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Funeral Jazz Band FlatsTell A Friend |
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Originally called "funeral with music", New Orleans Jazz Funeral Bands became popular at the start of the 20th century. However, some "white" New Orleanians considered the music "too hot" and disrespectful until finally the Catholic Church officially frowned on secular music being played at funerals, so for many generations the practice was confined to African-American Protestant New Orleanians only. After the 1960's it gradually started being practiced across ethnic and religious boundaries. A typical jazz funeral begins with a march by the family, friends and a brass band from the church to the cemetery. Throughout the march, the band plays somber dirges and hymns until the body is buried. After that, the music becomes more upbeat and finally ends with popular tunes. Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the second line and their style of dancing, in which they walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called "second lining."
"Flats" were originally created over 400 years ago and were made popular by King Louis the 14th of France during the 17th Century when he was only a little boy. It was a hobby of his to recreate armies of the time in miniature using his miniature flats. During the 19th Century the art of manufacturing flats moved to Germany where it was perfected and used on a large scale, where complete armies were created and hand-painted in huge factories. Since World War II interest in "flats" has been on a rapid decline and as a result many of the individuals who know how to manufacture these tiny gems have slowly gone away. Our "flats" are made exclusively for us by a very small company located in the old fortress city of Maastricht, the oldest town in Holland, by hand, the traditional way. Designs are first crafted on paper and then meticulously engraved into two halves of a stone slate mould by a master engraver. The mould is then closed and a tin-rich alloy is poured into the mould. After the mould has had time to harden, the mould is opened and out comes a finished figure. The figure then goes through several stages of buffing before it is artistically hand-painted in Madagascar. And finally, the figure is boxed and shipped to us here in United States. Each flat stands approximately two and a quarter inches tall and is painted on both sides. Each set includes seven figures: one band leader with parasol, one saxohone musician, one trumpet musician, one slide trombone musician, one sousaphone musician, one snare drum musician and one bass drum musician with cymbal. |
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