The Original Pinettes Brass Band are a
brass band. Consisting entirely of women, they are the city's only all-female brass band.
[DeCoste, Kyle]
"Street Queens: New Orleans Brass Bands and the Problem of Intersectionality"
Retrieved 2015-08-18][MacCash, Doug]
"Original Pinettes all-female brass band blasts French Quarter Fest 2015"
Retrieved 2015-08-18]
History
The band was founded in 1991 at
St. Mary's Academy (New Orleans), a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
girls' school
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...
.
[McConnaughey, Janet]
"Unique all-female New Orleans brass band at Jazz Fest"
Retrieved 2015-08-18] Taking direction from
Music director, band director Jeffery C. Herbert, they began playing New Orleans-style jazz. He dubbed the band the Pinettes Brass Band, a
feminization
Feminization most commonly refers to:
* Feminization (biology), the hormonally induced development of female sexual characteristics
* Feminization (activity), a sexual or lifestyle practice where a person assumes a female role
* Feminization (soci ...
of the name of his own band, the
Original Pinstripe Brass Band.
At the school's spring concert in 1992, the band played the song "Freedom" by the
Rebirth Brass Band
The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins,Skelly, RichardAllMusic Profile Retrieved 2013-02-9 and classmates from Joseph S. Clark ...
and the crowd response led the musicians more toward contemporary brass band music rather than traditional
New Orleans jazz.
For the 1993-94 school year, Herbert left St. Mary's to direct the band at
John McDonogh High School, but he continued to manage the Pinettes, even after they graduated from St. Mary's. In 1998, he left New Orleans to become assistant
Music director, band director at
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...
in Baton Rouge, at which point management was turned over to the band members. During this period, the Pinettes played in
second line (parades)
The second line is a tradition in parades organized by Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs (SAPCs) with brass band parades in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The "main line" or "first line" is the main section of the parade, or the members ...
and released a cassette tape, which garnered them little success outside
.
[DeCoste, Kyle]
"Street Queens: The Original Pinettes and Black Feminism in New Orleans Brass Bands"
Retrieved 2015-08-18]
The Pinettes have had much turnover in membership over the years.
[ When ]Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, band members were forced to relocate. When they began to return to the city, bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
Christie Jourdain took leadership of the band and made an effort to recruit new band members because some members were unable or unwilling to come back to New Orleans. After a dispute with some of the former band members, they changed their name to "The Original Pinettes Brass Band."[
In 2013, after twenty-two years as a band, the Pinettes released their debut full-length CD titled ''Finally''.]["Finally
by The Original Pinettes Brass Band]
Retrieved 2015-08-18] They hold a popular Friday-night residency at Bullet's Sports Bar in the Seventh Ward, New Orleans, Seventh Ward.
Red Bull Street Kings competition
In October 2013, the Original Pinettes Brass Band won the Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
Street Kings competition. Facing three other prominent brass bands, the Pinettes not only won the title, but changed it to "Street Queens."[Reuters]
"The Original Pinettes Crowned Street Queens in Biggest New Orleans Brass Band Blowout of the Year"
Retrieved 2015-08-18]
Residency at Bullet's Sports Bar
Since 2014, band has held a popular Friday night residency at Bullet's Sports Bar in New Orleans's 7th Ward of New Orleans, Seventh Ward neighborhood.[Yuan, Jada]
Retrieved 2020-05-18]
References
Further reading
* Kyle DeCoste, ''Street Queens: New Orleans Brass Bands and the Problem of Intersectionality'' (2017
Online
* Kyle DeCoste, ''Street Queens: The Original Pinettes and Black Feminism in New Orleans Brass Bands'' (2015
Online
*Matt Sakakeeny, ''Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans'' (Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
, 2013)
*John Swenson, ''The Original Pinettes Brass Band: Brass-Pop'' (2012
Online
*Sherrie Tucker, ''A Feminist Perspective on New Orleans Jazz Women'' (2004
Online
{{Authority control
Brass bands from New Orleans
Women's musical groups
Women in Louisiana