“Whoopin’ Blues” (PDF) from the New Birth Brass Band album, D-Boy.

Along with the New Orleans traditionals like “Whoopin’ Blues,” John Casimir’s contributions to the Young Tuxedo Brass Band established a dignified legacy to brass band parades. By the time trumpeter Greg Stafford took the helm, as documented in Matt Sakakeeney’s book, there was disappointment among the elders regarding the so-called “undignified” activities occurring at modern funeral parades, specifically with Darnell “D-Boy” Andrews’ procession. While New Birth’s inclusion of “Whoopin’ Blues” on its first album was an acknowledgement to the traditions of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, the public outcry at its parades were a necessary reaction to the arduous conditions of Black life in America.

On this recording, the trombone solo proves to be a truly improvised twelve-bar blues solo in E-flat, revealed by the unanticipated silence in the first few bars as the musicians decide in the moment who should be playing. I have yet to determine whether it’s Corey Henry or Reginald Steward. Perhaps out of necessity, the solo relies on the E-flat blues scale, with the IV chord (A-flat) used as an extension of the scale. But it is phrasing within the eighth bar where the melodies suggest the move toward the V chord (B-flat) as the most important phrase of the form.

Here is a classic YouTube video of New Birth parading in 2010 to the tune of “Lord Lord Lord”:

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