Biography
During the 1980s the Dirty Dozen Brass Band opened a fresh chapter for listeners by spotlighting the brass-band tradition of New Orleans, a lineage that stretches back to the Civil War. Yet that ensemble did not launch the revival; the style had never truly vanished. Ensembles such as the Excelsior, Eureka, Reliance, and Onward brass bands sustained the form through the first half of the twentieth century, after which the Young Tuxedo Brass Band carried the practice forward from the late 1930s into the early 1940s.
Trumpeter John Casimir established the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in 1938, an outfit distinct from Papa Celestin’s Tuxedo Brass Band of the 1910s and 1920s. In the postwar years the group helped restore vitality to the tradition, typically fielding nine to eleven players—most often two trumpets, two trombones, two reeds, tuba, snare drum, and bass drum. Its debut recordings appeared on Atlantic Records in 1958, with legendary drummer Paul Barbarin among the personnel. Casimir remained at the helm until his death in 1963. From 1971 until his own passing in 1984, saxophonist and clarinetist Herman Sherman directed the band, guiding it on domestic tours and international engagements. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s the ensemble served as Sherman’s chief outlet, documenting its work on the 1983 album Jazz Continues. In the late 1990s trumpeter Gregg Stafford assembled a reconstituted lineup that appeared at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as late as 2002.
Trumpeter John Casimir established the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in 1938, an outfit distinct from Papa Celestin’s Tuxedo Brass Band of the 1910s and 1920s. In the postwar years the group helped restore vitality to the tradition, typically fielding nine to eleven players—most often two trumpets, two trombones, two reeds, tuba, snare drum, and bass drum. Its debut recordings appeared on Atlantic Records in 1958, with legendary drummer Paul Barbarin among the personnel. Casimir remained at the helm until his death in 1963. From 1971 until his own passing in 1984, saxophonist and clarinetist Herman Sherman directed the band, guiding it on domestic tours and international engagements. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s the ensemble served as Sherman’s chief outlet, documenting its work on the 1983 album Jazz Continues. In the late 1990s trumpeter Gregg Stafford assembled a reconstituted lineup that appeared at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as late as 2002.