A jazz funeral is a funeral procession accompanied by a brass band, in the tradition of New Orleans, Louisiana.
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A jazz funeral is a funeral procession accompanied by a brass band, in the tradition of New Orleans, Louisiana.
The term "jazz funeral" was long in use by observers from elsewhere, but was generally disdained as inappropriate by most New Orleans musicians and practitioners of the tradition. [1] The preferred description was "funeral with music"; while jazz was part of the music played, it was not the primary focus of the ceremony. [2] [3] This reluctance to use the term faded significantly in the final 15 years or so of the 20th century among the younger generation of New Orleans brass band musicians more familiar with the post-Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Soul Rebels Brass Band funk influenced style than the older traditional New Orleans jazz.[ citation needed ]
The tradition blends strong European and African cultural influences. Louisiana's colonial past gave it a tradition of military style brass bands which were called on for many occasions, including playing funeral processions. [4] This was combined with African spiritual practices, specifically the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria and other parts of West Africa.[ citation needed ] Jazz funerals are also heavily influenced by early twentieth century Protestant and Catholic churches, black brass bands, and the idea of celebrating after death in order to please the spirits who protect the dead.[ citation needed ] Another group that has influenced jazz funerals is the Mardi Gras Indians. [5]
The tradition was widespread among New Orleanians across ethnic boundaries at the start of the 20th century. As the common brass band music became wilder in the years before World War I, some white New Orleanians considered the hot music disrespectful, and such musical funerals became rare among the city's white citizens. After the 1960s, it gradually started being practiced across ethnic and religious boundaries. Most commonly such musical funerals are done for individuals who are musicians themselves, connected to the music industry, or members of various social aid and pleasure clubs or Carnival krewes who make a point of arranging for such funerals for members. Although the majority of jazz funerals are for African American musicians there has been a new trend in which jazz funerals are given to young people who have died. [6]
The organizers of the funeral arrange for hiring the band as part of the services. When a respected fellow musician or prominent member of the community dies, some additional musicians may also play in the procession as a sign of their esteem for the deceased. [7] In more recent times anyone can request a Jazz funeral, but the musician route is still the most commonly seen today.
A typical jazz funeral begins with a march by the family, friends, and a brass band from the home, funeral home, or church to the cemetery. During the funeral march, onlookers have been known to join in with the festivities of the passing of life. Throughout the march, the band plays somber dirges and hymns. [7] A change in the tenor of the ceremony takes place, after either the deceased is entombed, or the hearse leaves the procession and members of the procession say their final goodbye and they "cut the body loose". After this the music becomes more upbeat, often starting with a hymn or spiritual number played in a swinging fashion, then going into popular hot tunes. There is raucous music and cathartic dancing where onlookers join in to celebrate the life of the deceased. Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the second line, and their style of dancing, in which they walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called second lining. [8]
Some typical pieces often played at jazz funerals are the slow, and somber song "Nearer My God to Thee" and such spirituals as "Just a Closer Walk With Thee". The later more upbeat tunes frequently include "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Oh, Didn't He Ramble". [9]
The Cincinnati Kid (1965), which takes place in New Orleans, begins with a jazz funeral in which the song "Oh, Didn't He Ramble" is played.
In the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973), an early scene showed a secret agent being murdered under cover of a jazz funeral. [10]
The 2010 HBO TV series Treme frequently featured jazz funerals as part of its depiction of the New Orleans musical landscape.
The Originals TV series, a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, which started in 2013 and ran for 5 seasons, frequently featured a form of jazz funerals whenever prominent characters died. Unlike true jazz funerals which went from a home, funeral home, or church to the cemetery, the jazz funerals in The Originals were always in the French Quarter Square. They also mostly showcased only the lively music portion and not the somber. Some of the characters who had a jazz funeral in this series were Father Kieran, Camille, and Haley.
There is a 2014 movie called The Jazz Funeral starring James Morrison and Bobby Campo.
Legacies, a 2018 4-season spin-off of The Originals, also featured a jazz funeral for the main character's father, Klaus Michaelson, in the 4th season, who had died in The Originals series finale years earlier (both in real time and in series time).
In the 2023 Disney film Haunted Mansion , a jazz funeral takes place on the streets of New Orleans in which an original song called "His Soul Left Gloss on the Rose" is performed by The Soul Rebels.
Jazz funeral was one of the inspirations behind a funeral scene in the episode Rix Road in the 2023 Disney+ television series Andor. [11]
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a decade. Johnson stated on his 1937 application for Social Security that he was born on December 27, 1889. Many jazz historians believe this date of birth to be the most accurate of the various dates Johnson gave throughout his life.
Alphonse Floristan Picou was an important very early American jazz clarinetist, who also wrote and arranged music. He was born and died in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen was a jazz tubist and band leader. Tuba Fats was New Orleans' most famous tuba player and played traditional New Orleans jazz and blues for over 40 years.
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 of the SAPC with the parading permit as well as the brass band. The second line consists of people who follow the band to enjoy the music, dance, and engage in community. The second line's style of traditional dance, in which participants dance and walk along with the SAPCs in a free-form style with parasols and handkerchiefs, is called "second-lining". It is one of the most foundationally Black American–retentive cultures in the United States. It has been called "the quintessential New Orleans art form – a jazz funeral without a body". Another significant difference from jazz funerals is that second line parades lack the slow hymns and dirges played at funerals.
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, and classmates from Joseph S. Clark Senior High School, which closed in the spring of 2018, in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans. Arhoolie released its first album in 1984.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen incorporated funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans jazz style, and since has been a major influence on local music. They won the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Performance in 2023.
Daniel Moses Barker was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s.
Congo Square is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its influence on the history of African American music, especially jazz.
Troy Andrews, also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is an American musician, producer, and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, organ, and tuba. He has worked with some of the biggest names in rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop. Andrews is the younger brother of trumpeter and bandleader James Andrews III and the grandson of singer and songwriter Jessie Hill. Andrews began playing trombone at age four, and since 2009 has toured with his own band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
Lionel Charles Ferbos was an American jazz trumpeter. He was from New Orleans, Louisiana.
The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana, is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has sometimes been called traditional jazz, 'New Orleans', and 'New Orleans jazz'. However, the tradition of jazz in New Orleans has taken on various forms that have either branched out from original dixieland or taken entirely different paths altogether. New Orleans has also been a prominent center of funk, home to some of the earliest funk bands such as The Meters.
Gert Town is a neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home to Xavier University of Louisiana and is near Mid-City. Gert Town played a major role in the industrial development of the New Orleans region. The Blue Plate Mayonnaise Factory, Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Sealtest Dairy, and Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company were all fundamental manufacturing bases of the working-class neighborhood. Gert Town was also well known for being a center of development for jazz and other music genres. Musicians such as Buddy Bolden, John Robichaux, Merry Clayton, Bunk Johnson and Allen Toussaint all came from the neighborhood and helped shape the musical influence of New Orleans.
To Be Continued Brass Band, or TBC Brass Band, is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Louis Albert Cottrell Jr. was a Louisiana Creole jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was the son of the influential drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and grandfather of New Orleans jazz drummer Louis Cottrell III. As leader of the Heritage Hall Jazz Band, he performed at Carnegie Hall in 1974.
The Onward Brass Band was either of two brass bands active in New Orleans for extended periods of time.
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, fostered awareness of this new style of music.
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Paul Crawford was an American jazz musician, music arranger, and music historian. He specialized in Dixieland jazz.
"Oh, Didn't He Ramble" is a New Orleans jazz standard, copyrighted in 1902 by J. Rosamond Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, and Bob Cole. It is frequently used at the end of jazz funerals.
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