"Show Me That Dance Called the Second Line" - New Birth Brass Band

“Show Me That Dance Called the Second Line” (PDF) from the New Birth Brass Band album, New Orleans Second Line!

Rather than trying to show you my footwork, I’ll show you to Rachel Carrico’s dissertation Footwork! Improvised Dance as Dissenting Mobility in the New Orleans Second Line. In it, she discusses the historical healing and communal transcendence of second line parades through dance and spatial occupation. But to answer the request of Glen David Andrew’s vocalized call, the spirit of the second line is not a demonstration but rather a participatory celebration. In other words, do whatcha wanna.

In keeping with this motivation, the trombone solo begins by sharing four-bar phrases with the trumpet until he’s lifted into the upper register to sustain his playing through all four bars. The stressed note is a high C, the 9th of the Bbm7 chord, which creates a prolonged release of tension that finally resolves, purposefully, on the syncopated off-beat for an emphatic statement of excitement. So now that I’ve shown you, go do your thing.

Here’s a YouTube video from Deborah “Big Red” Cotton featuring New Birth Brass Band along with a fantastic trombone solo:

Recommended reading: Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans by Matt Sakakeeny. Published by Duke University Press.