Mama Digdown's Brass Band w/ special guests Yazmin & Beat Zero featuring Havana Quartet and comedian Trish Cook
Saturday, November 22, 2025
7 pm Doors // 8 pm Music
All Ages
$25 ($32.30 w. taxes/fees) Advance General Admission
$30 ($35 w. taxes/fees) At The Door General Admission
Ticket purchases are final and non-refundable
Mama Digdown's Brass Band will once again strut onto the Parkway Theater stage and throw down some powerful and rollicking second-line brass band funk! Joining them will be Cuban music sensations Yazmin & Beat Zero featuring Havana Quartet, performing a riveting fusion of Cuban jazz, funk, and folk rock. Emcee & comedian Trish Cook kicks off this not-to-be-missed night!
“Mama Digdown’s is a party band in the purest sense of the term. By the end of the night, everyone from the band to the audience to the bartenders were dancing, singing, and grooving.”— Chicagojazz.com
For three decades, Mama Digdown’s Brass Band has been a tireless ambassador of New Orleans music, lighting up stages with the unmistakable sound of second line brass. Rooted deeply in the tradition of Crescent City street parades, they bring an electrifying mix of gritty funk, soul and raw energy to every performance — earning them a spot among the most thrilling live brass bands on the scene.
Though born far upriver from the Big Easy in Madison, Wisconsin, Mama Digdown’s emerged during the vibrant brass band revival of the early 1990s, alongside scene-shapers like Rebirth Brass Band, Soul Rebels, and the Hot 8. In 1993, co-leaders Roc Ohly and Erik Jacobson met in the UW School of Music’s Black Music Ensemble, led by legendary jazz bassist, Richard Davis (Ahmed Jamal, Sarah Vaughan, Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, etc.). One evening, Davis hosted the ensemble at his house for ribs, and Ohly and Jacobson mentioned they were recording their first album and hoped to arrange “Mo’ Better Blues” by Bill Lee — filmmaker Spike Lee’s father. Davis called Lee on the spot and handed the phone to his stunned students. With Lee’s blessing, they recorded the song. A year later, they brought their debut album to New Orleans and gave it to Donna and Charlie Simms, owners of Donna’s Bar and Grill — the mecca of the New Orleans brass band revival. Months later, upon returning to Donna's, they discovered their version of Mo' Better Blues had been on heavy rotation in the club’s jukebox — along with an invitation to perform at the club alongside their heroes, Soul Rebels and Hot 8 Brass Band.
During their fifty plus trips to New Orleans over the next twenty-five years, Mama Digdown's has created strong bonds with the brass band community. Members of Mama Digdown's are frequently hired by the bands there — from Treme to Hot 8 and the Stooges. Several Mama Digdown's original songs are now regularly played by brass bands across the city.
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