Treme Brass Band
Raw, joyful brass and thumping percussion that brings the New Orleans second line to your living room. Soulful, unpolished, and deeply communal jazz.
Raw, joyful brass and thumping percussion that brings the New Orleans second line to your living room. Soulful, unpolished, and deeply communal jazz.
Listening to the Treme Brass Band is like being dropped directly into the heart of a New Orleans street parade. The music is defined by its massive, organic wall of sound, where trumpets and trombones weave around each other in a loose, polyphonic dance. It is never too polished or clinical; instead, it carries the grit and warmth of a live performance where the physical effort of the musicians is audible in every breath and drum strike.
What sets them apart is the deep, rhythmic pocket created by the interplay between the snare and bass drum. While the brass provides the melody and the shouting vocals provide the soul, the percussion provides a relentless, syncopated drive that makes sitting still nearly impossible. It is music that understands the thin line between mourning and celebration, often shifting from a somber dirge to a high-energy explosion of sound within a single set.
Start with 'I Got a Big Fat Woman' for a pure hit of their infectious energy. It captures the band at their most accessible and vibrant, showcasing the communal spirit and the 'second line' tradition that has made them a cornerstone of Louisiana culture for decades.
The Treme Brass Band is a marching brass band from New Orleans, Louisiana led by snare drummer Benny Jones Sr. The band, which plays traditional New Orleans-style brass band music, features a shifting lineup that has included trumpeters Kermit Ruffins and James Andrews, tenor saxophonists Elliot Callier, Frederick Sheppard, and John Gilbert, trombonist Corey Henry, and sousaphonist Kirk Joseph. Before his death in 2012, Lionel Batiste appeared consistently on the bass drum. They have released two albums, Gimme My Money Back on Arhoolie Records and I Got a Big, Fat Woman on the Sound of New Orleans Records label. The band takes its name from New Orleans' Tremé neighborhood; due to some historical confusion, the "Treme" in the name is sometimes spelled "Tremè" or "Tremé". In 2010 the Treme Brass Band performed with Uncle Lionel Batiste to play Voodoo Experience in New Orleans. The Treme Brass Band, including "Uncle" Lionel Batiste, was featured in the 2011 non-fiction film by Darren Hoffman, Tradition is a Temple. Their version of "A Closer Walk With Thee" was heard in the first episode of the HBO series Treme and is included on the series soundtrack. Additionally, the Treme Brass Band leads the Marching Krewe KOE on their Fat Tuesday Parade throughout the French Quarter in New Orleans. The band is a recipient of a 2006 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →
