Thursday, Feb. 9
The resurgence of the New Orleans brass band in the late 2000s was just about the unlikeliest musical development of its time. In some ways, it was a product of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, a living proof of the steadfastness of the people of the Crescent City who endured such horror, natural and manmade. It's also a powerful reminder—a welcome one—that that city has been and remains the crucible of American music. The sound's most prominent exponent these days is the aptly named Rebirth Brass Band. These denizens of New Orleans' famed Treme neighborhood are celebrating their 30th year of fusing second-line brass music—proto-jazz—with funk, soul, rhythm & blues, and hip-hop, revitalizing a music that was always about celebration and dancing with modern and cutting-edge sounds. They perform with local favorites Funk Ark at 7 p.m. at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25.

Saturday, Feb. 11
When NBC's The Sing-Off was forced by popular demand to bring back fourth-place finishers Afro-Blue for last fall's season finale, it was clear that a star had been born. And the name at the crest of that star was Christie Dashiell, the telegenic young vocalist who was frequently the smooth, sparkling lead on the Howard University ensemble's performances. By that time, of course, Dashiell had already been an established presence in our fair city; the North Carolina native was a popular participant in last year's inaugural Washington Women in Jazz Festival, did splendid work with the Jolley Brothers, and performed regularly on her own and with the various configurations of Afro-Blue. In short, America, Dashiell was ours first. And this weekend she's back, showcasing her extraordinary talents with two of her brothers, bassist Christian and drummer C.V.; stellar D.C. pianist Allyn Johnson; and a fellow Afro-Bluer, singer Integriti Reeves. Dashiell performs at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. at Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW. $20.

Sunday, Feb. 12
Sunday, kids, is blowing up. From Andrea Parkins and IRIS at the Caverns, to D.C. fusioneer Mychael Pollard at Twins, to Al Jarreau and the Airmen of Note at DAR Constitution Hall. Something for everyone. This writer, however, has two other recommendations that day; both start at the same time, but one will still be running strong when the other ends.

First is the Overtone Quartet, an all-star ensemble that started five years ago as the Monterey Quartet (in celebration of the Monterey Jazz Festival's 50th anniversary), then re-formed two years later in the wake of a live recording from the Festival. By that time pianist Jason Moran had joined, replacing original player Gonzalo Rubalcaba and joining bassist Dave Holland, tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, and drummer Eric Harland. Each member is a prominent, cutting-edge member of the national jazz landscape; each is also a prominent composer in his own right, and represented within the band's repertoire. The key to their ar, however, is the kinetic sense of interplay the musicians share. They shift on a dime, complement each others' improvisations, and make time and harmony a thing of wax to be molded at will. They perform at 7 p.m. at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Route 193 and Stadium Drive in College Park. $9-$45.

Second, on your way home, stop in Columbia Heights, where CapitalBop is presenting its first D.C. Jazz Loft in its new locale: The Dunes. Helping them inaugurate the venue are three of the city's most innovative, edgy acts. Paul Carr, the saxophonist and educator who curates next week's Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, leads his band; drummer Lenny Robinson's exploratory trio Mad Curious, featuring saxophonist Brian Settles and bassist Tarus Mateen, adds fuel to the fire; and the Donvonte McCoy Quintet, named by Arts Desk as 2011's Best Small Jazz Group, caps things off...except, of course, for the open jam session at the end of the night. The Dunes is at 1402 Meridian Place NW. $10 suggested donation (and this time no BYOB!).

David Simon and HBO's Treme—a chronicle of the musicians and other residents of New Orleans struggling to rebuild their homes and lives after Hurricane Katrina—could never hope to meet the bar set by their previous Baltimore-based series, The Wire. But it has done something that its predecessor couldn't: For all its somberness and hardship, it reintroduced America to a city within its own boundaries whose life and culture deserve to be celebrated. Jazz, both traditional and contemporary; gospel; rhythm & blues; funk; hip-hop; and frothing amalgamations of the above have gained a forum and a newly enthusiastic audience via a television program with a fervid fan base. As evidence, the closing show of the DC Jazz Festival, a showcase at the Kennedy Center called "A Night in Treme," is sold out.

But this is one of those shows where you stand in long cancellation lines if you have to. Emceed by Treme star Wendell Pierce, it features contemporary representatives of New Orleans' musical traditions, many of whom have appeared on the show: the Rebirth Brass Band, trumpeter/singer James Andrews, clarinetist Dr. Michael White, trombonist "Big Sam" Williams, and alto saxophonist and musical director Donald Harrison. You don't see lineups like this outside The Big Easy itself, and unless you've got a trip forthcoming, this is can't-miss stuff. Find a way to be there.

"A Night in Treme" begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, 2700 F Street NW. $20-$65. Sold out.

Whenever I tell folks I like New Orleans brass bands, I gotta convince them that the groups are funky like old-school DC go-go combos, not sedate like old-fashioned Dixieland troupes.  That is the case with Mama Digdown's Brass Band, who are appearing at the Surf Club Thursday night (conflict of interest note—I told them about area clubs when they were booking the tour).  Except Digdown is from Wisconsin not the 9th Ward.

Fascinated with the second line parade percussion and the booming horns of the Crescent City, Digdown has spent over a decade traveling down there as often as possible to soak up the approach and then add a little something of their own to it.  Covering standards like “I’ll Fly Away,” and adding in some originals, this horn (sousaphone, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and sax) and percussion (bass and snare drums) unit has toured Europe and played in New Orleans.

These guys are serious about their craft.  A few years back, I discovered an I Love Music chatboard thread called "New Orleans Brass Bands S/D" that featured extensive posting from Mama Digdown’s bass drum player, Jordan Cohen.  Only occasionally talking about his own group, Cohen has highlighted  vets like Dirty Dozen as well as the Rebirth Brass Band, New Birth Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, Lil' Rascals Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Soul Rebels Brass Band, and more. With Dirty Dozen and Rebirth having made recent local appearances, tonight’s gig offers locals another current opportunity to shake their thangs to this still vital street marching jazzy sound.

Thursday June 18, 2009-Mama Digdown's Brass Band with local zydeco and New Orleans r’n’b band Little Red & the Renegades from 8 to 12 midnight at the Surf Club, 4711 Kenilworth Avenue, Hyattsville MD.  301-927-6310

***

Raphael Saadiq and Dr. John are both on tour at present, peddling different brands of regressively delightful music to packed, loyal audiences. The Doctor (Mac Rebennack, to get technical) and Saadiq (né Wiggins) wear their influences on their sleeves and dress in full-on vintage: Rebennack in voodoo regalia, Saadiq in a chickadee-yellow suit and oversize horn-rims.

The distinction, of course, is that Saadiq's throwback pose is provisional; the Doctor's is dynastic.

Headliner John Legend has been filling houses for Saadiq during the pair's national tour that closed two days ago. That's fine, if it means more people listening to Saadiq—but mainly it means sitting through most of Evolver after the livelier performer (with the better band) has already left the stage. Legend struts and takes his cheese seriously; Saadiq dances and seems to acknowledge that the salvation/procreation dyad of contemporary R&B is about as synthetic as a modern soulman who channels Curtis Mayfield.

Dr. John dances too, in a sense—if that's what you call the frenzied Dixie wobblings that ensued whenever the sexua-(nearly septua-)genarian stood up for a break from the ivories. "Pull ya pants up...ooh, that's just unnecessary," drummer Herman Ernest III chided as Dr. John demonstrated an unusual two-step for the audience. "I know: it's hard with the prosthetics." These moments were special, but also left the band lacking the dirty-ass center of its sound—Dr. John's swampy piano, without which the group regressed into a generic species of funk. The high point of the set was the funereal, "Ballad of a Thin Man"-type take on "When the Saints Go Marchin' In"—as fine a eulogy for the Doctor's Katrina-ravaged home as anything on City That Care Forgot, the critically admired disc behind which the Lower 911 is touring.

Saadiq's recent Katrina tribute—"Big Easy," which gets a nice treatment from the Rebirth Brass Band on the album—shined on Tuesday night, courtesy of some beautiful, warbly trumpet. But Saadiq reserves his grooviest arrangements for a more playful subcategory of the fuck anthem than anything in the Legend songbook—such that when he tells a girl that he "want[s] some sex" and proposes a walk outside, it's not background music, nor some cosmic event: it just is what it is.

...and what it is has a hell of a lot more to do with Dr. John singing "Makin' Whoopee" than with Legend on "Take Me Away."

Photograph by Brian Reed

Photograph by Brian Reed