If music were food, Portland's funk and soul scene would be a rich tomato soup: tangy and fun, with maybe a little kick of cumin. New Orleans, however, would be gumbo, and you don't fuck with gumbo. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is one of the prime examples of a real New Orleans second line band, defined by a swinging rhythm and heavy use of the offbeat. The Dirty Dozen is a 40-year institution; they've traveled with everybody from the Black Crowes to Widespread Panic, and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Elvis Costello, and numerous others. Polished and always well-seasoned, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is what true gumbo should taste like.

ROSE FINN