THE NEW ORLEANS BRASS BAND TRADITION: HONORING THE PAST WHILE POINTING TO THE FUTURE

The New Orleans brass band tradition is a living embodiment of American musical culture. It honors the past and points to the future while keeping focus on the philosophy that connects the two. There is a remarkably robust, multi-generational and varied brass band scene in the city of New Orleans and across the country, in communities that cross race and socioeconomic lines. Yet this vital American musical tradition remains largely unrecognized and under-utilized by academia and music educators. I propose that the New Orleans brass band tradition could be key to saving traditional school band programs in the United States. My paper investigates what "American musical culture" is, how the brass band tradition of New Orleans is part of it and how it differs from the European model that is still prevalent in most school programs. Next, I will investigate the effect inspiration and social relevance, or lack thereof, has upon music students and the retention of music students, the primacy of written culture over oral/aural that academia promotes and how that influences what is means to be "musical" in our society. Finally I discuss what collegiate music education curriculum focuses on and how in order to teach American music that we must retrain our teachers.