New Orleans brass bands are the street bands at the heart of the city's second lines and jazz funerals, and the ones most worth knowing start with the Dirty Dozen, Rebirth, the Hot 8, the Soul Rebels, TBC and the Treme Brass Band. Some play the old hymns. Some play hip-hop on a sousaphone. Most do both before the night's over.
This isn't a ranking. People here will fight you over a ranking. It's a starting list, from a shop that's been on Magazine Street and Chartres Street for twenty years.
A Very Short History
Brass bands have been leading funerals and parades in New Orleans since before jazz had a name. 64 Parishes traces Black brass band funerals here to the years after slavery ended, with jazz in the mix by the early 1900s. Older bands like the Olympia and the Eureka, both named in that history, carried the traditional repertoire at funerals and parades.
Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new generation started bending it. That's where our list begins.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Formed in 1977 by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen grew out of a rehearsal group called the Original Sixth Ward Dirty Dozen, named for its ties to Treme and the neighborhood's social clubs. According to Wikipedia's history of the band, they mixed bebop and funk into the traditional sound, and their success in the 1980s proved brass band music could sell records. Their first album, My Feet Can't Fail Me Now, came out in 1984. They won a Grammy in 2023.
We went deeper in The Band That Saved Brass Bands.
Rebirth Brass Band
Brothers Phil and Keith Frazier started Rebirth in 1983 with Kermit Ruffins and classmates from Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in Treme. They won the 2012 Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album for Rebirth of New Orleans. For 29 years starting in 1991, they held down Tuesday nights at the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street, according to OffBeat, until the pandemic stopped it in 2020.
Read more in The Band That Rebuilt the Tradition and our profile of Phil Frazier, the tuba player at the center of it.
Hot 8 Brass Band
The Hot 8 formed in 1995 out of a merger of two bands, the Looney Tunes and the High Steppers, and was led for more than 25 years by sousaphone player Bennie "Big Peter" Pete, who died in 2021. Their story carries a lot of loss. Three members were killed by gun violence between 1996 and 2006, including drummer Dinerral Shavers. Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke brought them wider attention after Katrina.
Where to catch them: Sunday nights at the Howlin' Wolf on South Peters, per fall 2026 listings.
The Soul Rebels
Percussionists Derrick Moss and Lumar LeBlanc met playing in Harold Dejan's Young Olympia Brass Band, then started a group to play the pop and soul they heard on the radio, in brass band form. Cyril Neville gave them their name when he opened for them at Tipitina's, according to Wikipedia. They've since worked with rappers including Nas, Rakim and Talib Kweli.
Where to catch them: Thursday nights at Le Bon Temps Roulé on Magazine Street, a long-standing residency still listed in 2026. Our piece on the Soul Rebels covers the rest, and we also profiled the Young Olympia Brass Band where they got their start.
TBC Brass Band
To Be Continued formed in 2002 with young musicians from the 7th and 9th Wards, from Carver and Kennedy high schools. For years their stage was the corner of Bourbon and Canal, where crowds would stop and dance on the sidewalk, according to Wikipedia. The Roots mentored them in 2005, and the documentary From the Mouthpiece on Back tells their story.
Treme Brass Band
Benny Jones Sr., the same Benny Jones who helped start the Dirty Dozen, founded the Treme Brass Band, and the National Endowment for the Arts gave the band a National Heritage Fellowship in 2006. Jones learned under his father, musician Chester Jones, and drummed with the Olympia Brass Band. The Treme Brass Band plays hymns and dirges at funerals and, in Jones's words to the NEA, "real up tempo tunes you can dance to all day long" at parades.
Where to Catch New Orleans Brass Bands
The best brass band music in the city often costs nothing. Go to a Sunday second line during the season, which runs from late summer through spring. You'll hear a band at full volume, moving, with a neighborhood dancing behind it.
For club gigs, check WWOZ's Livewire calendar for the night you're going. And at Jazz Fest, everybody knows where to meet when the phones stop working.
If you want a souvenir that won't wake the neighbors, our Brass Band Enamel Pin fits on a hat or a lapel. If you want one that will, we also like Do Watcha Wanna, made in honor of the street musicians who keep this city loud. And don't skip the youngest bands. The Stooges are a good example of a band that kept the tradition alive by changing it.
New Orleans Brass Bands: FAQ
What are the most famous New Orleans brass bands?
The Dirty Dozen, Rebirth, Hot 8, Soul Rebels, TBC and Treme Brass Band are among the best known. The Olympia and Eureka are key names from earlier generations.
Where can I see a brass band in New Orleans?
Sunday second lines during the season are the most traditional option, and they're free. For club shows, check WWOZ's Livewire calendar; in 2026 the Soul Rebels hold Thursdays at Le Bon Temps Roulé and the Hot 8 play Sundays at the Howlin' Wolf.
What is the oldest brass band in New Orleans?
Brass bands have played in New Orleans since the 1800s, and names like the Olympia and Eureka go back generations. Of the bands on this list, the Dirty Dozen, formed in 1977, is the oldest.
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