Celebrating over 40 years since their founding in 1977, New Orleans-based Dirty Dozen Brass Band has taken the traditional foundation of brass band music and incorporated it into a blend of genres, including bebop, jazz, funk and R&B soul.
This unique sound, described by the band as a “musical gumbo,” has allowed the Dirty Dozen to tour across five continents and more than 30 countries, record 12 studio albums and collaborate with a range of artists from Modest Mouse to Norah Jones.
Now, 40 years later, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world-famous music machine whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances. They are set to join the Mardi Gras Indian band, Cha Wa, at a performance at Landmark on Main Street on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m.
Cha Wa radiates the fiery energy of the best features of New Orleans’ street culture while sharing a more serious, social message in their music. Over the years, their songs have tackled issues from the ’50s-era Jim Crow vagrancy law to the development of Mardi Gras Indian culture.
“We dress up in the Indian suits to pay homage to the Native American Indians, because around the time of slavery, they were the first ones to take us in,” says singer J’Wan Boudreaux. “Everything on our suits is handmade — the beads, the patterns, we sew together pieces of fabric and make the panels, we make the boots — everything.”
Not that you need a firm understanding of Indian or brass band culture to feel the dance-ready vibrations of Cha Wa’s new music. “It’s dance music so I think people are attracted to it. Even if people have no idea what the history is, it’s automatically infectious,” they explain. “J’wan’s the next generation. He’s keeping this flame lit.”
Tickets to see the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and special guest Cha Wa are available through Landmark’s box office, 516-767-6444 or www.landmarkonmainstreet.org.
Landmark on Main Street is located at 232 Main St. in Port Washington.
