So Joe walks up to me and he says to me he says, ”Let’s do a song with a New Orleans feel. You know, that second line, Mardi Gras sound. We’ll call it ‘On Vue Faire Le Fête,’ that’s New Orleans French for ‘let’s party.’”
“Sure!” Says I, “Great idea!” I knew what he meant, I’d been to NOLA a couple of times, seen the floats and heard musicians in the second line parading through the Vieux Carré for Mardi Gras, been drinking at the Spotted Cat, seen the beaded and drunk on Bourbon Street, peeked through a shotgun house, ate po’ boys and king cake, smeared beignet sugar and grease on my lap, drank a julep while waving a parasol, listened to cigar box guitars, felt a voodoo shiver down my spine. “Let’s do this!”
Joe got the inspiration to write a song with this sound after playing When The Saints Go Marching In with our drummer, Vern Mobley. Vern is an extremely accomplished drummer and, even though he is just one guy, he can replicate that syncopated beat and shifting pattern of accents created by two or more drummers in a second line. Joe also plays steel drums in The Big Wahu Caribbean band and is no stranger to the Caribbean rhythms that sneak into second line drumming. There you go, we had a strong foundation for the New Orleans sound - a second line rhythm.
Drumming makes the second line and the second line defines the New Orleans sound but you need the brass featured in the first line of the parade to fully create the sound. Big, bold brass with phrasing and form that gives that march-y feel. So, we created a brass band courtesy of our very own Dan Twaddell, who expertly blew on the alto sax, our friend Rob Stonebeck, who generously agreed to play some terrific trombone and, believe it or not, our own bassist, Brian Bortz, who dusted off his high school trumpet, to fill out our brass band sound. We added in a little jazz influence and gave those horns some space to solo and - voilà! - we had ourselves a big brass band!
OK, now my turn, I have to put some fancy icing on this cakewalk and make the pretty words. Words that invoke the “joie de vivre” and “laissez le bon temps rouler” attitude of New Orleans and her music. Done.
Next, put it all together in a giant stew-pot called Spectra Sound Recording Studio, allow master chef Jim McGee to mix it all up with just the right amount of piano from Pat Kerssen and bass from Brian Bortz and - again, voilà! - Ginger and The Schnappes is paying homage to jazz’s musical roots by creating this Pennsylavnia-based gumbo, On Vue Faire Le Fête!
Bon appetit! - GB
On Veut Fair Le Fête (Let’s Party)
Music by Joe Mixon
Lyrics by Ginger Brew
(C)2020 Mixon Brew Music, LLC
Ol’ New Orleans, rice and red beans,
Mardi gras queens, you know what that means.
On veut fair le fête
And now you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Party of your dreams, bursting at the seams.
Purple gold and green, you know what that means.
On veut faire le fête
And it’s the best time you’ve had yet.
REFRAIN:
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
Madame Yvette, never upset,
Could be sad and yet, Madame doesn’t fret.
On veut fair le fête with all the men that she has met.
Les bon temps rouler in the vieux carré
Where you’ll hear her say, “Take me all the way!”
On veut faire le fête and then we’ll have our tête-à-tête.
REFRAIN:
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
Madame Fifi had a joie de vivre.
Dancing in the street you can feel her heat.
On veut faire le fête and if it rains she’ll get wet.
Rings on bare feet, splashing to the beat.
Never takes a seat, does not stop to eat.
On veut faire le fête and I will dance with you my pet.
REFRAIN:
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
On veut faire le fête! On veut faire le fête!
TAG:
On veut faire le fête and I will dance with you my pet.
On veut faire le fête and if it rains we’ll get wet.
On veut faire le fête and it’s the best time you’ve had yet.
On veut faire le fête and now you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
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