The Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, also known as the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, was the brainchild of Reverend Andrew Darby Jr., pastor of Fairview Baptist Church. The band was created in 1970 after Mr. Danny Barker became a member of Fairview Baptist Church. When Mr. Barker became a member, he asked Reverend Darby what he wanted him to do in the church. Reverend Darby asked him to enlist young people in the church and in the neighborhood who played instruments and work with them as an instrumental group (band). Reverend Darby told Mr. Barker that there was a critical need to produce young musicians to carry on the rich tradition of music in New Orleans in order to ‘replenish the stock’ as adult musicians grew older. Under the leadership of Pastor Darby, Mr. Barker agreed. This, the tradition, would live on and on.
The group of young musicians was organized in 1970 by
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
and
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
player
Danny Barker
Daniel Moses Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994) was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s.
One of Barker's earl ...
. Based out of the Fairview Baptist Church in
and led in performance by
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
er
Leroy Jones (who was twelve when Barker recruited him), the band gained considerable popularity in New Orleans
"Fairview's Far Reach". ''Best of New Orleans'', April 9, 2002
/ref> and became a regular feature on the city's music scene. In 1974 union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
musicians in New Orleans protested that Barker's use of non-union youngsters to fill the ranks of his band was exploitative, and forced him to disband the group or lose his own union membership. Barker withdrew, but the group immediately reformed as the Hurricane Brass Band, under the direction of the newly unionized Jones; members of the Hurricane band went on to form the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpo ...
in 1977.
Notable alumni of the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band include Jones, Wynton and Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed inst ...
, Dr. Michael White
Michael White (born November 29, 1954 in New Orleans) is a jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, jazz historian and musical educator. Jazz critic Scott Yanow said in a review that White "displays the feel and spirit of the best New Orleans cl ...
, Herlin Riley
Herlin Riley (born February 15, 1957) is an American jazz drummer and a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis.
A native of New Orleans, Riley started on the drums when he was three. He played trumpet through high ...
, Gregory Stafford
Gregory may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Gregory (surname), a surname
Places Australia
*Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire of ...
, Joe Torregano
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
, Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen
Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen (September 15, 1950 – January 11, 2004) was a jazz tubist and band leader. Tuba Fats was New Orleans' most famous tuba player and played traditional New Orleans jazz and blues for over 40 years.
He was born, spent most ...
, Charles Joseph, Kirk Joseph
Kirk Joseph (born 1961) is a jazz sousaphone player from New Orleans, Louisiana. The son of trombonist Waldren "Frog" Joseph, Kirk Joseph began playing the sousaphone while a student at Andrew Bell Middle School, and took part in his first profess ...
, Lucien Barbarin
Lucien Barbarin (July 17, 1956 – January 30, 2020) was an American trombone player. Barbarin toured internationally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with Harry Connick Jr.
He made his debut at the age of six, playing drums in the Onwar ...
, Gene Olufemi
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
, Shannon Powell
Shannon Powell (born April 8, 1962) is an American jazz and ragtime drummer. He has toured internationally and played with Ellis Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Danny Barker, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra ...
, and Darryl "Lil Jazz" Adams
Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell.
Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel.
Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...
.
References
External links
hurricanebrassband.nl
{{Authority control
American jazz ensembles from New Orleans
Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band The Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, also known as the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, was the brainchild of Reverend Andrew Darby Jr., pastor of Fairview Baptist Church. The band was created in 1970 after Mr. Danny Barker became a member ...
Brass bands from New Orleans