Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday May 20th, 2015 with Bernard Stepien
TD Ottawa Jazz Festival preview: Brass Bands

New Orleans brass bands is where Jazz all started. Then Jazz developed into new styles like Swing, Be Bop or even Free Jazz. For decades, it maintained a presence among revivalists. But then, like a miracle, some critics are even not shy to call it a seismic shift comparable to Free Jazz, in 1977, something new propelled the Brass Band into new directions: Brass Band fusion with Funk and Be Bop in an endless swirl of notes of all ages. Moreover, the concept not only took root but literally exploded and in all kinds of directions raising the attention of unusual crowds to the basic principle of Jazz: IMPROVISATION. Tonight we will review two brass New Orleans bands that will be appearing at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival: 1. The latest format of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band 2. The Soul Rebels Brass Band Who would have suspected in the ages of wall to wall electronics that the almighty TUBA would rule the world?