Hot 8 Brass Band: Performs March 20

Hot8BrassBand.jpgStaff reports

Community displacement in historically black neighborhoods isn’t always the result of federal acts or city planning. New Orleans is redefining its historical black neighborhoods in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Film director Spike Lee examined this issue in his latest documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” He featured the Hot 8 Brass band in this post-Katrina film as an iconic symbol of root shock. Band members were scattered to different cities following the storm and eventually returned to a hometown mired in loss. The tragedies inspired the young musicians to deeply explore their roots and to bring an educational aspect to their life’s work. Now, the Hot 8 Brass Band members are heralded as ambassadors of New Orleans jazz who stress the importance of preserving tradition to better know oneself.

“When the Levees Broke” is a film structured in four parts, each
dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and
followed Hurricane Katrina’s catastrophic passage through New Orleans.

Director
Spike Lee and his crew made eight trips to the region to conduct
interviews and shoot footage for the film. It is his third
feature-length film collaboration with HBO.

“When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” will be screened
in two parts over two nights in UNC Asheville’s Humanities Lecture
Hall. The first will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, and the
second will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 19. The Hot 8 Brass Band
will hold a question-and-answer session following the film screening on
March 19. The documentary is appropriate for ages 16 and older. The
screenings are free and open to the public.

The Hot 8 Brass Band will perform in concert at 8 p.m. Friday,
March 20, at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The band will play
their signature blend of rhythm and blues, jazz, hip hop and New
Orleans street music. The members of the Hot 8 were born and raised in
New Orleans to musical families and began playing music together in
high school. Following Hurricane Katrina, the band focused anew on its
deepest cultural roots, drawing a line of musical continuity from
raucous contemporary second lines in New Orleans to slave and
Reconstruction-Era African dances.

Ticket prices for the Hot 8 Brass Band concert have been reduced. Tickets are $10 general admission or $5 for area students.

To reserve tickets by phone, call UNC Asheville’s Highsmith
University Union Box Office at (828) 232-5000. To purchase tickets
online, visit www.uncatickets.com. For more information about the
concert or film screening, call the event sponsor UNC Asheville’s
Cultural & Special Events at (828) 251-6991.