"Spread Your Legs" - New Birth Brass Band

“Spread Your Legs” (PDF) from the New Birth Brass Band album, D-Boy.

The dominating influence of hip hop on brass band music throughout the 1990s, specifically with the emergence of New Orleans bounce, caused the rift between tradition and progress to grow even wider. The parade traditions established during the Civil Rights era, as described by musicologist Matt Sakakeeny, “are spaces for the articulation of black identity, and within these contexts music and dance can project positive or negative images of blackness” (126), whereas the Hip Hop generation’s move from the streets to the stage, as led by the Soul Rebels, allowed for brass band music to become more of a production than a public demonstration.

Obviously, hip hop music itself has explored the many facets of Black identity, both “positive” and “negative,” within a relatively short span and the new traditions of progress appear to be taking hold: I saw Rebirth Brass Band perform on tour in Chicago at The Cubby Bear in 2018 where I noticed that some of the derogatory lyrics of their 2001 Hot Venom version of “Casanova” were delivered in a slightly more respectful manner. Plus the fact that as a Midwesterner I heard the melody for New Birth’s “Spread Your Legs” used elsewhere before I learned of the lyrics, suggesting that outside of New Orleans the progression of brass band music continues to uphold the traditions of dignified, young gentlemen.

Here is a YouTube video of New Birth bringing the second line show to the stage at the 2014 Jazz Fest with its original tune “A.P. Tureaud”:

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