Dejan's Olympia Brass Band

Eight members travel with the New Orleans-based jazz group that was formed in 1883. Milton Batiste, band leader and trumpet player, who has been with the band over 30 years, answered the questionaire.

The band has played at banquets, parties, dances, music festivals, grand openings, Mardi Gras parades and festivities and traditional New Orleans jazz funerals. The band regularly packs them in at the Preservation Hall concert series in New Orleans.

What do you love about brass band music?
I've lived it all my life since I was a child. I was 6 or 7 years old when I saw my first brass band. I live in New Orleans where music is a way of life for some families. It covers all occasions. We like to play all occasions from the christening to the funeral.

Most shining moment?
There are so many shining moments. One that's really going to last with us as mostly African-Americans is going to Africa in 1988. We could feel the vibes from the people and see the people who looked like us, yet we couldn't speak to them.

Most requested song?
``Just a Closer Walk with Thee'' and ``When the Saints Go Marching In.''

Percentage of the year spent traveling?
At least four to five months.

Other than Danville, one of the most interesting places to play?
The Umbria Festival in Italy. This music festival is held in different Italian cities but the Olympia band likes playing at Perugia. There are two medical schools on the top of a mountain. A lot of young people and old people congregate on this mountain for 10 days in July. This will mark the band's seventh year to play there.

Food?
We like to take part in the food of the native people around us. As residents of one of the eatingest states in the country, we like to eat.

Where was your most receptive audience?
I don't want to step on anybody's foot.

Funniest incident that almost stopped the show?
It didn't stop the show for us but for the musicians coming on behind us. They had a storm and we were playing on a plantation. The storm knocked out all the electricity.

Little known fact about the group?
The band was started in 1883 and we are keeping up a legacy of that type of music. To make sure the group's message continues, a group called the Young Olympians has been organized.
Harold Dejan, who organized the band in 1960, is well into his 80s and used to travel with the band when it first started performing in Danville. His health keeps him from traveling. He's not able to play right now but he sits and he sings.