Brass Band · Modern Funk · Est. 2005
New Orleans
Free Agents Brass Band
Founded
Members
Years
The Sound
Modern funk brass with a survivor’s spirit — born from the players scattered by the storm.
Formed in September 2005, their anthem “Made It Through That Water” became a rallying cry for a recovering New Orleans.
Established 2005 · New Orleans
Made It Through That Water.
The Free Agents Brass Band was formed in September 2005, in the scattered days right after Hurricane Katrina. Founder Ellis Joseph — displaced to Atlanta — pulled together fellow “free agents,” including players from the Hot 8 and Stooges, and turned survival into a band.
Their 2007 anthem “Made It Through That Water,” a reworking of the spiritual “Wade in the Water,” became a rallying cry for a recovering city. The name says it all: independent, self-made, and unbroken.
We made it through that water.
New Orleans
