Tuesday, Mar. 4, was Fat Tuesday and marked the yearly celebration of Mardi Gras. Traditionally, Fat Tuesday is a time to indulge in rich and fatty foods such as paczkis, but in the city of Houghton, it also marks a time for the Workshop Brass Band to go out and show the town what Mardi Gras is all about.
The Workshop Brass Band was started six years ago by MTU’s director of jazz, Adam Meckler, with help from passionate students. Originally, the workshop started out as just another big band, but it soon evolved into an entirely different beast. Styled after New Orleans brass bands, students in the Workshop Brass Band learn to play a wide variety of New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz by ear. From traditional staples, like St. James Infirmary, to party songs, like Brooklyn, Workshop plays it all.
Based on actual New Orleans brass bands, Workshop began holding a Mardi Gras event three years ago. The first year was simply the brass band playing in the Rozsa lobby; last year it was performed on the Rozsa stage, with New Orleans style food catered by Bonfire. This year, the whole event was held at the Bonfire. The reason for the move to Bonfire as a venue is cited as the Rozsa stage being over capacity for the event.
Originally, the whole thing started as another gig for Workshop, but the band has since evolved and steeped itself deeper into the culture of New Orleans brass bands, even going down to New Orleans and getting cliniced there at the beginning of 2024. As this evolution has occurred, the impetus behind the event evolved, too. Now, the event is more about trying to spread the culture of Mardi Gras and New Orleans. Meckler has said that “Mardi Gras is about the people.” It’s a celebration of the food and culture of New Orleans and all the connections that come with it.
