Mama Digdown's Brass Band 15th Anniversary Party
Special Events
1-5 pm, 9/7, Fork & Spoon Cafe, with food, beverages & music. Parade down Williamson Street begins at noon, Harmony Bar. Free. 325-0987
When: 09/07/08 @ 1:00pm
Cost: Free
Call: 325-0987
More Information:
Mama Digdown's Brass Band Throwing A Party
To Celebrate 15-Year Anniversary
Free party for band's fans, friends will be held at R.P's Pasta on Madison's East Side.
On Sunday, September 7, Mama Digdown's Brass Band will thank its fans for more than 15 years of support at a free family-friendly party that will include spaghetti and meatballs from R.P.'s Pasta Company and a special performance by the band. The Great Dane Brewery will be on hand to offer beer and other beverages.
WHO: Mama Digdown's Brass Band, Madison families
WHAT: "Digdown's Family Picnic" to celebrate 15 year anniversary
WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008
1-5 pm Party at R.P.'s Pasta
**Second line parade down Williamson Street begins at noon at the Harmony Bar 2201 Atwood (corner of Atwood and Dunning), ending at R.P.'s Pasta
WHERE: Fork and Spoon Cafe - R.P.'s Pasta Company, 1133 East Wilson Ave.
In the 15 years since University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music alumni Erik Jacobson and Christopher "Roc" Ohly formed the band, Mama Digdown's has planted deep roots in the Madison and New Orleans music scenes while also developing a significant following throughout the Midwest and in Europe.
Mama Digdown's marked its first public performance in 1993, at Madison's annual Art Fair on the Square.
"We pretty much crashed the event and were just thankful no one asked us to leave," recalls Ohly. "To see Madisonians getting into the New Orleans rhythms, we all knew we were onto something."
Mama Digdown's plays music inspired by the great Jazz heritage of New Orleans. Funky and hard-hitting, the band can easily transition from a New Orleans second line parade in the streets to a club show. Indeed, the band has played in cities from San Diego to New York, New Orleans to Chicago and many places in between. During three of the past four summers, the band was a featured guest at JazzAscona, a New Orleans Jazz festival in southern Switzerland. The band has also shared bills with musical giants Branford Marsalis, Doctor John, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Eddie Bo, and the Neville Brothers.
But the highlight of the band's performances, according to Jacobson and Ohly, came this past spring when they took the stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for the first time. After nearly 50 trips to New Orleans and countless career highs playing with the likes of the Rebirth, Dirty Dozen and Hot 8 Brass Bands, Digdown's shared the stage with friends and fellow musicians from the Mahogany Brass Band.
"When we began taking the band to New Orleans, it was all about learning the music and
listening to our musical heroes," said Jacobson. "Now when we go, we still seek out all of that, but we've also built some strong friendships with other musicians... friendships that feel an awful lot like family."
Closer to home, Mama Digdown's benefited from a strong tradition of marching bands throughout the Midwest and a particularly receptive crowd. This receptivity led to the New Orleans tradition taking hold in the otherwise unlikely location thousands of miles north of New Orleans. Since then, Mama Digdown's has inspired a Northern Brass Band scene that includes such accomplished groups as Madison's Youngblood Brass Band and Minneapolis' Jack Brass Band. At least eight groups of high school students in the Madison area have started brass bands in the years since Mama Digdown's began playing.
"Mama Digdown's Brass Band is a cultural institution," says Youngblood leader and former Digdown Dave Skogen. "One could argue that there were no more defining musical experiences for Youngblood's most long-term members than being in Mama Digdown's."
Mama Digdown's has recorded six albums: North of New Orleans (1996); Big Boy (1999); Slippery Seven (2001); Delicious (2003); Digdown Decade (2003); and, Ascona (2005). The albums include guest performances by Paul Cebar, and New Orleans artists Leroy Jones, Bob French, and Tricia Boutte. The band is currently recording a seventh album "Mojito," due to be released later this year.
