Onward Brass Band

Two distinct Onward Brass Bands have existed in New Orleans. The first emerged as one of the earliest jazz-oriented brass ensembles and actually predated the emergence of jazz by roughly ten years. Its twelve-piece lineup featured three cornets or trumpets, two trombones, two clarinets, an alto horn, a baritone horn, a tuba, and both snare and bass drums. Under the direction of Manuel Perez from 1903 until the group disbanded in 1930, the band exerted considerable influence and enjoyed wide popularity; among its notable members were Lorenzo Tio, Jr., Peter Bocage, George Baquet, and King Oliver. Never having recorded, the original Onward Brass Band dissolved soon after the onset of the Depression.

Drummer Paul Barbarin, son of the first ensemble’s alto horn player Isidore Barbarin, assembled a second Onward Brass Band in 1960. Although modeled on its predecessor, this later group comprised only eight musicians—two trumpets, two trombones, a clarinet, a tuba, and snare and bass drums—without the baritone or alto horn. Barbarin guided the band until his death in 1969; clarinetist Louis Cottrell then assumed leadership until he died in 1978. Occasional later performances occurred under drummer Placide Adams, yet the ensemble essentially ceased to exist after Cottrell’s passing. Sidemen who appeared with this edition, which recorded an album for the Japanese Dan label in 1965 and another for CTJC in 1974, included Kid Howard, Louis Barbarin, Alvin Alcorn, Louis Cotrell, and Danny Barker on banjo.