Learn more about the integral position of celebration in the culture of New Orleans, the history and development of second line parades and brass band music, and about the Crescent City.
Up From the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II.
Jason Berry, Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones. 2009. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.
A concise history of the traditional roots of, as well as evolution and innovation in, New Orleans music since WWII.
“Putting the Ninth Ward on the Map: Race, Place, and Transformation in Desire, New Orleans.”
Rachel Breunlin and Helen Regis. 2006. In American Anthropologist 108 (4): 744-764.
Breunlin and Regis address the historical impact of recurrent “urban renewal” or “redevelopment” projects upon the social landscape of New Orleans neighborhoods that began in the 1950s, and which presently inform debates over rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.
Keep the Beat on the Street: The New Orleans Brass Band Renaissance.
2006. Ed. Mick Burns. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
A survey of innovations and developments in New Orleans brass bands over the past 30 years, with commentary and interviews with members of some of the city’s most innovative and influential brass bands.
“Second Lining Post-Katrina: Learning Community from the Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club."
Joel Dinerstein. 2009. In American Quarterly 61(3): 615-637.
Dinerstein aims to educate the reader to the meaning of the term “second line” and, then, to use a particular second line – one sponsored by the Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club in the October after Hurricane Katrina – to illustrate the social, political and aesthetic functions of the practice through interviews with club members.
Coming Out the Door for the Ninth Ward.
Nine Times Social Aid and Pleasure Club. 2006. New Orleans: Neighborhood Story Project.
Members of the Nine Times Social Aid and Pleasure club recount, in their own words, their experiences growing up in the Desire Housing Project and their formative experiences in the life of their community.
“Second Lines, Minstrelsy, and the Contested Landscapes of New Orleans Afro-Creole Festivals.”
Helen Regis. 1999. In Cultural Anthropology 14(4): 472-504.
Regis engages in a comparative analysis of the growing phenomenon of "staged" second lines for touristic consumption vis-à-vis vernacular second lines sponsored by New Orleans' social aid and pleasure clubs.
“Blackness and the Politics of Memory in the New Orleans Second Line.”
Helen Regis. 2001. In American Ethnologist 28(4): 752-777.
Here Regis provides an ethnographic description of two jazz funerals with particular attention towards the plasticity of the practice and the social agency of actors involved.
“Under the Bridge”: An Orientation to Soundscapes in New Orleans.”
Matt Sakakeeny. 2010. In Ethnomusicology 54(1).
Sakakeeny uses case studies of second lines in the Tremé neighborhood to investigate the situational interpretation of sound as it relates to racial politics in the city of New Orleans.
Folklife and Fieldwork.
2008. Peter Bartis, ed. Washington, DC: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Oral History: An Interdisciplinary Anthology.
1984. David K. Dunaway and Willa K. Baum, ed. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History.
Putting Documentary Work to Work.
2000. Durham, NC: Center for Documentary Studies. Available as a pdf through the Indivisible Project.
American Routes: Songs and Stories from the Road.
2008. Highbridge Media.
It’s About Time.
2003. Stooges Brass Band. The Gruve Label.
New Orleans Brass Bands: Down Yonder.
1989. Various Artists. Rounder Records.
Rebirth Kickin’ It Live.
1991. Rebirth Brass Band. Rounder Records.
Rock with the Hot 8.
2005. Hot 8 Brass Band. Louisiana Red Hot Records.
Soul Rebels: No More Parades.
1998. Soul Rebels Brass Band. Tuff America/Tuff City Records.
Ultimate Street Parade: New Orleans Brass Bands.
2005. Various Artists. Mardi Gras Records.
Jazz Parades: Feet Don’t Fail Me Now.
1990. Film by Alan Lomax. Available for streaming at Folkstreams.
Tootie’s Last Suit.
2006. Film by Lisa Katzman. More information here.
Sidewalk Steppers Second Line.
August 2007.
New Orleans culture and tradition rise up in the wake of the flood as we follow one of the first post-Katrina second line parades through the streets of the city. From the program “After the Storm: Katrina’s Second Anniversary.”
New Orleans Brass Bands with Marcus Hubbard and Lumar LeBlanc of Soul Rebels, Phil Frazier of Rebirth, and Benny Pete of Hot 8.
February 2007.
Hear the expansion and evolution of the New Orleans brass band sound as members of the Soul Rebels, Hot 8 and Rebirth explain how they keep tradition while adding elements of funk and hip hop. From the program “Routes March On: Brass Bands & Cajun Youth.”
Allison Tootie Montana.
February 2007.
We take the occasion to remember the life and passing of the leader of the Yellow Pocahontas, Allison "Tootie" Montana, the Mardi Gras Indian Chief of Chiefs who passed away in June 2005. From the show “Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”
Harold Dejan Jazz Funeral.
October 2002.
The jazz funeral is a landmark tradition of New Orleans traditional culture, a chance to celebrate and mourn the passing of a loved member of the community. Listen here as we follow a jazz funeral parade tribute to New Orleans musician Harold Dejan, leader of the Olympia brass band and treasured elder of traditional jazz music in the city. From the program “All Saints.”
The Neighborhood Story Project
Documenting the stories of New Orleans neighborhoods since 2004.
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Resources for collecting and archiving folklife.
Sweet Home New Orleans
Supports New Orleans musicians, Social Aid & Pleasure Club members, and Mardi Gras Indians
Hogan Jazz Archive
Renowned resource for New Orleans jazz
Jazz and Heritage Foundation
Promotes and preserves Louisiana art, culture and music
Best of New Orleans Blog
Posts second line route sheets weekly
