Description
Release Date: 1991
Label: Mardi Gras Records
Track List
Wake Service (Gospel)
- Introductory Narration
- What A Friend We Have In Jesus
- Down By The Riverside
- As I Lay My Burden Down
Funeral Procession (Dirge)
- Introductory Narration
- In The Sweet Bye and Bye
- Lead Me Savior
- Walk Through The Streets of the City
- Just A Closer Walk With Thee (Dirge)
- Taps/Battle Hymn of the Republic
Joyous Send Off (Second Line)
- Introductory Narration
- Didn’t He Ramble
- When The Saints Go Marching In
- Feel So Good
Personnel
- Alton Carson – tuba
- Edgar Smith – tuba
- Cayetano Hingle – bass drum
- Leroy Breaux – snare drum
- Mervin Campbell – trumpet
- Elliot Callier – tenor sax
- Fredric Kemp – tenor sax, soprano sax
- Wendel Eugene – trombone
- Milton Batiste – narrator
Certainly one of the most unique sights in New Orleans is that of a traditional jazz funeral in progress. The brass band is decked out in stately uniforms and is led through the streets by a professional mourner, who leads the crowd in song and dance. The bereaved accompany the casket, while other members of the funeral procession follow. This second line winds its way through the streets en route to the body’s final resting place, where the music goes from solemn to joyous and the celebration begins for the one freed from earthly troubles. This CD takes the listener through all parts of such a service, with an informative narration by Milton Batiste, one of the great figures in the brass band tradition in New Orleans. These include the wake of inspirational gospel tunes, followed by the dirges, as the crowd accompanies the casket en route to the final resting place, and the joyful sendoff as the preacher cuts loose the body and the soul of the parishioner goes on home to be with the Lord. Batiste himself was accorded this traditional ceremonial tribute when he passed in March of 2001.
