Benny Jones: Jazz History & More

I was born and raised in the 6th Ward, which is called Tremé these days but these days I live near the Fairgrounds. My father was in the Eureka Brass Band and was very good friends with bot the Humphrey brothers—Willie and Percy. They had all played in different bands together as well as at Preservation Hall; he got around as he was playing the bass drum behind a lot of people. As a member of the union too, he, literally, knew everyone. My mother, though, she was just a housewife, taking care of us kids—12 of us altogether—and was not really involved with the music end of things going on. Of course, she heard the music when it was around the house and did not mind it all. Looking at us all from the outside, looking in, she had absolutely no problem with me following in my daddy's footsteps to be a musician. She appreciated the culture of the Mardi Gras Indians, the social and pleasure clubs with all the parades and the music culture of New Orleans in general. We were good kids, all of us going to school, and respecting our elders and she had no problem with us going out to play music. Of course, all sorts of musicians were always passing through our house and with all us kids, it must have been real work to keep it together. But she managed and we got along well.

I always watched my father and all the band members he played with going out on the street to watch the parades too, so I never needed to take real lessons. I watched how they played and listened hard, and would go home, take out some pots and pans and start beating on them with sticks, trying to copy what I thought I had seen and heard.

Lots of good drummers came out of the Craig Elementary School, including Smokey Johnson and Lionel Batiste among others. Of course, at that time too, Mr. James Black and other good drummers lived in the same neighborhood, playing all the time. I'd go around to hear them; I paid close attention to everything. James Black was one of the very best jazz drummers to ever come out of New Orleans. Everyone knew him; he was a real professional drummer and could play with any band. He was a great, great drummer. He had some problems on the side, but always returned to the music. In those days, he played other instruments too, including piano and trumpet.

There's been some ups and downs with music venues in Tremé over the years. When the pandemic hit, a lot of places had to shut down and some never reopened. But The Tremé Brass Band continues to play at the Candlelight. It has had its problems too when the woman who was running it passed away but it's now open again though business is not as good as it once was. I guess times have changed?

The musician's union is still functioning though, and I'm still active in it. It is good to be a part of the union, as, sometimes, big celebrities book gigs in town and want local musicians to come and back them up. Normally, they would get in touch with the union for help with that. Afterwards, members go and play with them, assured of being paid well enough too. So it is good to be in the union. The dues are only $32 for a year, so it is not like it is a burden or hardship for anyone to remain a member. I have a gold card though, so my dues are only $112 for a full year! I'm not sure of how many musicians are members now, but Deacon John Moore is the president these days; he probably knows! By the way, Deacon always had a good band—for dancing, for ballrooms. He was a good performer and kept his musicians well rehearsed and tight; the shows were always well produced, completely professional.

Our first album was one we recorded with Gary Edwards at The Sound of New Orleans studio near Canal, while our second album was done at Mardi Gras Recording Studio owned by Warren Hildenbrand. I think Chris Strachwitz from Arhoolie Records produced that first album. When he came to town, he got in touch with Jerry Brock; they were really good friends. Jerry introduced us all, suggesting we should work together so that's how that album was released on Arhoolie. When we recorded albums, some were done 'live,' without tracking, like the one we did for the Louisiana Music Festival on Decatur St. With Jerry though, we mostly did it in the studio where tracks are laid down one by one—'click tracks.'

Sometimes we have hired different musicians to come in and play with us. On one, we invited Herlin Riley to join in. We often try to get one or two different musicians to sit in for a recording session, including Shannon Powell and Mari Watanabe on another recording. Most of those who have joined us are already familiar with the tunes, so there was never really a moment of hesitation or uncertainty; they knew what they were doing already. But sometimes we'd do a short rehearsal and go through a song once or twice, and then get down to recording it.

When performing live, if the audience is dancing and enjoying themselves, it's real easy to play. The audiences are definitely an important part of every show—a good audience is essential. We've had guest musicians come up on stage and play trumpet, trombone or sax with us, and occasionally the crowd would go completely nuts; things would get a little wild. But nothing awful or totally unexpected has ever happened during one of our live shows.

One thing Dave Bartholomew told me years ago is that whenever you're playing somewhere, it is good to get the audience involved. If that meant marching around or second lining with them or something like that, then do it. A couple years ago when on tour in Hoboken, New Jersey, we were working a club and started the set walking around in the audience with the people. They loved it; it was so different. [laughs] Another time we were doing a gig on the same bill with Trombone Shorty but he had to leave early leaving us to parade around, marching for maybe six or seven blocks, with some thousands of people following us. It was quite a scene!

I actually married into the Dirty Dozen Kazoo Band, and took off with it, eventually calling it the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but with an entirely different group of musicians. The name came from a smaller band that used to parade on Mardi Gras and play for private house parties. It was a kazoo band playing creole tunes, New Orleans songs, eventually using that name "The Dirty Dozen."

We have our share of characters in this town, that's for sure. Thinking of that—Danny Barker was quite a guy, and started the Fairview band with Leroy Jones, Gregory Davies, Gregg Stafford and Lucien Barbarin to name a few. Some of them guys from Fairview joined up with another band, the Olympia Brass Band, but I never had the chance to play with Mr. Barker's band as I was already doing the Dirty Dozen when it started up. I knew him, and have spent a little time around him. Mr. Barker was one of the best guys to sit down with and have a conversation. He could tell you all kinds of things, jokes that would keep you on your toes and stuff about music too—how to play right and dress right too. He was certainly one of the greatest banjo and guitar players who ever lived.

I've played at Preservation Hall many times, for private parties there and other occasions and even played with Alan Jaffe , Ben's dad, many times with the Olympia Brass Band. He hired me to play over at Pontchatrain Beach for a funeral there once and even travelled to Mexico on a gig with him. Alan was one of the best you would ever want to meet. He offered support to many musicians, donating money to different charities and also some of the social and pleasure clubs too. He did what he could to keep the brass band music as well as the entire culture of New Orleans alive. Ben has done the same as his father—helping musicians out however he can.

The trad jazz people are all my friends, even though the Dirty Dozen or the Treme Brass bands never focus on their style of music; we simply enjoy each other's company. I've played with both Gregg Stafford and Dr. Michael White on many occasions and been with Dr. White at Tulane for graduation ceremonies over the past 10 or 15 years. He would sometimes hire me to play for other special occasions too. Clarinetists seldom perform with brass bands as our sound actually overpowers the clarinet; that instrument is very quiet compared to the brass instruments. And when you have young brass players, they play loud! [laughs]

The Dirty Dozen has a long history and it might not be what it is today without input from others, not just me. Andrew "Big Daddy" Green and I were the two drummers with Tuba Fats, and both of us were good friends with Smokey Johnson. Now Roger Lewis, too, was friendly with Smokey and it was through him that Andrew met Roger who in turn introduced him to me and the Tremé Brass Band. After he had finally stopped playing with Fats Domino's band, we asked Roger to officially join the Dirty Dozen. Even after 'Big Daddy' left the band, if he was free, he'd drop in and play with us. You have might have noticed that we all have nicknames. Me—I'm 'Bass Drum Benny' and Roger—we call him 'Chrome Dome.' [laughs] It is part of our history in New Orleans; if you play long enough in this town, we'll give you one whether you like it or not!

Maybe one of our most special places to play sort of happened by chance. All of us used to play baseball over at Hardin Park in the 7th Ward, and after the games we'd march a few blocks over to Daryl's Bar. I met a union man there who was managing The Glass House, and he asked us to come over and check it out. After a week or two, I went over and thinking I could help them out, decided to do a Monday night gig starting at about 10pm for a couple hours. To our surprise, we packed the place and continued on, playing for our local fans as well some big time celebrities like Dizzy Gillespie and others who chose to drop in to see what was going on. People were flocking to see us—challenging each other to see who could dance the best—a scene that any band would like. It was pure energy! You never knew who might show up.

The word was out that something was going on there and everyone started coming to check it out for themselves. Aside from Dizzy and Fats, Delfeayo Marsalis came down and sat in with us sometimes, as did Kermit Ruffins. Even Gregg Stafford came in one night, and played the bass drum—he didn't have his horn with him that night. Jon Richardson even dropped in one occasion to play the piano and John Brunious, too, came over with his trumpet. You never knew who might show up and the doors were always open with an unspoken invitation to come, sit in and play. There were even some European musicians dropped in; I don't even know their names. It was a real community-meeting place, like the Dew Drop was at one point, with big time jam sessions happening out of nowhere; no one planned anything out—it just happened!

But it was a small place designed for no more than 30 people to sit comfortably. We used to make maybe $130 with tips—not a lot—but we got all sorts of other gigs out of playing there. Some who came to check it all out hired us to play at their place. And some others, including Jerry Brock, either recommended or arranged for us to get more gigs elsewhere, so it all worked out in the end.

We've toured in Japan and China too, but have not been there for a couple years or so. And naturally, we've toured in a lot of places in this country too. We've been playing at a Carnival ball in Washington, DC for the past four years or so. And we have appeared at different festivals around the country and, of course, Jazz Fest.

Quint Davis has always been real nice with me. If I ever need something or have a special request about doing something special at Jazz Fest, he never turns me down. He only asks for a little time to get it together, to make the necessary arrangements. Often those requests will have something to do with a jazz funeral at the Fairgrounds or something else and this year, I'm hoping to do something to give Walter "Wolfman" Washingtona nice send off. I try to do something special for every musician who has died, and announce it at the Economy Tent to begin a set.. We will often do a second line around the tent with everyone marching around at one time.

You never know what people will like, so the new music like what Johnny V and others will play—I say play it and see what might sell, find out what people will enjoy. You can pick up an audience anywhere, people who will support you and enjoy the music. I've never played with Johnny Vidacovich though but I've seen him play and can appreciate what his groups do. I know him from way back! As a kid though, I was usually listening to r&b music including Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Ernie K-Doe, Tommy Ridgley and more. I eventually learned how to take some of that r&b music and adapt it to the brass band sound. And later on, I enjoyed the Neville Brothers with the Meters and more. I listen to gospel too, and am always trying to learn something new from the music to add to my repertoire. I've listened to the Soul Rebels and stuff like that but prefer r&b. And I'll even listen to classic Louis Armstrong material like "It's a Wonderful World" and have played some of that stuff at jazz funerals. I perform for the audience, it does not really matter what I personally like to play; it is about what they want to hear.

At home though, I listen to OZ—my radio is on all the time when I'm home doing what I do. Whatever it is they have on is fine with me. Sometimes someone might make a request or a band member comes in talking about a certain song or type of music, I should know what they're talking about which is why I try keep up with the radio on and listen at home. I want to be ready for it!

I've never played with Dr. John, but I've sat down with him, and enjoyed a friendly conversation. He was a nice guy. We've played a couple Dr. John numbers and keep that in the band repertoire. Johnny Adams was someone, too, I often saw around town, one of the very best r&b guys in town. I'd go see him play often when he was gigging around town; he was a real talent, a great singer. Aaron Neville too—a great singer who I really like along with Cyril—a good guy who sometimes stops in to sing a song with us, like Little Liza Jane. I saw both James Booker and Professor Longhair play too. I'd go over to Tipitina's and see Fess play but never sat in with either of them though. Corey Henry, my nephew, he plays a modern sound when he's on his own. Quint told him years ago to just go for it, he encouraged him to experiment to see what people might like. And here he is, doing his thing with a pretty dynamic modern sound that I like too.

I believe in the future and introducing as well as keeping kids interested in our traditions. Which is one reason I play at Satchmo Fest every year. Right now, I'm working on establishing a foundation that will contribute to keeping our music alive with younger kids, mostly with drums but horns too. I want to teach them how to act and dress too, with white shirts, ties and slacks like we do at Preservation Hall, which is how I show up for a gig at Snug Harbor too.

I'm not pessimistic about the future. How can I be because I'm getting out there, showing up to hopefully be a role model for youngsters. I know they're listening to rap and hip-hop, stuff like that, but if they keep hearing our traditional music too, it won't be forgotten. Our music has a GREAT feeling, it is fun music and even the young guys who start playing it will realize how much fun it is if they don't already know! They then get hired to play on cruise ships, or riverboats or the airport... and it's a fun gig—if the audience is enjoying it all, then the musicians too will have fun entertaining them. I hope some of these younger players realize that it's not just music for old people! [laughs] Another thing I want others to know—it is important for our stories to be written down so anyone can put their hands on it and read, and not just a page on some website. Books and magazines will have a longer shelf life than any website!

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