Storyville Stompers

The Storyville Stompers is an 8-piece New Orleans style brass band. They were founded in 1981 and began regularly performing during Mardi Gras. They currently play parades, conventions, festivals, concerts, weddings, parties, receptions, and [get this...] airport greetings. They regularly perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as well as the French Quarter Festival. Unlike most street or New Orleans bands (other than the very famous ones like Dirty Dozen), they have toured both Asia and Europe.

Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band

The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band is a 15-piece New Orleans style group from Cambridge, MA. They can be heard playing parades, peace rallies, street festivals, funerals, and benefits.

The Barrage Band Orchestra

The Barrage Band Orchestra is a 7-piece brass ensemble out of Baltimore, MD. From the bands I've posted before, no one has yet to combine the Balkan/Gypsy style with the New Orleans tradition of brass band performance until Barrage. The group states the following, "The band feels that music is too important to be played only by professional musicians dictated by industry for consumers. This is why we play on the streets and practice in the parks."

and now for some bad brass ensemble music...

The Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble of Montreal, Quebec, Canada consists of a smorgasbord of instruments, some of which are brass instruments. They consider themselves "street activist musicians." This 16-piece ensemble plays in a Klezmer, gypsy style. It appears that they realize that they are not the most accomplished ensemble, based on their MySpace page.

Hungry March Band

The Hungry March Band of Brooklyn, NY consists of anywhere up to 20 members. They were formed in 1997 for the Coney Island Mermaid Day Parade. HMB does not display a true New Orleans style, yet they mainly stick to big jazz standards (e.g. Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington) and other alternative music (e.g. Black Sabbath).

The Brass Messengers

The Brass Messengers is a ten-piece brass band from Minneapolis, MN. They state that they play "whatever music they can fit in their horns." After listening to them on Youtube and their MySpace page, they present a gypsy-style that is prevalent in Romania.

Funky Butt Brass Band

The Funky Butt Brass Band originates from St. Louis. This 6-piece brass band fuses traditional New Orleans brass band styles with Chicago blues and jazz. It is obvious that they have been highly influenced by both the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands.