Red Hot Brass Band is a traditional New Orleans brass band, started in 2006 under the mentorship of established groups including the Storyville Stompers and the Treme Brass Band. The band is dedicated to the traditions that accompany the jazz culture so prevalent in New Orleans, carrying forward the city's brass band lineage through direct, generational mentorship.
That mentorship model is central to how the band's members developed as musicians. Drummer Jose Bravo Besselman, a member of Red Hot Brass Band, was documented by the Smithsonian Folkways Magazine as part of a feature on musical mentorship and youth brass band culture in New Orleans, learning to play at the house of his teacher, the celebrated New Orleans drummer Johnny Vidacovich. This kind of direct, personal transmission of knowledge between generations of musicians reflects the same pattern that has sustained New Orleans brass band traditions for well over a century.
Red Hot Brass Band continues to perform traditional New Orleans repertoire around the city, appearing at events including the French Quarter Festival and other traditional jazz showcases, keeping the sound of the city's brass band heritage alive for new audiences.
