Music Maker Productions student director Tyler Wolfe said his organization was searching for an artist to play a free show at the end of the MSU school year when the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s name was thrown into the mix.
“When we found out that the Dirty Dozen was available, we jumped at the chance to bring them to State,” Wolfe said.
“We thought that a free show with such a cool, big band would be a great chance for students to blow off some pre-exam steam.”
Students may know the Dozen best for their collaborations with other recording artists. Dr. John, Aaron Neville, Robert Randolph and Norah Jones have all been guests on Dozen albums, and the Dozen been guests on albums for Elvis Costello, the Black Crowes and David Bowie.
Anyone who’s ever listened to Modest Mouse’s “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” is already familiar with the wail of the Dozen’s horns.
Despite its eclectic list of collaborators, Wolfe said the group’s music is pure Bourbon Street. “Their sound has its roots in New Orleans big bands of the 1920s and 30s,” he said.
The group formed in 1977 as the house band at the Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in New Orleans. The band took the club’s name as its own, and soon the eight-man ensemble went from playing local festivals and sporting events to recording their own albums and garnering acclaim for tour dates around the world.
The Dozen’s genre-defying music is the key to its success and longevity.
The brass band foundation of their sound comes directly from the New Orleans tradition of the jazz funeral, in which bands accompany mourners to cemeteries, playing sad music before the burial and joyful, upbeat music afterward.
Funk and progressive jazz are the other primary ingredients of the Dozen’s sound, but the band also dabbles in rock, R&B, gospel, soul and blues. They even took a stab at classical music, performing a suite composed by group trumpeter Gregory Davis. No genre is off limits for the Dirty Dozen as long as it feeds the soul and gets the feet moving.
Known for their infectious onstage energy with feel-good toe-tappers like “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now,” the Dozen have a reputation as the party band to end all others, an act that makes immovable prudes rush to lace up their dancing shoes.
They’ve been called one of the best live jazz acts in the world. They have a day of the year named in their honor in their home city of New Orleans. They’ve played with everyone from Widespread Panic to Dave Matthews. They’ve released a dozen albums and have played in over 30 countries on five continents.
Tonight the Dirty Dozen will fire up their horns live at the MSU Amphitheater.
“People should come out,” Wolfe said. “Whether they want to bring a blanket or a chair or whether they want to get down and dance in front of the stage.”
The Dozen’s opening act is Jackson area pop band Still Stanley, who will take the stage at 7 p.m. There is no admission fee, and the outdoor event is open to the public.