I guess what one does with a blog is just begin. No big launch; no long collection and collation of content. One entry and it's off, right? I started this blog (actually made the page over a month ago now, but posted nothing) to document my encounters with the brass band underground as they happen, so I suppose I should just begin documenting. The entries are going to be brief for now (I write with a sideways glance at the pile of papers I need to grade this week, the Philip Roth novel I need to read before his birthday event on Friday...), but I might as well begin. Already there's a backlog of encounters both fabulous and bittersweet: that big show at Union Pool with the What Cheer? Brigade, Slavic Soul Party, and Veveritse; Honk Fest West in Seattle; the second line for Vi in New Orleans and the smaller affair in New York...and last night, on the Union Square L platform, I ran into yet another brass band: the Stumblebum Brass Band.This was a band I'd heard before--I was lodged deep within the press of a subway car on the 2/3 line, when the doors opened (at 14th st? Times Sq? I wasn't paying attention.) and, from the opposite platform, the squeal of a trumpet rose above the cacophony of the crowd. I strained to see who it was, and I could see the flash of a tuba, but I didn't recognize any of them. A new band?? I didn't see them again. Then, last night, I was traveling to a wedding in Bushwick, bass drum in tow, where I was going to play in an ad hoc processional band (Jenny dubbed us the Everybody Auxiliary Wedding Band) to get the wedding party from the couple's loft over to Asterisk--and I ran into the mysterious subway brass band. There were just three of them—trumpet, tuba, and snare--but they had the power of twice their number. AT least once a song, the trumpet player (whose name is either Josh or Smidge, depending on the source) would lower his horn from his lips and take up a megaphone, growling the dirtiest, loudest kind of melody. I sat there watching them while I waited for the train, wishing I could take out my bass drum and play along. When I talked to them between songs, however, I found out they were playing at the same party to which we were going to be processing...and later at that party I did get to play with them. They are dreamy tight, and you ought to travel to their myspace page and take a listen...
4 comments:
Ah. I was wondering about them -- saw a flyer for a gig they were doing on the LES. I was confused for a sec. "Stumblebum...Staggerback?" Maybe we need a street band name czar, like the way the FDA has to approve drug names so you don't take the wrong one beginning with a "Z" or an "X?" Thanks for the review. Will check 'em out.
yes, and the same goes for BAND COLORS.
Haha. We need a moratorium on red and black for sure. I think I saw a couple green and black bands at Honk last year as well.
yeah, red and black are worn out for sure. did the new ASO take purple and black? i think that's a great little combination. my next band is gonna wear turquiose and orange like HoJo's.
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