British-style
A brass band in the British tradition with a full complement of players generally comprises 8-10 cornets (usually including a soprano and repiano cornet), 1 flugelhorn, 3 tenor horns, 2 baritones, 2 euphoniums, 3 trombones (2 tenors and 1 bass), 4 tubas (2 E♭ and 2 B♭) and percussion. There is a long tradition of competition between brass bands, often based around local industry and communities. This form of brass band is widespread throughout Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand and is also commonly found in North America and continental Europe.
The Salvation Army, part of the Christian church, has deployed brass bands since 1878 and they continue to be an integral part of that organisation. The most well-known Salvation Army brass band is The International Staff Band which is based in London.
New Orleans
The tradition of brass bands in New Orleans, Louisiana dates to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Traditionally, New Orleans brass bands could feature various instrumentations, often including trumpets, trombones, saxophones, sousaphones and percussion. The music played by these groups was often a fusion between European-styled military band music and African folk music brought to the Americas by west African slaves and the idiom played a significant role in the development of traditional Jazz.
A well-known use of these bands is for the New Orleans jazz funeral.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the New Orleans brass band tradition experienced a renaissance, with bands breaking away from traditional stylings and adding elements of funk, hip hop, and bop to their repertoires. Some notable exponents of this style of brass band include the Rebirth Brass Band, the Soul Rebels Brass Band, Youngblood Brass Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, though a number of groups outside the United States have begun playing this style of music. The style has moved beyond New Orleans and now brass bands can be found in such far flung places as Japan with the Black Bottom Brass Band, The Netherlands with the Happy Feet Brassband and the Hurricane Brass Band, Boston, Massachusetts with the Hot Tamale Brass Band and Madison, Wisconsin with Mama Digdown's Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band.
Polynesia
Founded in 1836 by King Kamahameha III, the Royal Hawaiian Band is the second oldest and only full-time municipal band in the United States. In recent generations, unique brass band traditions have also developed in Tonga, Samoa, and other parts of Polynesia, as well as among the Māori of New Zealand. Some recordings are now available and these styles are beginning to be researched and promoted abroad through band tours.
