Mama Digdown’s will blow their own horn at 30th anniversary shows – The Capital Times

It’s a challenging enterprise to get the members of Mama Digdown’s Brass Band together for a 30th anniversary show.

First of all, several of the members of Madison’s venerable brass band live in other cities.

Secondly, there’s just so many of them. The current lineup of the band boasts nine players, and there’s probably another 12 to 15 who have been members over the years.

The first time a music fan encountered Mama Digdown’s might not have been indoors but outdoors at a venue like Art Fair on the Square where the band could march in tribute to the beloved second line bands of New Orleans.

But they’ll do their best to honor the past, present and future of Mama Digdown’s with two anniversary shows this weekend at the Bur Oak, 2262 Winnebago St., at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $20 for the Friday show ($25 at the door) and $15 for the Saturday show ($20 at the door).

The band is going strong and is planning to release a new album next spring featuring brass band arrangements of Michael Jackson songs.

Ahead of the show, leaders and founding members Erik Jacobson (sousaphone) and Christopher “Roc” Ohly (saxophone) talked about how the group got started, their connections to New Orleans, and how they plan to celebrate.

How did you guys get started?

Erik Jacobson: Roc and I met at the UW School of Music. We played in some jazz groups together, we played in Richard Davis’s Black Music Ensemble. Cool. Shout out for Richard. He’s an important part of our origin story. We started hanging out, and we were listening to jazz together, and we were listening to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Rebirth Brass Band. And we just had this idea to start our own brass band.

There certainly wasn’t that much brass band music in Madison at that time.

Jacobson: In the ‘90s, there really wasn’t much brass band music outside of New Orleans. Roc and I had actually been in a rock funk band in 1990, and then we just had this idea to start a brass band. Brass band music is one of the only genres of music in which a tuba is central, so I was kind of drawn to it as a tuba player.

We started learning songs off those records, and we found some other guys in the School of Music. I think Roc auditioned the trombone player at a party one night. We ended up getting eight people together, and then we crashed Art Fair on the Square for our first show. The reaction we got from the audience was part of what fueled us. ‘Oh, OK, people dig this. We should do more of that.’ It was fun. So we just kept doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5AMz3zy4io

It must have been very different than playing jazz in a classroom or in a club.

Christopher “Roc” Ohly: I’ll tell you, it’s a lot more comfortable. I think at the end of the day, we feel best in those situations. I’m comfortable in a nightclub and in a smoky room with jazz tunes, but I think outdoors is where the brass band music flows much easier. Being in the street at Art Fair, it felt a little bit like a calling. You polish that lamp, and all of a sudden, the genie’s coming out.

When did you start taking trips down to New Orleans?

Jacobson: In 1995, we decided to take a trip to New Orleans. We had just recorded our first album, “North of New Orleans,” and after a show at the Angelic (Brewing Co.), four of us piled in a van and drove right to New Orleans after the gig. We had never really heard brass band music live before.

It was funny, because we went to a club and ran into people who were at the show at the Angelic. They said, ‘You got on the mic and said you were driving down to New Orleans. And it sounded fun, so we all jumped in our car too!’

We went to see brass bands for the next four days there, including at Donna’s. That was brass band mecca. We gave them our CD, and we didn’t know this, but they started listening to it and loved it. When we went back a few months later, they had put it on their jukebox.

We would go down there from time to time, and they would have us warm up for bands like The Soul Rebels, the New Birth Brass Band, the Hot 8 Brass Band. And we went from warming up to having our own nights there. Trombone Shorty would come in as a 10-year-old with his trombone, and he would come on stage to play.

All the other brass bands, they were so curious about this group of northern white boys who were so into their music. We were just gobbling it up, following them around from gig to gig and playing with them. We weren’t as good as them, but they could see we were taking it seriously.

What was the next phase after graduation?

Jacobson: We recorded “Big Boy” in 1998. That’s the one that (Milwaukee musician) Paul Cebar guested on. And then in 2001 we recorded “Slippery 7.” By that time, a couple of guys from the original band had moved out to New York after they graduated. We recruited a couple of younger guys from the Madison area, and they joined our band, and after a little while they started the Youngblood Brass Band.

Like four guys quit the band the same day. It wasn’t a bad breakup, they just wanted to embrace other things like hip hop. At that point, our bullpen of players was large enough that we just moved other guys into those spots and kept going.

How did you respond when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005?

Jacobson: We immediately got calls from our friends in the brass bands down there, the Stooges Brass Band and Mahogany Brass Band and Hot 8. They were telling us what was going on. I remember hearing from one of the guys in the Stooges, saying ‘I’m staying at a friend’s house in Atlanta, could you wire me some money?’

We did wire some money. But then we realized that these guys need to play. These guys needed to make money. And they didn’t have their horns. So we started a program and got people to donate a total of 75 horns. We also booked the Stooges Brass Band on a 20-city tour, including coming to Madison and Wisconsin Dells, which was sort of random.

What has kept the band going, as everyone has gotten older and lives have gotten more complicated?

Jacobson: We’ve always been pretty flexible with the guys and their situations … able to bend our shape to whatever the guys’ circumstances are. Many of us have spouses and kids, but we love the music and we love each other. So we just make it work.

What can we expect for the anniversary shows?

Jacobson: Friday is more like a traditional, Preservation Hall kind of brass band show. It’s going to be more chairs and tables. And then on Saturday, we’re moving all the tables and chairs out, and it’s going to be a funky brass band throwdown. We’re inviting past members to come back. I think when all is said and done, we’ve had 20 to 25 different members of the band.

Ohly: This is about us and our fans and sharing this time together. Because I’ve always felt like it’s been a community and we’re family. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve stayed together. It’s about that bloodline and keeping that connection.