New Orleans Brass Bands

[jeffcrom]

As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a thread about New Orleans Brass Bands. I thought there should be.

The brass bands of New Orleans aren’t jazz bands, per se. The band craze of the late 19th century hit New Orleans just like everywhere else, but the black and Creole bands of the city started going their own way pretty early on – playing without arrangements, improvising, bringing ragtime elements into the music. Since then, New Orleans brass bands have evolved on a path parallel to the city’s jazz. Many musicians play in jazz groups as well as the brass bands, although they don’t always play the same way in both.

The first recordings of a New Orleans brass band were made in 1945, in George Lewis’s backyard on St. Philip Street in the French Quarter. (There is actually some 1929 newsreel footage which contains about 30 audible seconds of a black brass band at Mardi Gras. You can hear enough to tell that they were swinging hard by then.) Bill Russell recorded a pick-up band under the leadership of Bunk Johnson for the American Music label. There were ten tunes recorded (plus a throwaway version of “Happy Birthday”); one take of each can be heard on an American Music CD – Bunk’s Brass Band and Dance Band. All the alternate takes have been issued on various CDs in the Jazzology family of labels.

By the time Bunk’s Brass Band was recorded, the alto and baritone horns had been phased out in favor of alto and tenor saxophone, but Russell wanted to record the old-style instrumentation. And I’m glad he did – these recordings and the records made a year later by the Original Zenith Brass Band (another pick-up band) are the only ones we have using the middle-register brass horns instead of saxes. Bunk’s group played without written music, although things like “My Maryland” were pretty much memorized rather than improvised. The spirituals like “Gloryland” and “Just a Little While to Stay Here” swing hard, and the slow funeral spirituals will sound odd if you’ve never heard an old-style N.O. brass band. On funeral marches, the bands played with wide vibrato, a very loose sense of time, and used odd breath accents to keep the music moving. The old style of playing dirges has pretty much died out now – the bands may still play the same pieces, but the approach is more conventional.

One of the most interesting pieces from the Bunk session is the traditional returning-from-the-cemetery march “Didn’t He Ramble.” It’s usually played with a conventional four-four swing, but Bunk’s band plays it as a six-eight march. Everybody’s improvising, but it’s not really jazz – although it points slightly in that direction. This track shows, as well as anything else I’ve heard, how the loosening-up of the city’s marching bands was one element in the birth of jazz.

It wasn’t until 1951 that an established, working New Orleans brass band was recorded. The Eureka Brass Band was larger than the pick-up bands recorded in the forties – three trumpets, two trombones, two saxophones, tuba, snare and bass drum. For the New Orleans Funeral & Parade album (now available on American Music), George Lewis was added on clarinet. The Eureka was, in my opinion, the greatest brass band from the city to record – they’re just magnificent here, as well as on their 1956 Folkways album. Both of these albums feature dirges played as written – beautiful and just odd enough to be exotic. That's leader Percy Humphrey's trumpet soaring over the ensemble in the last chorus of the uptempo pieces.

The Eureka also recorded a jazzier, hard-swinging album for Atlantic in 1962 which features some of the best recorded work by the great clarinetist Willie Humphrey (Percy's brother). Four years earlier Atlantic had recorded an amazing album by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, led by clarinetist John Casimir. The Young Tuxedo was a strange and wonderful band – Casimir’s wailing E flat clarinet sounded like a holdover from the earliest days of jazz; it coexisted with the boppish playing of the younger trumpet section. The uptempo tunes from this album are as intense and abandoned as any New Orleans music I’ve heard, while the dirges are both solemn and other-worldly. And they recorded a then-current R & B hit, Shirley and Lee’s “I Feel so Good,” although the album’s producers didn’t recognize it and credited it as “traditional.”

I’ve pontificated long enough, and I haven’t even gotten to the Olympia Brass Band or the brass band renaissance of the 1980s that spawned the Dirty Dozen and the Rebirth. Join the second line and talk about New Orleans brass bands here.

Edited June 11, 2010 by jeffcrom

[AllenLowe]

I love the Folkways N.O. brass band recordings from the '50s.

Edited June 11, 2010 by AllenLowe

[jazztrain]

I've become very fond of those Atlantic recordings over the last few years after having more or less ignored them for years. This led me to track down a copy of the Mosaic box (unfortuntely, after it had gone OOP). Willie Humphrey's playing on some of those was a real revelation to me; there's a very direct and forceful quality to his playing that works quite well in that context.

As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a thread about New Orleans Brass Bands. I thought there should be.

The brass bands of New Orleans aren’t jazz bands, per se. The band craze of the late 19th century hit New Orleans just like everywhere else, but the black and Creole bands of the city started going their own way pretty early on – playing without arrangements, improvising, bringing ragtime elements into the music. Since then, New Orleans brass bands have evolved on a path parallel to the city’s jazz. Many musicians play in jazz groups as well as the brass bands, although they don’t always play the same way in both.

The first recordings of a New Orleans brass band were made in 1945, in George Lewis’s backyard on St. Philip Street in the French Quarter. (There is actually some 1929 newsreel footage which contains about 30 audible seconds of a black brass band at Mardi Gras. You can hear enough to tell that they were swinging hard by then.) Bill Russell recorded a pick-up band under the leadership of Bunk Johnson for the American Music label. There were ten tunes recorded (plus a throwaway version of “Happy Birthday”); one take of each can be heard on an American Music CD – Bunk’s Brass Band and Dance Band. All the alternate takes have been issued on various CDs in the Jazzology family of labels.

By the time Bunk’s Brass Band was recorded, the alto and baritone horns had been phased out in favor of alto and tenor saxophone, but Russell wanted to record the old-style instrumentation. And I’m glad he did – these recordings and the records made a year later by the Original Zenith Brass Band (another pick-up band) are the only ones we have using the middle-register brass horns instead of saxes. Bunk’s group played without written music, although things like “My Maryland” were pretty much memorized rather than improvised. The spirituals like “Gloryland” and “Just a Little While to Stay Here” swing hard, and the slow funeral spirituals will sound odd if you’ve never heard an old-style N.O. brass band. On funeral marches, the bands played with wide vibrato, a very loose sense of time, and used odd breath accents to keep the music moving. The old style of playing dirges has pretty much died out now – the bands may still play the same pieces, but the approach is more conventional.

One of the most interesting pieces from the Bunk session is the traditional returning-from-the-cemetery march “Didn’t He Ramble.” It’s usually played with a conventional four-four swing, but Bunk’s band plays it as a six-eight march. Everybody’s improvising, but it’s not really jazz – although it points slightly in that direction. This track shows, as well as anything else I’ve heard, how the loosening-up of the city’s marching bands were one element in the birth of jazz.

It wasn’t until 1951 that an established, working New Orleans brass band was recorded. The Eureka Brass Band was larger than the pick-up bands recorded in the forties – three trumpets, two trombones, two saxophones, tuba, snare and bass drum. For the New Orleans Funeral & Parade album (now available on American Music), George Lewis was added on clarinet. The Eureka was, in my opinion, the greatest brass band from the city to record – they’re just magnificent here, as well as on their 1956 Folkways album. Both of these albums feature dirges played as written – beautiful and just odd enough to be exotic. That's leader Percy Humphrey's trumpet soaring over the ensemble in the last chorus of the uptempo pieces.

The Eureka also recorded a jazzier, hard-swinging album for Atlantic in 1962 which features some of the best recorded work by the great clarinetist Willie Humphrey (Percy's brother). Four years earlier Atlantic had recorded an amazing album by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, led by clarinetist John Casimir. The Young Tuxedo was a strange and wonderful band – Casimir’s wailing E flat clarinet sounded like a holdover from the earliest days of jazz; it coexisted with the boppish playing of the younger trumpet section. The uptempo tunes from this album are as intense and abandoned as any New Orleans music I’ve heard, while the dirges are both solemn and other-worldly. And they recorded a then-current R & B hit, Shirley and Lee’s “I Feel so Good,” although the album’s producers didn’t recognize it and credited it as “traditional.”

I’ve pontificated long enough, and I haven’t even gotten to the Olympia Brass Band or the brass band renaissance of the 1980s that spawned the Dirty Dozen and the Rebirth. Join the second line and talk about New Orleans brass bands here.

[papsrus]

Nice thread Jeff. Will revisit as I'm running out the door.

[AllenLowe]

I do believe Chris Albertson supervised some of the N.O. recordings; as did Herb Friedwald, Will's father - but I get the labels confused -

[jeffcrom]

I do believe Chris Albertson supervised some of the N.O. recordings; as did Herb Friedwald, Will's father - but I get the labels confused -

Chris produced the Riverside Living Legends series, which has some great music, but no brass bands.

[AllenLowe]

ah, so Herb must have done the Atlantics.

[Christiern]

Herb did two sessions, one with Kid Thomas and another with Peter Bocage. He brought the tapes to Riverside in hopes of selling them. Bill Grauer loved them, bought them, and decided to send me to New Orleans for more sessions. That became Riverside's New Orleans: The Living Legends series, into which we incorporated Herb's tapes.

When I returned to New York and began editing and compiling the sessions for release, Nesuhi Ertegun called and asked me if he could come over and listen. He did and was so impressed that he sent his own crew down to get more. I told Nesuhi that I wish I had recorded some of the marching bands. I was glad that he did.

More about this on my blog if you click here.

Thanks for starting this thread, Jeff.

[kenny weir]

Cool idea for a thread!

I have this one:

... and a whole bunch of ReBirth CDs. For quite a while there, I was hot into this stuff. Saw the ReBirth at the Maple Leaf and other sites, including the NO fairgrounds, on numerous occasions, as well as many of the other younger outfits. Good times!

Going by your interesting essay, Jeff, there's maybe some earlier stuff that I have yet to hear that may push my buttons, too.

I also have this one:

... but I know I am not alone in thinking that clarinetist Michael White makes every disc he plays on unlistenable.

The brass bands of New Orleans aren’t jazz bands, per se.

Why do you say this? Seriously - I'm very interested. Is there some technical and/or stylistic marker that makes brass bands NOT jazz, even per se?

For mine, at the right time and right place, brass bands can be the very personification of jazz.

Is the fact you can dance to it - often times, MUST dance to it - used against it? Well, the swing era full of dat, too.

And it's always puzzled me that the Penguins, for instance, have never given space to the ReBirth. Although they have covered the Bunk record in his listing s.

Edited June 12, 2010 by kenny weir

[papsrus]

Cool idea for a thread!

I have this one:

... and a whole bunch of ReBirth CDs. For quite a while there, I was hot into this stuff. Saw the ReBirth at the Maple Leaf and other sites, including the NO fairgrounds, on numerous occasions, as well as many of the other younger outfits. Good times!

I'm listening to the Bunk Johnson now, having just received it in the mail yesterday. Just spilling over with joy, this music.

But I've only started to soak up some of this stuff -- thanks to you and Jeff, Allen and others -- a natural outgrowth of listening patterns that seem to steadily peel away at the layers, it's only natural I'd end up here eventually. And it seems the further down I drill, the more joyous the music becomes.

In any case, I'd love to read more of Jeff's thoughts/recommendations -- or the thoughts of anyone who is close to the music.

Kenny, you must have had a wonderful opportunity to dig into this stuff while you were in New Orleans. I must drag my sorry ass over there some day soon. Perhaps this summer.

And Chris, I also only discovered the Living Legends series recently. Picked up Louis Cottrell Trio disc recently and just love it. Wonderful stuff.

I'm listening.

[seeline]

I love brass bands (and not just NOLA-style bands).

Count me among the puzzled regarding them not being jazz bands - they swing like crazy, no matter what they're playing! To my ears, many different kinds of music from NOLA are all intertwined, and they have a distinctly different feel from, say, early KC-style music, or NY-style mingling of jazz and "Latin" musics. (The quotation marks are there because the word "Latin" is pretty imprecise.)... etc.

The disconnect between dance music and jazz seems ... well, I wish it was a line that didn't exist.

And I wonder what all the NOLA-area brass band members would say on this question...

Just my .02-worth, anyway.

Edited June 12, 2010 by seeline

[kenny weir]

I suspect that - in the case of the ReBirth and the like, and in at least a few quarters - the fact this music is created with the sole purpose of having fun disqualifies it.

[jeffcrom]

I'm listening to the Bunk Johnson now, having just received it in the mail yesterday. Just spilling over with joy, this music.

And in person, the impact can be overwhelming. I once jumped out of my seat at a sidewalk cafe in the French Quarter when a brass band parade went by - I couldn't help myself. I left my plate of red beans and rice and $200 worth of records sitting on my table and followed the band for about 40 minutes. When I got back, I gave the waitress a BIG tip.

Edited June 12, 2010 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

The brass bands of New Orleans aren’t jazz bands, per se.

Why do you say this? Seriously - I'm very interested. Is there some technical and/or stylistic marker that makes brass bands NOT jazz, even per se?

Because, especially considering some bands at some times, jazz was only part of what they did. (Disclaimer: I'm not really interested in defining what jazz is and isn't - that has never seemed like an important question to me.) Take the Eureka BB's New Orleans Funeral and Parade album - of the 30 minutes of music on the original issue (there's a lot more on the CD), less than 10 minutes would sound like jazz to most people. The rest of the music consists of slow funeral marches, mostly played from written music.

And when I say I don't really think of N.O. brass band music as jazz per se, that's not meant to be a value judgment, like it's "less than jazz," or "too fun to be jazz" or "too funky to be jazz" or anything like that. The more you live with this music, the more it seems like its own music, with its own conventions and traditions. If anyone wants to think of it as Jazz with a capitol J, that's fine with me, though.

If it helps to know where I'm coming from, I just did a quick count - I've got over 50 CDs of New Orleans brass band music. I'm not going to count my vinyl, because it's mixed in with my other jazz. (How's that for a contradiction? See how seriously I take my position?) But I have a lot, including the Dirty Dozen's first two singles, which came out before the Concord album and which have never been reissued.

And seeline, I've spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and I really think most of the musicians in that wonderful city don't think about whether it's jazz or not. I think they just play music.

[jeffcrom]

More clarification: As I drove around today running errands, I had Buck It Like a Horse by the Lil Rascals Brass Band cranked in the CD player. The Rascals are trombonist Corey Henry's band, and they play in a style similar to that of the Rebirth. The music had jazz in it, but not just jazz; it had funk in it, but not just funk; same for reggae, hip-hop, and gospel. To me, it didn't sound like jazz, or funk, or reggae - it sounded like New Orleans brass band music.

[seeline]

jeff, I didn't intend to sound... I dunno, whatever! about this.

But just last week, I saw a fairly well-known musician complaining - on another board - re. how nobody wanted to listen to their set, because the audience wanted that funky NOLA stuff.

That didn't sit well with me.

I *really* appreciate what you're saying about the musicians' attitude, too!

cheers!

[jeffcrom]

jeff, I didn't intend to sound... I dunno, whatever! about this.

No worries!

[kenny weir]

The brass bands of New Orleans aren’t jazz bands, per se.

Why do you say this? Seriously - I'm very interested. Is there some technical and/or stylistic marker that makes brass bands NOT jazz, even per se?

Because, especially considering some bands at some times, jazz was only part of what they did. (Disclaimer: I'm not really interested in defining what jazz is and isn't - that has never seemed like an important question to me.) Take the Eureka BB's New Orleans Funeral and Parade album - of the 30 minutes of music on the original issue (there's a lot more on the CD), less than 10 minutes would sound like jazz to most people. The rest of the music consists of slow funeral marches, mostly played from written music.

And when I say I don't really think of N.O. brass band music as jazz per se, that's not meant to be a value judgment, like it's "less than jazz," or "too fun to be jazz" or "too funky to be jazz" or anything like that. The more you live with this music, the more it seems like its own music, with its own conventions and traditions. If anyone wants to think of it as Jazz with a capitol J, that's fine with me, though.

If it helps to know where I'm coming from, I just did a quick count - I've got over 50 CDs of New Orleans brass band music. I'm not going to count my vinyl, because it's mixed in with my other jazz. (How's that for a contradiction? See how seriously I take my position?) But I have a lot, including the Dirty Dozen's first two singles, which came out before the Concord album and which have never been reissued.

And seeline, I've spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and I really think most of the musicians in that wonderful city don't think about whether it's jazz or not. I think they just play music.

Jeff, I'm not in any great hurry to pinpoint what is and isn't jazz, either. And I know for sure you didn't mean any dissing in your comment. It's a reasonably common attitude.

But nevertheless, I find this an interesting thing to discuss.

AFAIK, jazz can be - and is - funky. And AFAIK, jazz can be other things at the same time as it is still being still jazz.

Likwise, I bet nobody'd come right out and say funeral marches are not jazz, nor ever will be.

Written music. Blimey - that covers heaps of jazz.

When I listen to the likes of the ReBirth - live or on record - for me, what I am hearing is pretty much what I consider the purest of jazz: It swings, it's improvised, what more does anyone want?

At risk of sounding like an old fogey - which, BTW, I don't mind at all - it all sure as hell sounds a whole helluva lot more like jazz than plenty of other stuff that is routinely discussed by the Penguins.

Maybe I should restrict my puzzlement on this issue to them. Do I have a chip on my shoulder about them? Yes - based on their remarkably high-handed, condescending and (frankly) disgusting attitude towards Australian music.

it sounded like New Orleans brass band music.

That this is a meaningless conversation from the viewpoint of any NO musician/resident/second-liner is a significant part of what makes me love the city so!

And in person, the impact can be overwhelming. I once jumped out of my seat at a sidewalk cafe in the French Quarter

Which restaurant?

Edited June 13, 2010 by kenny weir

[seeline]

The whole is this or isn't this jazz [or insert other genre name]?" question just doesn't matter that much to me.

Good music is good music!

[Christiern]

The way I see it: sometimes it is, sometimes it is less so.

Either suits my ears just fine.

[jeffcrom]

And in person, the impact can be overwhelming. I once jumped out of my seat at a sidewalk cafe in the French Quarter

Which restaurant?

The French Market Cafe on Decatur Street. It was Easter, and the parade had a great band which seemed to be composed mostly of members of the Algiers and Pinstripe Brass Bands. When I finally got back to the restaurant, my table, food and records were still waiting for me. Like I said, I gave the waitress a big tip.

[kenny weir]

Hey Jeff, I for one would really like you to do a round-up of the best/funkiest/quirkiest/wildest NO BB albums from the past decade or so.

I've lost touch with that scene since my last trip there (in 2000, for a friend's wedding). I thrash my 9-y-o son on a weekly basis to compensate for my financial inabability to return to my second home!

One thing I dig about the younger BBs is the whacked-out cover versions! And the funk/reggae influences.

Edited June 13, 2010 by kenny weir

[seeline]

One thing I dig about the younger BBs is the whacked-out cover versions! And the funk/reggae influences.

Same here.

I think it's worth noting that sometimes NOLA-area artists have had big hits on various islands in the Caribbean, while staying unknown (in the US) outside of NOLA and environs.

The reason? Radio stations that can easily be picked up on this islands. (A Jamaican jazz reviewer who used to post over at AAJ had some interesting things to say about this - I think his username is jazzofonik. The threads are all archived, but should show up in a search.)

[jeffcrom]

A little more background, then some recommendations.

The brass band scene was not healthy by the end of the 1960s. Most of the brass band musicians were getting old enough that they didn’t want to do parades anymore, and few younger musicians were taking up the style. For awhile, Harold Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band seemed to carry the entire brass band tradition on their shoulders – they were about the only organized band who would still play funerals and social club parades. The revival came with the (unrecorded) Fairview Baptist Church Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Danny Barker was concerned about the brass band tradition disappearing completely, so he approached the pastor of a church in his neighborhood, offering to teach music to local kids. The brass band he formed attracted many of the young New Orleanians who formed the basis for the next generation of brass band music: Tuba Fats, Leroy Jones, Gregg Stafford, Gregory Davis, Darryl Adams. The Fariview band morphed into the Hurricane Brass Band, which in 1975 recorded a locally-distributed album for the Lo An label. Leroy Jones and His Hurricane Marching Brass Band of New Orleans is a sloppy and intense statement of independence by a bunch of guys who were only 17 to 23 years old. Good luck finding a copy – it took me years.

A few years later, the Dirty Dozen turned from a jokey, kazoo-and-percussion band into a real brass band. They were the first brass band to realize that they didn’t have to play “Bourbon Street Parade” and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” Their first album came out on Concord in 1984, and I still remember the impact it had on me – it’s full of funk, Monk, and bebop. The Dirty Dozen had already changed the local scene by the time My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now came out – every band in the city was taking their cue from them, in the way that the Rebirth Brass Band is the biggest influence now.

Okay, some recommendations. This is all just my opinion, of course – take it for what you will. Especially with the more recent bands who only have a local reputation in New Orleans, CDs tend to go out of print pretty quickly, but in a few cases I’m listing OOP albums anyway.

The essentials:

Bunk’s Brass Band and Dance Band (American Music) The first recordings of the music.

Eureka Brass Band – New Orleans Funeral and Parade (American Music) First recording of a working band. Some folks prefer Music of New Orleans, Vol. 4 on Folkways – available as an on-demand CDr. Can’t go wrong either way.

Eureka Brass Band – Jazz at Preservation Hall 1 (Atlantic) A joyful noise. More abandonded than either of the Eureka’s earlier albums. Reissued on the Mosaic New Orleans set and on Collectables from Oldies.com.

Young Tuxedo Brass Band – Jazz Begins (Atlantic) Also reissued on Collectables. Even wilder than the Eureka album above. The last few choruses of “Lord, Lord, Lord” or “Bourbon Street Parade” will take the top of your head off.

Olympia Brass Band – Olympia Brass Band of New Orleans (GHB) The Olympia recorded a lot, and some of their stuff is kind of trite/touristy. The main part of this CD is a beautifully recorded session of excellent music from the late 60s. It’s paired with some material I haven’t heard (I have the Audiophile LP).

Dirty Dozen Brass Band – My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now (Concord) – or – Mardi Gras in Montreux (Rounder) –or – Voodoo (Columbia) These are their first three albums, and capture the band at its freshest.

Rebirth Brass Band – The Main Event: Live at the Maple Leaf (Mardi Gras) The Rebirth is the best brass band in New Orleans today. This one captures their regular Tuesday night gig at the Maple Leaf. Turn it up!

Various – Straight From the 6th Ward (Tipitinas) This one is already out of print, but it’s so good that I had to include it. It includes two track each by five bands: The Lil Rascals, The Rebirth, The Treme, The New Birth, and the 6th Ward Allstars. None of the tracks appear elsewhere; they were all recorded for this project. It’s a great survey of some of the best brass bands in New Orleans.

If you know all that stuff pretty well, here’s some further stuff to explore:

Original Zenith Brass Band – New Orleans 1946 (American Music) A pick-up band recorded a year after Bunk’s. A slightly more controlled sound than Bunk’s.

Onward Brass Band – The Last Journey of a Jazzman (Nobility) The funeral parade of pianist Lester Santiago, recorded in 1965. The music is amazing, but it’s marred by an overdubbed narration. You’ll probably only find this one at the Louisiana Music Factory.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – Buck Jump (Mammoth) - and - Funeral For A Friend (Ropeadope) The Dirty Dozen’s two best albums of the last few years. Not strictly brass band music – they use guitars, keyboards and drum sets these days.

Rebirth Brass Band – Rollin’ (Rounder) My second favorite Rebirth album.

Hot 8 Brass Band – Rock With the Hot 8 (Louisiana Hot) No pun intended, but this young band is one of the hottest in New Orleans these days.

Tuba Fats’ Chosen Few Brass Band (Jazz Crusade) Soulful and sloppy.

Algiers Brass Band - Lord, Lord, Lord (Sound of New Orleans) Out of print, I believe. A local band with a real down-home flavor, playing mostly traditional tunes, but some funk.

New Birth Brass Band – New Birth Family (Fat Black) Almost as good as the Rebirth, in my opinion. I love their version of “Over in the Gloryland.”

Various – A New Orleans Visit Before Katrina (Arhoolie) Among other things, this album has the best recordings of the Treme Brass Band, even though they have three albums out on their own. The 20 minutes or so of the Treme here were recorded (with good sound) on parade, and the music is stirring.

Jeez - sorry about the long post. As you can tell, I'm enthusiastic about this stuff.

Edited June 13, 2010 by jeffcrom

[kenny weir]

Jeez - sorry about the long post. As you can tell, I'm enthusiastic about this stuff.

Oh BS - this what we're all here for! I'll check this out later - I'm on World Cup duty right now.

Seriously, thanks for this all Jeff - I guess I was looking for a new tangent to (re)pursue, so it was fun today dusting off albums such as ReBirth's Rollin'. And I put various albums, including the New Birth and the Young Tuxedo Brass Band on my cdconnection wishlist today as well.

Keep 'em coming!