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

Trombonist Lamar Heard Sr. came to Big 6 Brass Band from playing with Stooges Brass Band, a byproduct of Rebirth’s success in the early 90s as well as the catalyst for hip hop’s influence on brass band music by the turn of the century. Stooges’ own popularity around New Orleans grew strong enough in the 00’s to challenge the Rebirth’s reign over the streets, but researcher Matt Sakakeeny argues in his book Roll With It that the “vast network of performance offerings … will remain without equal until Rebirth decides otherwise” (67). Recent evidence of this has been proven with the more-frequent appearances of the Hot 8 in the high-profile parades.

But in 2010, Stooges Brass Band won the title of Red Bull Street Kings which earned the band perhaps more media attention than a year’s worth of Sunday second lines. Along with national tours and festival appearances, Stooges was selected by the U.S. State Department, under President Barack Obama in 2012, as cultural ambassadors for a tour of Pakistan, on which Lamar Heard had performed. According to Nola.com, the older members of Stooges eventually needed to step back from touring and passed the torch to Big 6 Brass Band in 2017, following Rebirth’s example once again of uplifting the younger generation.

Here is a YouTube video of Lamar Heard Sr. performing with Stooges Brass Band in Pakistan:

Recommended reading: Can’t Be Faded: Twenty Years in the New Orleans Brass Band Game by Stooges Brass Band & Kyle DeCoste. Published by University Press of Mississippi.