Marching Forward

By David Parker, Jr., December 7, 2009

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Band Director Lawrence Rawlins.

An inner-city marching band helps students succeed and heals divides in New Orleans.

At first it seems like barely controlled chaos, as dozens of middle school students emerge from their practice rooms and descend on the food line, pouring into the dining room from adjoining hallways and stairwells. The cacophony of voices grows louder with each new surge of students arriving, and as plates of spaghetti are served from a huge metal pot, groups of friends gather over their meals to laugh and clown around, using exaggerated gestures to pantomime a marching band moving in double time.

What's startling in this room of amped-up 9- to 14-year-olds is how many of these middle schoolers come from warring neighborhoods. Seventh Ward, Ninth Ward, Mid-City, St. Roch, New Orleans East -- all neighborhoods where gang activity and violent crime are as common as corner stores and bus stops. Crossing neighborhood boundaries can literally put your life on the line.

In this neutral space, however, neighborhood rivalries have been left behind. Kids feel safe leaving musical instruments, winter coats and backpacks unattended on tabletops or in corners of the room. Any posturing or aggressive behavior melts away under the attention of instructors, tutors and mentors. After all, these students don't come here with the intention of fighting. They have gathered here from all corners of the city in order to be part of one thing: the Roots of Music Marching Band.

The Roots of Music is a non-profit, free, year-round, music education program for middle school students in New Orleans. Derrick Tabb and Allison Reinhardt founded the organization in 2008. Tabb and Reinhardt come from different parts of the country and have different backgrounds, but they share a vision for a program that keeps kids off the streets, provides academic guidance and offers an invaluable set of skills that will help students achieve goals throughout their lives.

Reinhardt, a native of New Jersey, worked in the music industry as a marketer and consultant, playing a vital role in helping musicians track down recovery grants after Hurricane Katrina. Now she is one of the few full-time staff members of the Roots of Music, working in the catch-all role of Program Director.

Tabb, a native of New Orleans and member of the world-renowned Rebirth Brass Band, modeled the program after a middle school experience of his own that he credits with helping him get through his formative years. "I was rebellious and getting into trouble," Tabb says. "My junior high band director took a special interest in me. I don't know why he did it, but he did, and it helped straighten me out."

Similarly, Tabb and Reinhardt focus their efforts on students aged 9-14 years old, hoping to steer young people into creative pursuits instead of allowing them to get pulled or pressured into the illegal activities and violent cycles that loom so ominously in local street life. "I got tired of playing second lines at funerals," Tabb says, referring to the New Orleans tradition of musical processions and jazz funerals. "I didn't want to see any more dead kids."

So Tabb and Reinhardt joined forces and created the after-school and summer program. They decided that, to be effective, the program had to be accessible to students from all over the city, no matter what kind of disadvantages the students were working with. As a result, the program provides free instruction, free transportation and free meals every night. It also provides academic tutoring, musical instruments, marching band uniforms and free T-shirts. The guidelines were simple: no previous musical training is required, and no one is turned away.

Tabb and Reinhardt had no idea what was about to happen.

How Long Are Your Arms?

Helping a student choose their first musical instrument can be an interesting process. "A lot of it is determined by physiology," explains Allen Dejan Jr., a professional New Orleans musician and instructor.

Dejan teaches all beginning students at the Roots of Music. He explains how such things as height, weight, mouth shape and even teeth help determine what instrument best suits a new student. For example, someone with short arms is at a disadvantage on the trombone. Someone with crooked teeth will have difficulty with reed instruments. A sousaphone can be heavy enough to crumple a small-framed ten-year-old. "It can be frustrating for a child at first, as they try to find the right fit," he says.

In addition to providing an effective program for at-risk youth, Dejan sees the Roots of Music filling another important gap in the fabric of New Orleans culture -- the transfer of musical knowledge from one generation to the next. In the long wake of Hurricane Katrina, and with schools nationwide slashing budgets for the arts, middle school music programs are floundering or disappearing altogether. "That's a real problem in New Orleans," Dejan says. "You can see the quality of music declining."

Dejan claims that without support at early levels of development, the entire chain of musical development is altered, and the effects can be seen in the remaining high school music programs. "It takes years to develop the specific muscles and skills to play brass instruments," Dejan explains.

He sees the Roots of Music program stepping in and providing a vital resource for the whole musical community as well as for the students themselves. "I want music to enhance their lives," he says of the students, "and help them see that all is attainable." He explains that learning to play music is all about overcoming obstacles. "Learning an instrument is like finishing high school. Each day, they come here and learn a specific skill (PDF) that will help them get further along."

If You Build It

Apparently that promise of hope hit a note that resonated all across New Orleans. With the help of the Tipitina's Foundation and the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic (NOMC), Tabb and Reinhardt organized their first class in June of 2008. They used word of mouth to spread the news. Tabb arrived at the classroom, expecting to find perhaps a dozen or so students. "There were 42 kids," he says, his voice still ringing with surprise. "The next week, there were 65. And the next week, there were 100 kids in my class."

Without a single advertisement, in less than a month, word had spread faster than a drum roll and students were arriving from all over the city for a chance to be a part of it. "The kids are hungry for this," Reinhardt says. "They want something better."

Reinhardt, whose own son attends the program, explains how more than 35 schools across the city are represented in the band roster right now. In addition to the musical training, the academic tutoring has enabled some 85 percent of participants to rise an entire letter grade in school. Students routinely bring in their report cards, and Roots instructors have even been known to drop in on schools to keep tabs on academic progress.

The only downside of the program is that there is not enough financial support to accommodate all of the young people who want to be part of it. With program resources stretched to the limit, Tabb and Reinhardt had to make the heart-wrenching decision to put a cap on enrollment at around 100 students. "It's terrible," says Reinhardt. "Right now, we have a waiting list of over 400 kids who want to get in."

That being said, the founders, staff and team of volunteers have done a remarkable job at rallying community support for the program. Small grants have arrived from the city, music organizations and local foundations. Tulane University now provides academic tutors. The program has been able to forge partnerships with everyone from the Louisiana State Museum (which is donating classroom space) to the Camel Toe Lady Steppers (an irreverent marching and social organization that helps organize fundraisers).

Additionally, the Roots of Music has been recognized nationally for their efforts, with profiles in national print media and outlets such as National Public Radio. Derrick Tabb was a 2009 finalist for CNN's prestigious Hero of the Year Award. "We had no idea what to expect," Reinhardt says of the unprecedented success of the program's first year. "We just did it."

Go Time

Dejan calls it the "miracle of playing and marching at the same time." With Mardi Gras season just around the corner, the excitement in the air is palpable, and band directors have the task of teaching over 100 students to march in formation, regulate their breathing and judge their motion so they don't break rank while turning a street corner.

New Orleans is one of the few places in America where it's cooler to be in the band than it is to be on the football team, and there is a long and proud tradition of marching bands performing at events, in fierce competitions, and, of course, in the mother of all street parties -- Mardi Gras. Bands like St. Augustine High School's "Marching 100," Warren Easton's "Golden Eagles" or McDonough 35's "Roneagle Marching Band" are legendary, with drum lines powerful enough to set off car alarms and brass sections that can launch a melody for miles.

In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, it's not uncommon for traffic all over the city to grind to a halt as cars yield way to marching bands that have hit the streets for dress rehearsals and practice sessions. "These kids grew up in New Orleans," Dejan says. "They know the music and the parades, and they want to be a part of that."

He believes that the students arrive at the doors of the Roots of Music for many reasons -- out of fear, boredom, to join their friends, at their parents request or even in search of a free meal -- but they keep coming back for just one reason: "They like what we're doing."

"I'll be honest," Dejan continues. "We're hard on the kids. There's a lot of discipline required. But if you expect a lot out of them, they will deliver."

Run With It

The vision and guidance of Tabb combined with the vigilance and determination of Reinhardt have helped weave the Roots of Music program into the cultural fabric of New Orleans in an incredibly short period of time. The program offers a blueprint for communities across the country. "I've started something that I can't give up on," Tabb says. "If I see a kid who needs help, no matter what the problem is, I'm going to find 'em help."

Tabb believes there's little a young person can't achieve if they're offered the right kind of support. He and Reinhardt both feel that they might have just landed on an idea that has the potential to do exactly that, and fill a vital gap in the social network of New Orleans. Their multi-faceted program provides a safe haven for young people, builds friendships and lines of communication that transcend territorial disputes, supports academic achievement, and provides students with skills and abilities that can help them overcome hurdles and achieve lifelong goals. "This is the perfect model for a program," Reinhardt says. "The great challenge now is getting enough funding to keep it going."

Indeed, the program and the marching band have already gone farther than anyone imagined they could have in one short year and a half. They have hit the streets, traveled the region and grabbed national headlines. They have performed at everything from Mardi Gras parades to rock festivals. All in the pursuit of a simple dream: no more dead kids.

(Photos: courtesy of Roots of Music.)

David Parker Jr. attended Hampden-Sydney College and the University of New Orleans. He now lives inches above the floodline in Midcity, New Orleans, where he juggles time and opportunities to write freelance articles, fiction, and poetry.