INTERVIEW: Stooges Brass Band founder keeps perfecting, progressing

Walter Ramsey, band leader and founder of the Stooges Brass Band, is on a quest toward perfection. His group of musicians, based in New Orleans yet increasingly taking to the open road for international tours, has earned a sizable following and much credibility. From appearing at renowned festivals to taking home prestigious awards to touring as United States musical ambassadors to Pakistan, the Stooges have emerged as one of the most important exports from the Crescent City. They rank among the greats and are usually uttered in the same sentence as Rebirth, the Soul Rebels, Dirty Dozen and Hot 8. If these names don’t ring a bell, you don’t know your brass bands.

“We’re always progressively working on new music,” Ramsey said recently during a phone interview, adding that a new CD from the band should be released in April or May.

Ramsey said he is grateful to have been born into the iconic New Orleans musical culture. From second-lining to the many festivals that dot the New Orleans calendar, his was an instrumental upbringing (pun intended).

“I got interested really in the brass band in elementary school,” he said. “I saw a brass band by the name of the Rebirth performing at my elementary school, and they did a whole stage show. And I was blown away. I was excited because I like the instruments, and I was playing the trombone at the time at school. To see a band come on, and perform, and get people engaged, and dancing, I was just like wow, this is what I want to do. I decided right then.”

He remembers that seminal experience happening in the fourth or fifth grade. He went home and told his mother about his musical aspirations. “She was like, ‘All right, whatever.’ I was like, ‘Cool.’ From that day forward, I’ve been doing whatever I could do to get and put together a brass band, from that day forward.”

He coaxed his best friend at the time, a fellow trombone player, to play in the burgeoning band. It took some patience, but by high school, the Stooges Brass Band was born. Ramsey said they came from two rivalry bands out of John F. Kennedy and St. Augustine high schools in New Orleans. The band members in those days were also part of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), and they learned every style from jazz to classical.

“We were part of that institute that we learned every type of music there is, so we’re professionally trained. But at the same time, we took our brass bands, and we went in the streets of New Orleans and Treme neighborhood and different neighborhoods where brass bands come out of. And we learned the soul that came with the music from there. We learned how to engage the people with music because school can only teach you music. They don’t teach you performance, so the street taught us how to perform, what people might like, what people might not like, why we should learn. It’s both self-taught and school institution taught.”

Ramsey also had high aspirations for his career goals: “Most of the brass bands at that time were just a hobby. They had a 9 to 5, and then they’d play their music on the weekend and make extra money. I was like, man, nah. We’ve got to make this a full-time job.”

Even though he received a strange look from a fellow band member (something like “I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life”), Ramsey continued chasing his dream.

“I just had it in my mind, if we could take [the] brass band and form it in the form of a business, maybe we can make money for the rest of our lives off it. I want to say in 2000-2001 we incorporated. I structured it as a business.”

At this time, Ramsey was working at a Dunkin’ Donuts-Baskin Robbins franchise. He followed his father’s lesson that he shouldn’t work for money; he should work to learn. So at Dunkin’ Donuts, in addition to selling donuts, he was picking up on the intricacies of his surroundings. “I was learning how to manage the books and manage other people, and I just did way beyond the pay rate they were paying me. Eventually they was like, ‘We had three, four stores, so you should be like the manager and go to each store.'”

Today’s group has Ramsey as a steady presence, and some of the other musicians come and go. The band leader likened the Stooges to an “institute” that teaches younger musicians the business of playing in a band, and then they graduate to other bands or start their own.

“Progressively, as members get better and want to form their own groups, I help that. I will step up and help them form their own band and work toward that. Then it became like an institute for brass bands. All the new brass band musicians that came here to be in a band will come start with me. I would teach them, help them, buy them instruments, and then eventually helped them get into the brass bands that they want to get into.”

There are numerous New Orleans acts that have members, either present or past, who once shared a stage with Ramsey. “Never set out a blueprint to do that,” he said of his tutelage. “It’s like a brotherhood. Even though members have graduated out of the Stooges, they’re still brothers of the Stooges. They still care how the band sounds or how the band progresses.”

Some musicians see the Stooges Brass Band as their final goal, and that seems to be quite satisfying for Ramsey.

“We became a major staple in New Orleans and now around the world, but it’s like strange for a kid that probably was 10 or 11 years old watching us perform. And now they’re 19 or 20 years old, and they’re like, man, I couldn’t wait to join this band. Wow. It has made me proud to have started something.”

Concert is probably the wrong word to describe a Stooges Brass Band performance. Their playing is more of an experience, and Ramsey stresses the “atmosphere” in the room and the attitude of the crowd. He’ll take this philosophy on the road in 2015, including a Jan. 9 date at the Cutting Room in New York City. Other stops include Austin, Texas; Buffalo, N.Y.; Cleveland; and Ann Arbor, Mich., among other cities. They’ll also play two days at Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest in Augusta, N.J., in May.

“When I perform, I perform for people,” he said. “I like to talk to the people and just mingle. It’s more of an experience. When people come see the Stooges, it’s more like the experience of the vibe. It’s not just performing. It’s the vibe of the whole atmosphere. … breaking the ice to make them feel like, wow, these are some regular, down-to-earth people.”

Ramsey said he gives 120 percent at every show and his brass band stands apart because of their showmanship and song selections. They play music influenced by bebop jazz, funk and r&b, among other traditions.

“We’re not just up there playing song after song and just expect you to stand there and listen or just dance,” he said. “When someone first comes and see us, they have no idea that they are going to be part of the entertainment, so it’s those types of things that separate us from other bands in New Orleans. I’m not saying they don’t entertain, but I think [we] entertain better. And I go harder. I’m very competitive in that nature. I’ve always been. I’m very competitive, not to the point where I’m arrogant, but it’s more to the point where the people have to experience something with us. The Stooges is an experience. It’s not just you’re going to a concert. You need to be blown away. You need to have fun. You need to leave there with a sense of enjoyment like, man, I wasn’t expecting this. I really had a good time. Oh man, this is awesome. I look for those, and when I don’t have those, then I’m not doing my job. I could do better. I’m my biggest competition.”

Because of the Stooges’ continued success, the band plays many, many shows outside of their hometown (they even brought their tunes to Pakistan for a U.S. Embassy tour). Still, the Stooges Brass Band will always be connected to New Orleans.

Speaking about his hometown seems to bring joy to Ramsey. He has a way of defining the unique aspects of this memorable, unforgettable Louisiana city.

“When you visit New Orleans it’s the people that make the city,” he said. “It’s the atmosphere. It’s when you walk by somebody and you say, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ And they really mean it. It’s not just an expression. They really care. People care about people here. That’s what makes New Orleans so unique.”

He used a metaphor to a New Orleans culinary mainstay: “It’s gumbo. It’s like so many ingredients that make it unique, and no matter who’s preparing it, it always gets better. Let’s say you’re French, Spanish or you’re African-American, or whatever you may be, it don’t matter, it’s the spirit of the people and the gumbo that makes … our city just a wonderful place.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

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