Treme musicians to plead innocent -2 brothers driven to uphold tradition of nightly jazz parades

New Orleans Picayune ^ | Thursday, October 04, 2007 | By Katy Reckdahl

[weegee]

Two Treme musicians will plead innocent in municipal court today to disturbing the peace and parading without a permit, charges they say should never have been filed during their traditional send-off for a fellow musician.

Derrick Tabb, 32, and his brother Glen David Andrews, 27, were pulled away in handcuffs from a Monday night parade for their friend, tuba player Kerwin James, who died last week and will be buried Saturday. New Orleans Police Department officers, who responded to a complaint about the parade with nearly 20 police cars, said they cited Tabb and Andrews because the two continued to play when the other 25 musicians had stopped. Spectators deny that, saying that maybe the two men stood out because of their height: snare drummer Tabb is 6-feet-4-inches tall and Andrews is an inch shorter but looks taller when he extends his trombone slide into the air.

[SittinYonder]

"Maybe we were wrong on Monday for not getting a permit, in their eyes," he said. "But, in our eyes, the police were wrong for stopping a peaceful procession."

When you go get that permit from the government, it's tacit agreement that the government has the authority to issue the permit.

[wideawake]

When you go get that permit from the government, it's tacit agreement that the government has the authority to issue the permit.

No, it's an open acknowledgement that the streets and thoroughfares are public property and not your own private playground.