Music - The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

by Jennifer Lam

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band played a gig at the Double Decker Festival on Saturday April 26, 2008. If you were at the festival that evening and looking to jam out to some awesome music, then the North Lamar stage was the place to be. The atmosphere of the event was already full of energy and hype itself. The Dirty Dozen brought even more to the table. Once the band started up it was as if dancing became infectious and nobody could help but to sway their bodies to the music. Keeping the audience on its feet, the Dirty Dozen featured solo performances from its members. They also varied the sound intensity and tempo to keep the show interesting. There were times when the music became increasingly louder, building up the crowd’s excitement to the brim. Then it would become steadily softer, creating anticipation. The performance was so amazing that at the end, the audience chanted for an encore. The Dirty Dozen gave us what we asked for and continued the party of feel good music and dance.

The genre of the Dirty Dozen could be classified as jazz, jam band, and funk. A New Orleans based band, the Dirty Dozen presents a unique blend of traditional New Orleans and jazz music. The members of the band include: Roger Lewis on baritone sax, Kevin Harris on tenor sax, Efrem Towns and Gregory Davis teaming up on trumpet, Revert Andrews working the trombone, Julius Mckee on the sousaphone, Jake Eckert rocking it out on the guitar, and Terence Higgins on drums. The Dirty Dozen has collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, a renowned trumpeter, and Elvis Costello, an English musician.

The band’s latest album entitled “What’s Going On” was inspired by Marvin Gaye. It looked to express and perhaps even answer the agonizing questions of an uncertain world through music. Their songs are also strongly influenced by each member’s experiences with Hurricane Katrina. In fact, the album’s release marked the one-year anniversary of the storm. The album reached in even deeper than Katrina and looked to address other world issues such as the war in Iraq, poverty, and the recent tsunamis.

Harris, Dirty Dozen‘s tenor sax player says, “What the hell is going on? Its been freaky out there. Bad enough when human beings are snapping at each other left and right, but when nature is drowning thousands of people with tsunamis and hurricanes and scourges? Things are changing, getting strange.”