The Dirty Dozen Brass Band | Fanfaraï

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Celebrating over 45 years since their founding in 1977, the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans-based Dirty Dozen Brass Band has taken the traditional foundation of brass band music and incorporated it into a blend of genres, including bebop jazz, funk, and R&B/soul. This unique sound, described by the band as a “musical gumbo”, has allowed the Dirty Dozen to tour across five continents and more than thirty countries, record twelve studio albums, and collaborate with a range of artists from Modest Mouse to Widespread Panic to Norah Jones. Forty-five plus years later, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world-famous music machine whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances.

In 1977, the Dirty Dozen Social Aid and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud but antiquated traditions at the time: social aid and pleasure clubs dated back over a century to a time when Black southerners could rarely afford life insurance, and the clubs would provide proper funeral arrangements. Brass bands, early predecessors of jazz as we know it, would often follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges, then once the family of the deceased was out of earshot, burst into jubilant dance tunes as casual onlookers danced in the streets. By the late '70s, few of either existed. The Dirty Dozen Social Aid and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band, and over the course of these early gigs, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue's name: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Fanfaraï
Fanfaraï offers a truly human, musical, and cultural experience. These nine musicians of various cultural backgrounds revisit, in their own ways, the tradition of festive wanderings. This original band, born in 2005 and based in France, plays North African music by blending skillfully traditional percussions, brass, Arab-Berber, Afro-Cuban, Latin, and Jazz sounds. From the street to the stage, there is just one step for this colorful orchestra, which offers a very festive and generous show. Fanfaraï plunges us into a rousing and emotional musical ambience.

Fanfaraï emerged in 2005 under the direction of Samir Inal. After creating Ziyara, a traditional Algerian street band in 2000, he met with musicians coming from jazz and salsa bands and decided to reconfigure with them the traditional and popular repertoire of a brass band. Fanfaraï

• The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all patrons.
• Entry to the NYUAD Campus is through either the East or West Parking or the Welcome Center.
• Patrons will be required to present a valid ticket to an event at The Arts Center upon entry to the campus.
• As per current Department of Culture and Tourism guidelines, a Green Al Hosn is no longer needed to attend public events in Abu Dhabi.
• The wearing of face masks is no longer required in most indoor public places, including campus buildings.
• For access and wheelchair bookings, please email: nyuad.boxoffice@nyu.edu