Photograph courtesy Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Branden Lewis is leader of the famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which brings its Creole Christmas concert to Memorial Hall on December 6. The trumpet player understands the responsibility of his role but is aware that he’s one of more than 50 people who have played in the band since its inception in 1961. Audiences come to see the group, not necessarily a particular player.
That’s fine with Lewis, who has a number of side projects, which include cocreating the International Trumpet Mafia Collective and touring with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. He worked with Bobby Rush and Dr. John on the Grammy nominated Decisions album in 2014 and has performed with Stevie Wonder, Jon Batiste, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Arcade Fire, among other notables.
He is the grandson of James Victor Lewis, a member of the Grammy-winning New Orleans R&B band Li’l Millet and His Creoles. The younger Lewis was born and raised in Los Angeles and didn’t visit New Orleans until he moved there in 2012.
How did you not visit New Orleans often while growing up?
All I knew about New Orleans was stories from my grandfather. New Orleans people are very proud to be from New Orleans. That was something our grandfather never let us forget. The first time I came, I bought a one-way ticket. I had never visited, and I came with just a trumpet and a backpack and dreams of making a living playing music. I had no idea what that meant at that point. It was kind of a pipe dream.
Was there one particular thing that triggered that move?
I went to college to study botany. After getting out of school, I had kind of an existential crisis. It sounded good on paper. As a kid, I always wanted to be a scientist. I never considered—not even once—playing music professionally just because of the certain stigma that came with it. In my mind, a scientist sounded like the thing I wanted to be…until it came time to do that that thing. Then it was like, “Oh my goodness, I’m in the real world now. I’m an adult.”
It felt like moving to New Orleans was my one shot to give playing music a try. I knew what the scene was like in L.A. because I grew up there. My choices were L.A., San Francisco, New York, or New Orleans. And for whatever reason, New Orleans seemed like the place for me to give it a shot—not only because I had my family history here, but it just felt like the right choice. For practical reasons as well. The other three are some of the most expensive cities in the country.
You were in your 20s when you joined the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Did you have to go through a hazing process before the older guys accepted you?
Hmmm, hazing process not so much, but sort of, because there are no auditions, right? A spot opens, and they start putting out feelers for someone who knows the traditional repertoire but also is able to help the band put our best foot forward as an organization. [Longtime member] Charlie Gabriel is 84 years old. So when I was on stage with Mr. Charlie the first time, he said, “Take that hat off, youngster.” I had bought this new hat to start a new gig. And he was like, “You have to take that hat off because you’re drawing too much attention to yourself before you know the music.” And I was like [small voice], “OK, Mr. Charlie.” That’s the job, and now I do it to the younger kids. “Take a bow and sit down.”
The list of people you’ve played with is impressive, but one that stands out is Foo Fighters. Was that during their week in New Orleans for the Sonic Highways project in 2013?
That was actually before I joined the band. But we have interacted with them on quite a few occasions at this point. The Foo Fighters met the Preservation Hall Jazz Band during the Sonic Highways tour. Since then, we have opened for them a couple of times, we have played at their festivals four times, and we’ve hung out a bunch of other times. And actually Dave [Grohl] played with us on The Tonight Show.
The name Preservation Hall Jazz Band sets the bar high for anybody on the stage. What was the feeling when you joined the band and worked on the So It Is album in 2017?
It was exciting for me because it was a new take on traditional repertoire that expanded on the Caribbean and northern Caribbean region, pulling from all of the influences instead of just traditional New Orleans repertoire. If we’re opening for a band like the Foo Fighters or Arcade Fire, it’s more palatable for us to come out with the weight of music we’re playing there. I want to say it’s more of a statement, but it’s more fitting in scenarios like a festival. The more traditional stuff sits better in a performing arts center, you know?
Reading the room is what it comes down to. There are a couple of hundred songs in the traditional repertoire, so you have to choose the best songs every night that are going to translate to that audience. Sometimes you can make better decisions, but other times it’s like, “We nailed it when we took everybody on this journey with us.”
Is the band a collective with multiple members, or do you play with the same folks when you tour?
The touring band is pretty set but, you know, life happens. When I came into the band, the trumpet player before me, Mark Braud, went off to play with Harry Connick Jr. on his TV show and on Broadway. When Harry really took off and was doing a talk show, that’s when Mark moved to New York, which opened a spot for me. And there are other reasons. One player went off the road because he’s been touring since he was 15 years old. He’s a fantastic performer, but he just loves New Orleans and at a certain point the thrill of travel kind of goes away. He’s 50 years old, so does he really need to be on planes at 5 o’clock in the morning?
I’m 35 now and just had a baby, so that’s kind of changing things for me. Our bandleader and owner of the organization, Ben Jaffe, went off the road about a year and a half ago, which is when I started leading the band, because before that he was the one making all of the decisions, speaking to the audience, and things like that. Since he left, it’s the trumpet player’s job to fill those shoes.
You’re playing a Christmas show in Cincinnati. Does that mean Santa suits like the NPR Tiny Desk Concert and an entire holiday music playlist?
That would be nice if someone decided to bring a Santa suit, but.… We might have some Santa hats. Everybody has different thoughts about Christmas music. In my head, a Christmas tour should have 80 percent Christmas tunes, but there’s a bit of consternation in the band about how we’re going to proceed with that. Not evvvvveryone loves Christmas songs.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band plays Memorial Hall December 6 as part of the Longworth-Anderson Series. The Hot Magnolias play the pre-show reception.
Facebook Comments