What's Going On

Performer: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Engineer: Clint Bennett; Oscar Monsalve; Carmen Borgia...
Producer: Jeff Palo; Anthony Marinelli; Shawn Amos...
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Doug Bossi, Jamie McLean, Ben Peeler (guitar); Roger Lewis (baritone saxophone); Efrem Towns (trumpet, flugelhorn); Gregory Michael Davis II (trumpet); Revert Andrews (trombone); Kirk Joseph (sousaphone); Anthony Marinelli (keyboards); Terence Higgins (drums); Leon Mobley (percussion). Audio Mixer: Clint Bennett. Recording information: Bismeaux Studio, Austin, TX (2006); Westlake Audio, Hollywood, CA (2006). Photographers: Emily Johnson; Michael Weintrob; Shawn Amos. Arrangers: Ivan Neville; Anthony Marinelli. Artists have covered full albums by others in their entirety before (such as roots-rockers Mary Lee's Corvette's faithful take on Bob Dylan's BLOOD ON THE TRACKS), but New Orleans legends the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's version of Marvin Gaye's seminal soul album WHAT'S GOING ON falls more under the category of a deconstruction. Adding strong hip-hop and contemporary R&B flavors along with the expected New Orleans shadings, the Dirty Dozen repositions Gaye's early-'70s sociopolitical statement as a musical reaction to the U.S. government's failures re: post-Katrina aid to the Big Easy. Everyone from Public Enemy's Chuck D. to soul sister Bettye Lavette lends a hand along the way.

Uncut (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his impassioned re-reading of Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic spikes the original's smooth edges with greasy funk, rap and horn-led jazz."

The Dirty Dozen, New Orleans's preeminent brass band, formed in the late 1970s with the intention of keeping alive the Crescent City's rich tradition of horn-driven ensembles. While the group is clearly rooted in its home town's past, its sound also borrows from a multitude of contemporary styles--from funk and hip-hop to contemporary jazz and rock. The Dirty Dozen's versatility has led them to collaborations with artists as varied as Modest Mouse and Dizzy Gillespie. The band released a stirring reworking of Marvin Gaye's landmark WHAT'S GOING ON in 2006 as a response to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy that devastated New Orleans.

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