Parade drumming has been a way of life in New Orleans since the 1880s, when brass bands began performing at picnics, dances, riverboat trips, and, most significantly, funerals. Indeed, the idea of giving the recently deceased a celebratory musical send-off is a New Orleans tradition that goes all the way back to Mother Africa.

In New Orleans, brass bands and second-lines go together like red beans and rice. And while many groups still perform at New Orleans funeral processions on a daily basis, one renegade group spearheaded a revolution in the brass band genre by breaking away from standard parade music and spirituals and incorporating familiar bebop, R&B, pop, and funk tunes into its repertoire. As writer Lee Hildebrand of the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "New Orleans funeral music had changed little since the days of King Oliver and Louis Armstrong until The Dirty Dozen Brass Band entered the picture."

From its inception in 1977, the group has grown from a Crescent City cult phenomenon to an international sensation, touring nearly constantly in the US and in over thirty other countries on five continents. Over the years The Dirty Dozen Brass Band has also been featured on albums by such pop artists as David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dr. John, and The Black Crowes. Last year, the group shared the stage with Widespread Panic at a gala Halloween concert at Madison Square Garden, opening the door for The Dozen to infiltrate the burgeoning jam-band scene.

New Orleans monster drummer Terence Higgins has been the driving force behind The Dirty Dozen Brass Band for the past eight years. Hailing from Algiers on the West Bank (just across the Mississippi river from downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter), the thirty-three-year-old Higgins apprenticed with two important New Orleans musical figures'meters bassist George Porter and legendary pianist and pop icon Fats Domino.

Since joining The Dozen in 1995, Higgins has endeavored to keep one foot firmly in the parade drumming tradition that runs so deep in New Orleans while striding forward with the other foot into bold new territory for brass bands. Aside from incorporating some powerful funk backbeats and a touch of hip-hop aesthetic into the fabric of The Dozen's signature shuffles and second-line grooves, he's also pushing the envelope with a MIDI trigger setup that allows him to create rhythmic loops and interact with the horns in exciting new ways.

A budding songwriter as well, Higgins penned the title track of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band's smokin' new live release, We Got Robbed. And while the Dozen remains his primary activity as a drummer, Higgins has also found time to put together his own group on the side known as Swamp Grease. We caught up with the Dirty Dozen drummer just prior to the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, a traditionally busy time for all brass bands in the Crescent City.

MD: It's clear that you've got a real authentic street beat going on in your playing, but you're also putting up some serious funk beats and bringing some hip-hop flavor into the band.

Terence: Yeah, I guess my generation grew up with the hip-hop thing, so I'm definitely influenced by that. Plus growing up in New Orleans gave me a foundation as a drummer. I mean, second-line is a way of life down here. We deal with it on a daily basis. It's part of the culture.

There's so much going on in music today that cats tend to forget about where the stuff actually came from. But living in New Orleans, you never forget that. The street beat is alive down here. It's in the air, man. I grew up with that stuff and I always go back to it as a foundation of my playing.

MD: And it goes beyond technique. It's also about the spicy food, the feel of the paddleboats on the Mississippi, the relentless humidity in August?.

Terence: Everything, man. It's the crawfish, the gumbo, and the way people walk and talk down here. It's embedded in the fabric of New Orleans life. I mean, we have a second-line for all kinds of social occasions. It doesn't just have to be a funeral procession. They have a second-line every Sunday in the French Quarter. So this music is just a part of life in New Orleans.

A lot of cats move to New Orleans and try to cop this vibe, and if you're here for a couple of years you might get it a little bit. But I was a kid playing second-line when I didn't even know what it was. Just hearing that all the time as a kid, its becomes a part of you.

Second-line music is not textbook-friendly or video-friendly. You can learn the basic technique, but you have to know where the stuff comes from. And I'm just beginning to realize the legacy of New Orleans drumming. I don't think I fully embraced it at first, but once I did I started to have a greater appreciation for the whole rich history of the great drummers that came before us - Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, James Black, Freddy Coleman, Hunger Williams, Leo Morris, and all those great cats. I hope to make my own little mark some day.