DAPHNE CARR taps into the culture of hard-charging high school bands that keep the beat of the city.
While many local bands exhibit fancy footwork to wow audiences, St. Augustine's signature step is simply "always marching in unison." Since the band sometimes parades twice in one day during the Mardi Gras season, this is no small feat. (AP Photo/Daphne Carr)
The "Marching 100" of St. Augustine's High School in New Orleans. Long considered the best band in the town, St. Augustine's numbers are depleted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Daphne Carr)
Marching bands are the heartbeat of Mardi Gras parades, and the blood of the band is the city's middle and high school students. After Hurricane Katrina, the city's students and teachers were scattered across the United States, their schools were waterlogged and wind damaged, and their meager resources otherwise allocated. There is perhaps no greater threat to the future of New Orleans live music than this, but a core of concerned teachers, parents, students and foundations are teaming up to keep the New Orleans tradition of stellar high school bands alive.
Last year, so few students had returned that many schools had a difficult time putting together a band in time for Mardi Gras. This year, the area's bands have come back; though many are not in full force, their return points to healthy growth.
Even bands for private schools, such as the mighty St. Augustine "Marching 100," were affected by Katrina and stand in diminished numbers on the parade route. Marching since 1951, this traditionally black high school had the first band in the city to reach over 100 members and was the first to integrate a Mardi Gras parade -- the Rex parade in 1967. Membership in the band is a tremendous privilege and the school's many alumni populate all the greatest college marching bands and often go on to professional music careers.
From their high of 170 members just before the storm, the band is down way below 100. This year's band is formed of mostly first and second year members and St. Augustine's finds itself shying away from the "best marching band in the city" title. Plenty of other bands are vying to take the spot, but it takes more than just numbers to be the city's best marching band.
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Daphne Carr is the editor of the Da Capo Best Music Writing series. She lives in Los Angeles.
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