NOLA-Style Brass Band Wins Syracuse Jazz Award

Second Line Syracuse Mardi Gras may be over, but we can still celebrate the good-time music of old New Orleans. Second Line Syracuse, an eight-piece brass band led by trombonist Melissa Gardiner, won the 2017 Syracuse Area Music Award for “Best Jazz” recording for its self-titled CD released last October. “The whole premise behind the brass band is to play music outside for the community, for all,” Melissa said. “We don’t want to make music an exclusive thing. We want to bring music to people where they’re at.” She started the octet a couple years ago, after visiting New Orleans and witnessing the excitement of second line parades following brass bands playing in the street. The Sammy Awards were announced on March 3, at the Palace Theater in Syracuse, N.Y. Gardiner graciously accepted the trophy and praised the other four nominees in her category – the Carol Bryant Trio, Bob Holz, Edgar Pagan and Peter Mack. Over the past few years Melissa Gardiner—a University of Michigan and Juilliard School alumna who has studied with Steve Turre and Wycliffe Gordon—has emerged as one of the busiest and best musicians in Central New York. She leads several Syracuse-based jazz combos, teaches at Syracuse University and Cornell, and hosts a weekly youth-oriented jam session every Sunday afternoon in downtown Syracuse. Melissa’s community commitment knows no bo