The L Train Brass Band is a large non-profit community adult music organization based in Brooklyn, NY. [1] Founded in 2017, the L Train Brass Band is composed of close to 100 brass, reed, and percussion musicians based in New York City. [2] [3] The band plays Mardi Gras/New Orleans music in addition to rhythm and blues, hip-hop, and pop covers, as well as a handful of original songs. [1] They are currently artists in residence at Culture Lab LIC. [4]
The L Train Brass Band was founded in 2017 by Ryan Hall and David Joseph. The band was named after the L subway line that many early members utilized to travel to and from rehearsal. When the band became too large to rehearse in a basement, they moved outside, which prompted locals to invite them to increasingly larger events. They made their first major public appearance in June 2017 when they marched in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. [5]
The L Train Brass Band has performed at many high-profile events, including the Governors Ball Music Festival [6] [7] and the Debt Gala, a Met Gala alternative raising money to reduce debt. [8] [9] The group has made several trips to New Orleans, Louisiana, where they have performed as part of the Krewedelusion and Krewe Boheme parades. [10] [11]
They have appeared in every Coney Island Mermaid Parade since 2017, where they have won several awards [12] and have been cited as a parade favorite. [13] [14] [15] [16] The band appears in the 2022 Apple TV Documentary "End of the Line." [17]
The L Train Brass Band has run and operated a New York City-based brass music festival called Brasswick since 2019. The event provides the community access to a variety of local bands and vendors. [18]
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City. Located on the westernmost end of Long Island, it is coextensive with Kings County in the U.S. state of New York. With 2,736,074 residents as of the 2020 United States census, Kings County is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City and the most populous county in the State of New York. The population density of Brooklyn was 37,339.9 inhabitants per square mile (14,417.0/km2) in 2022, making it the second-most-densely-populated county in the United States, behind Manhattan, and it had the ninth-highest population of any county nationwide. Were Brooklyn still an independent city, it would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
A krewe is a social organization that stages parades and/or balls for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout Louisiana and along the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, Springtime Tallahassee, and Krewe of Amalee in DeLand, Florida with the Mardi Gras on Mainstreet Parade as well as in La Crosse, Wisconsin and at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida, United States, most years since 1904. The centerpiece of the festivities is the Parade of Pirates, which is framed as a friendly invasion by the crew of the mythical pirate José Gaspar, a popular figure in Florida folklore. The Parade of Pirates is often referred to as the Gasparilla Parade by locals, and the date of the event is known as Gasparilla Day.
The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn communities of Sunset Park, Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates local on the entire line at all times. Although there is a center express track and three express stations along the line, there is no regular express service.
The Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station is a New York City Subway terminal in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It is the railroad-south terminus for the D, F, N, and Q trains at all times and for the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The Krewe of Orpheus is a New Orleans Mardi Gras super krewe and social organization.
The Hungry March Band is an American brass band with approximately 15-20 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from a quintet to a large corps of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, and hula hoopers.
"Uncle" Lionel Batiste was an American jazz and blues musician and singer from New Orleans. He began his music career at the age of 11 playing bass drum with the Square Deal Social & Pleasure Club. He was the bass drummer, vocalist and assistant leader of the Treme Brass Band; known for his kazoo playing and singing as well, and has recorded a CD as a vocalist.
The Coney Island Mermaid Parade is an art parade held annually in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. The event, the largest art parade in the United States, is held each year in June and celebrates the arrival of the summer season. Created and produced by the non-profit arts organization Coney Island USA, the 40th annual parade was held on June 18, 2022.
The Manhattan Beach Branch, Manhattan Beach Line, or Manhattan Beach Division was a line of the Long Island Rail Road, running from Fresh Pond, Queens, south to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It opened in 1877 and 1878 as the main line of the New York and Manhattan Beach Railway. The tracks from Flatbush south to Manhattan Beach were removed from 1938 to 1941, while most of the rest is now the freight-only Bay Ridge Branch.
The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is an American instrumental musical group led by Boston, Massachusetts based saxophonist Ken Field. They performs an improvised style inspired by the second line brass bands of New Orleans parades. The group's colorful costumes and creative arrangements have earned it invitations to entertain audiences as large as 20,000
OffBeat is a New Orleans, Louisiana monthly local music magazine founded by Jan V. Ramsey in 1987. The magazine, published by OffBeat, Inc., focuses on the popular music of New Orleans and Louisiana, which is generally R&B, blues, jazz, rock, hip-hop, funk, and many other traditional styles of music popular in Louisiana. OffBeat was the first magazine in New Orleans to resume publishing after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, despite losing all its staff and its printer.
HONK!, also known as HONK! Fest, is a festival of activist street bands held annually on Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend in Somerville, Massachusetts. Each year since 2006, an all-volunteer organizing community invites more than 25 bands from around New England, North America, and the world to participate in this free three-day event that showcases acoustic and ambulatory bands playing free music in public spaces. Since its inception, it has inspired additional HONK! festivals in other locations.
The Tulane University Marching Band (TUMB) is the marching band of Tulane University. It performs at every Tulane Green Wave football home game in Yulman Stadium, bowl games, and some away games. It is also marches in New Orleans Mardi Gras parades each year, having appeared in Le Krewe d'Etat, the Krewe of Thoth, the Krewe of Bacchus, and the Krewe of Rex, among others.
Groovesect is a New Orleans funk band featuring conga/percussion player Alfred 'Uganda' Roberts and tours regularly with ex-James Brown band leader and original Parliament/Funkadelic member Fred Wesley.
Jonathan Gleich is a Segway activist who has fought traffic tickets issued as a result of his use of the Segway in his commute to New York City.
The Krewe du Vieux is a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe more fully known as the Krewe du Vieux Carré.
The Soul Rebels are an eight-piece New Orleans based brass ensemble that incorporate elements of soul, jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and pop music within a contemporary brass band framework.
The Original Pinettes Brass Band are a New Orleans brass band. Consisting entirely of women, they are the city's only all-female brass band.
The Krewe of Cleopatra is a New Orleans Mardi Gras Super Krewes and social organization.