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Getting Funky with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Credit Dirty Dozen Brass Band

For almost 40 years the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has introduced the sound of New Orleans to the world.  This week they return to Hawai‘i for a two island tour.

Originally founded in 1977, the band’s reputation of incorporating different music styles from jazz, to funk, to pop music has distanced them from traditional New Orleans 2nd line brass music.  But the change has also allowed them to be embraced by a larger audience, in turn allowing them to popularize the sound and tradition of New Orleans music.

Founding member Rodger Lewis describes their sound like a gumbo recipe - dropping in a little bit of everything, and mixing it until you get a tasty stew.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band performs at the Blue Note Hawai‘i tomorrow and Wednesday night.  They’re on Hawai‘i Island at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea on Friday, and the Kress Theater in Hilo on Saturday. 

Nick Yee’s passion for music developed at an early age, as he collected jazz and rock records pulled from dusty locations while growing up in both Southern California and Honolulu. In college he started DJing around Honolulu, playing Jazz and Bossa Nova sets at various lounges and clubs under the name dj mr.nick. He started to incorporate Downtempo, House and Breaks into his sets as his popularity grew, eventually getting DJ residences at different Chinatown locations. To this day, he is a fixture in the Honolulu underground club scene, where his live sets are famous for being able to link musical and cultural boundaries, starting mellow and building the audience into a frenzy while steering free of mainstream clichés.
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