Happy Birthday, Kirk Joseph!

R&B and Jazz Sousaphone player Kirk Joseph was born in New Orleans on February 16, 1961, and is the son of trombonist Waldren "Frog" Joseph, Kirk Joseph began playing the sousaphone in middle school, and took part in his first professional gig at the age of fifteen when his brother Charles invited him to play a funeral with the Majestic Band. In 1977 he became one of the founding members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a group which is credited with reviving the brass band tradition in New Orleans. He has played with the Treme Brass Band and Forgotten Souls Brass Band, and currently leads his own group called Kirk Joseph's Backyard Groove.

Described as a "modern sousaphone pioneer", Joseph claims inspiration from renowned New Orleans tuba player Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen, who made it sound like bass. The style of playing created by Lacen and Joseph was instrumental in establishing the modern New Orleans brass band sound, which combines traditional marching band and Dixieland traditions with strong jazz and funk influences. Joseph developed his innovative approach to the sousaphone, replacing the instruments limits, as perceived by his predecessors, with a rich musical vocabulary. Never before had such a creative and stylistic range been demonstrated. But the new standards set by Kirk Joseph have prompted many since to follow his lead.

Kirk Joseph has earned his seat at the table of New Orleans’ greatest musicians and will surely claim his place in music history as perhaps the greatest innovator of his instrument, the sousaphone. Today we wish this innovative artist a very Happy Birthday!

Photo: Derek Bridges