Brass band musicians in New Orleans lead a dual life. One moment they are icons celebrated for upholding a proud tradition, and the next they are pathologized as faceless black men subject to poverty, racial marginalization, and urban violence. Based on interviews with musicians, observations of their performances, and collaborations on public programs, Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans is a story about feel-good dance music is also a commentary on precarious lives at the start of the twenty-first century.
Marching alongside members of the Rebirth, Soul Rebels, and Hot 8 brass bands, readers are transported to the streets and nightclubs where horns and drums propel audiences to move and dance. There are also encounters with aggressive policing, exploitative economies, violent crime, and a political infrastructure that creates insecurities in healthcare, housing, education, and criminal justice. The story culminates with the killing of two musicians who are memorialized with a jazz funeral as well as with new compositions that draw upon hip-hop to voice the particular experiences of black Americans in the post-civil rights period.
There are videos, pictures, and audio stories related to Roll With It threaded throughout this website. If you want to play these while you read the book, just follow the chapter links in the reading guide. Or you can link to specific musicians and bands that appear in the book, and the funerals and parades described, using the extensive drop-down menus up above ˄˄.
For a general overview of the book listen to this podcast or watch this video:
Matt Sakakeeny 