Panorama Brass Band

Biography

Panorama Brass Band is a New Orleans–based brass ensemble that grew out of clarinetist Ben Schenck’s Panorama Jazz Band in the mid‑1990s, blending the city’s parade and street‑party traditions with a distinctly global songbook.[1][2] Schenck, originally from the Washington, D.C. area, moved to New Orleans in the mid‑1980s after being inspired by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band and clarinetist Michael White, immersing himself in the local brass band and traditional jazz culture.[1][3][4] In 1995 he formed the Panorama Jazz Band (initially a small clarinet‑led group) and by 1997, when a trombone joined the lineup, a dedicated marching offshoot — the Panorama Brass Band — emerged to serve Carnival parades and street events.[1][2][6]

From its earliest years, the Panorama family of bands focused on New Orleans traditional jazz while also embracing Jewish klezmer, Eastern European and Balkan folk, and Caribbean/Creole styles such as biguines, all reframed through the rhythmic and social context of New Orleans brass band music.[1][2][6] The brass band incarnation became especially active during the Carnival season, performing as an official brass band for krewes such as Krewe of Red Beans and Krewe du Jieux, and appearing in parades like Krewe of Muses and Knights of Babylon as well as at weddings, funerals, clubs, and private events locally and abroad.[2] By the 2000s the ensemble typically featured clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone, accordion, banjo, tuba, and drums, and over its first decade it recorded multiple CDs and carved out a niche as a New Orleans group that fused klezmer and Eastern European repertoire with the second‑line and brass band tradition.[1][2]

Today, Panorama Brass Band is recognized for its role in expanding the stylistic boundaries of New Orleans brass band music, demonstrating how traditional parade forms can incorporate diasporic Jewish, Balkan, and Caribbean material while remaining dance‑oriented and community‑based.[1][2][4][6] Their approach builds on Schenck’s belief that New Orleans traditional jazz is not a museum piece but a “culture of possibilities,” where mastery of standards becomes a springboard for new compositions and cross‑cultural arrangements.[4] Within the city’s musical ecosystem, Panorama Brass Band has influenced how some Mardi Gras krewes and local audiences experience klezmer and Eastern European music — not in concert halls, but in the streets, parades, and neighborhood celebrations that define New Orleans social life.[1][2]

Fun Facts

• Panorama Brass Band began as an extension of a trio that Schenck originally assembled to play at a friend’s wedding in 1995; only after a trombone joined in 1997 did the ensemble fully take on its brass band identity.[1][2][6]
• The Panorama project was first nurtured at Lucky’s on St. Charles Avenue, a now‑legendary New Orleans 24/7 bar–laundromat–music venue that served as an informal laboratory for the evolving lineup and repertoire.[1]
• While many New Orleans brass bands focus mainly on local standards, Panorama Brass Band’s regular book includes Jewish klezmer tunes, Balkan dances, and Creole biguines, all re‑arranged for a traditional New Orleans‑style marching ensemble.[1][2][6]
• Panorama’s blend of klezmer and New Orleans brass band music grew partly out of Schenck’s earlier work with the New Orleans Klezmer All‑Stars; after leaving that group, he doubled down on fusing authentic klezmer phrasing with parade‑style brass arrangements.[1]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Dr. Michael White - New Orleans clarinetist and member of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band whose playing inspired Ben Schenck to move to New Orleans and immerse himself in brass band and traditional jazz culture, shaping the aesthetic that led to Panorama Jazz Band and, later, Panorama Brass Band. (Performances with Young Tuxedo Brass Band and New Orleans traditional jazz recordings that influenced Schenck’s clarinet concept and repertoire choices.) [Mid-1980s onward (Schenck hears Young Tuxedo at Smithsonian Folk Festival c. 1985 and then relocates to New Orleans).[1][3][4]]
• Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band - Iconic New Orleans brass band that, along with Michael White and Young Tuxedo, helped convince Schenck to relocate from the Washington, D.C. area to New Orleans, providing a model for the social and parade‑band format that Panorama Brass Band would follow. (Parade and club performances in New Orleans that exemplified the modern brass band sound and street‑music function Schenck later adopted.) [Mid-1980s influence around Schenck’s move to New Orleans.[4]]
• Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong (New Orleans jazz pioneers) - Historical stylistic influences; Panorama’s repertoire and phrasing occasionally reference early New Orleans jazz and compositions associated with these figures, even as the band expands into klezmer, Balkan, and Caribbean material. (Traditional New Orleans jazz repertoire and recordings frequently cited in discussions of Panorama’s stylistic roots and occasional nods in performance.[1][2][4]) [Long-term historical influence on the band’s New Orleans traditional jazz foundation.]

Key Collaborators

• Ben Schenck - Founder, clarinetist, bandleader, and primary arranger whose Panorama Jazz Band project directly produced the marching offshoot Panorama Brass Band; core creative collaborator with the rotating brass band personnel. (Formation of Panorama Jazz Band (1995) and Panorama Brass Band (c. 1997); recordings and live performances across Carnival seasons, weddings, funerals, and club dates.[1][2][6][7]) [1995–present]
• Panorama Jazz Band (parent ensemble) - Source ensemble out of which the Panorama Brass Band was formed; shares repertoire, musicians, and arrangements, with the brass band used especially for parades and outdoor events. (Joint and parallel performances, recordings of klezmer, Eastern European, and New Orleans jazz material that also feed the brass band’s book.[1][2][6][7]) [1995–present; Panorama Brass Band formalized as a separate marching outfit by 1997.[1][2]]
• Krewe of Red Beans - Mardi Gras social aid and pleasure club/krewe for which Panorama Brass Band serves as an official brass band, providing music for parades and Carnival events. (Parade appearances and Carnival processions featuring Panorama Brass Band as the krewe’s live brass ensemble.[2]) [Late 1990s/2000s–present (active in Carnival seasons).[2]]
• Krewe du Jieux - Jewish‑themed Carnival krewe with which Panorama Brass Band is associated as an official brass band, aligning the band’s klezmer repertoire with parade‑season street performance. (Parades and Carnival events (including early roles in late‑1990s krewes described around 1997) featuring Panorama Brass Band.[1][2]) [From 1997 Carnival season onward (Panorama’s early parade work with Jewish‑themed krewes).[1][2]]
• Krewe of Muses and Knights of Babylon - Established New Orleans Carnival krewes in whose parades Panorama Brass Band regularly performs, integrating its global repertoire into mainstream Mardi Gras route parades. (Annual or recurring parade performances providing second‑line energy and multi‑cultural brass arrangements.[2]) [Late 1990s/2000s–present Carnival seasons.[2]]

Artists Influenced

• New Orleans Carnival and parade scene (klezmer and global‑brass programming) - By consistently presenting klezmer, Balkan, and Caribbean repertoire in parades and street contexts, Panorama Brass Band has helped normalize and popularize non‑traditional New Orleans material within Carnival brass band programming. (Parade appearances for Krewe du Jieux, Krewe of Red Beans, Krewe of Muses, Knights of Babylon, and other events where klezmer and Eastern European pieces are performed alongside local standards.[1][2][6]) [Late 1990s–present]

External Links

• Spotify
• MusicBrainz