Roll With It Brass Band Analysis

In Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans, Matt Sakakeeny illustrates the everyday life of the brass band musicians in New Orleans and presents a series of issues in full details. Power dynamics become a major theme in Sakakeeny’s ethnography. Violence, as a way of using forces and creating destruction, demonstrates such power dynamics. More specifically, the interpersonal and structural violence are characterized by forced reconstruction of the community, local law and restrictions, along with poor economics; with the help of music, the brass band musicians call and respond: they confront and try to fight against these challenging risks.
According to the World Health Organization, violence is the “intentional use of physical
The Hot 8 Brass Band, one of the well-known and traditional New Orleans bands, experiences several losses of members due to police gunshot. Sakakeeny illustrates one of the deaths in details. The trombonist Joseph “Shotgun” Williams was attacked by the police when he was unarmed: “when Joe moved towards the passenger door, officers filled his body with bullets” (152). The police suppression leads to the death of one talented musician; furthermore, the violence leaves the Hot 8 Band with severe shock. In the interview with Hot 8 Brass Band, all of the members indicate that the band is a symbol of family. Jerome “Baybay” Jones responds in the interview that the loss of a member is overwhelming “because we are all we have” (Nola For Life). Nonetheless, the brass band performed in Joe’s funeral; the composition of new songs becomes a way of expression: “frustrations, hopes, and aspirations” (158). The inevitable death brings insecurity to the community. On the other hand, it allows the brass band to perform in the funerals. As Gerard Cantor states in the interview that “music is like a medicine,” the musicians use music as a tool to response to the loss of their members (Nola For Life). In Sakakeeny’s description of Joe’s death, he contrasts gun with musical
Described as “dual citizens,” the brass band performers have two drastically different identities (5). Although their performances enable them to be “exceptional icons,” these musicians suffer from poverty. They struggle to earn a living, as they are paid with little salaries. Most of the musicians are not full-time performers; in order to keep the livelihood, they cannot focus solely on their career. During the “New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,” Keith Frazier, the member of Rebirth Brass Band, questions that “‘We know who we are. Do you know who we are?’” (100). The musicians themselves have a clear interpretation of their duality. However, there is a confusion of identities from the outsiders’ view. People focus only on their iconic appearance and hardly notice their poverty. As Sakakeeny remarks, it is problematic that the performers are the one who create the brass band culture, while the “cultural economics ends with these same workers, who are the last to receive any financial return” (86). Sakakeeny illustrates several vivid contrasts about musicians’ life stories. That is, the musicians work too much; however, they receive too little. Additionally, their second-line performance exhibits an up-beat tempo and mobilizing atmosphere, while the musicians endure an insecure and tragic life. In order to provide a