guitarist William Lenihan team up to do a free duo concert for the Jazz at Holmes series ...

84

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gettin' Dirty with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gettin' Dirty with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, we shine our video spotlight on New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be back in St. Louis to perform next Saturday, February 26 on a double bill with singer/pianist Jon Cleary at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The DDBB have played here numerous times in recent years, with their last visit coming in November 2009 at the Broadway Oyster Bar. The four clips featured today are all of fairly recent ...

Ally Fiola
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