Biography
The New Birth Brass Band continues a storied lineage within New Orleans brass-band culture, yet the relative youth of its members produces an unusually wide-ranging blend of styles. Virtuoso players weave blues, ragtime, gospel, funk, soul, rock, and classic Crescent City jazz into a single sound. Their recorded output encompasses the 1997 NYNO release D-Boy, the Valley Entertainment album New Birth Family from 2005, and the 2006 Mardi Gras Records collection New Orleans Second Line!. Because the ensemble balances accessibility with stylistic breadth, longtime devotees of traditional brass music respond to the group while younger listeners are drawn to its live performances.
An offshoot of the Young Olympia Brass Band, which Milton Batiste helped establish during the 1980s, New Birth features lead trumpeter and vocalist James Andrews on D-Boy alongside trumpeter Derrick Shezbie, who has also fronted his own New Orleans ensembles; tuba player Kerwin James, brother of Rebirth Brass Band’s Philip and Keith Frazier; snare drummer Kerry Hunter; bass drummer Cayetano “Tanio” Hingle; trombonists Reginald Steward and Corey Henry; and percussionist Mister Action. Andrews’s résumé includes earlier stints with the Roots of Jazz Brass Band, organized by Danny Barker in the early 1980s. After one year in Barker’s group, Andrews formed the All Star Brass Band, which included several of his siblings, and later worked as a sideman with Michelle Shocked, Wynton Marsalis, Danny Barker, Quincy Jones, and Dizzy Gillespie. That varied experience surfaces on D-Boy through renditions of “Whoopin’ Blues,” “Jesus on the Main Line,” and “Li’l Liza Jane.”
Lineup adjustments have continued into the new millennium as the band recruited players and guests from other New Orleans brass ensembles that draw strength from the city’s enduring traditions amid adversity. More recent personnel have featured bass drummer Cayetano Hingle in a leadership capacity, trombonists Reginald Steward, Rob Harris, and Glen David Andrews, snare drummer Kerry “Fat Man” Hunter, saxophonist Darryl Adams, and trumpeters Kenneth Terry and Mervin Campbell. Tuba player Kerwin James, another Hurricane Katrina survivor among Crescent City brass musicians, suffered a stroke in summer 2006 and remained comatose until his death at age 35 in September 2007. In a telling indication of shifting demographics, the street parade held in his memory was stopped by police following noise complaints, and at least two participating musicians were arrested for disturbing the peace. Yet, as James himself observed prior to his passing, “New Birth never dies, it multiplies,” and the ensemble has sustained its momentum with the addition of new tuba player Rob Espino.
An offshoot of the Young Olympia Brass Band, which Milton Batiste helped establish during the 1980s, New Birth features lead trumpeter and vocalist James Andrews on D-Boy alongside trumpeter Derrick Shezbie, who has also fronted his own New Orleans ensembles; tuba player Kerwin James, brother of Rebirth Brass Band’s Philip and Keith Frazier; snare drummer Kerry Hunter; bass drummer Cayetano “Tanio” Hingle; trombonists Reginald Steward and Corey Henry; and percussionist Mister Action. Andrews’s résumé includes earlier stints with the Roots of Jazz Brass Band, organized by Danny Barker in the early 1980s. After one year in Barker’s group, Andrews formed the All Star Brass Band, which included several of his siblings, and later worked as a sideman with Michelle Shocked, Wynton Marsalis, Danny Barker, Quincy Jones, and Dizzy Gillespie. That varied experience surfaces on D-Boy through renditions of “Whoopin’ Blues,” “Jesus on the Main Line,” and “Li’l Liza Jane.”
Lineup adjustments have continued into the new millennium as the band recruited players and guests from other New Orleans brass ensembles that draw strength from the city’s enduring traditions amid adversity. More recent personnel have featured bass drummer Cayetano Hingle in a leadership capacity, trombonists Reginald Steward, Rob Harris, and Glen David Andrews, snare drummer Kerry “Fat Man” Hunter, saxophonist Darryl Adams, and trumpeters Kenneth Terry and Mervin Campbell. Tuba player Kerwin James, another Hurricane Katrina survivor among Crescent City brass musicians, suffered a stroke in summer 2006 and remained comatose until his death at age 35 in September 2007. In a telling indication of shifting demographics, the street parade held in his memory was stopped by police following noise complaints, and at least two participating musicians were arrested for disturbing the peace. Yet, as James himself observed prior to his passing, “New Birth never dies, it multiplies,” and the ensemble has sustained its momentum with the addition of new tuba player Rob Espino.
Albums
