Roll With It: Brass Band Book Launch this Friday at Sweet Lorraine’s
Join artist Willie Birch, the Hot 8 Brass Band, and author Matt Sakakeeny to celebrate the launch of Roll With It: Brass Bands in the Streets of New Orleans, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, at Sweet Lorraine’s (1931 St. Claude Ave.).
Roll With It is a firsthand account, chronicled by Sakakeeny, of the lives of members of the Hot 8, Soul Rebels, and Rebirth Brass Bands that lays out their efforts in art, work, and life in the context of a changing New Orleans and the long tradition in which their music exists. Artist Willie Birch contributed artwork for the cover and throughout. Many of the chapters in Roll With It have corresponding radio pieces, produced by Sakakeeny, that were featured on NPR’s American Routes and All Things Considered. You can find a guide to the chapters and corresponding multimedia on Sakakeeny’s personal site.
Sakakeeny and Birch will be on hand for the book launch, which will feature the Hot 8 Brass Band playing songs described in the book. The evening will correspond, in a bit of a fortuitous double-booking at Sweet Lorraine’s, with the New Orleans LadyFest, which features Charmaine Neville and others performing before and after the launch. The book launch is free. LadyFest suggests a donation.
Those who can’t make it to the party can hear Sakakeeny read from the book at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at Garden District Books (2727 Prytania St.).