“Cruising” (PDF) from the Big 6 Brass Band album, Big Six

In an interview with WWOZ’s Action Jackson for the program Takin’ It To The Streets, Big 6 percussionist Chris Terro discusses the ways New Orleans musicians are trying to make a living through the COVID-19 pandemic. For younger bands like Big 6, the transition toward online marketing and social media has come more naturally than it has for older musicians established through decades of second-line parades with Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs. But it is Terro’s own acknowledgement that now is the time for younger musicians to step up, to honor and practice the traditions of their elders for the sake of the community, a byproduct of his mentorship under the guidance of Civil Rights activist Jerome Smith’s Tambourine and Fan youth organization, that will keep New Orleans music and second-line parades cruising after this pandemic.

Here is a YouTube video of Big 6’s Lamar Heard and Eric Gordon talking about their musical mentors:

Recommended reading: Keeping the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance by Mick Burns. Published by Louisiana State University Press