When the South Coast Brass Band plays the Zeiterion this Friday night it will be with their traditional exuberance, but performed with heavy hearts.
Their annual fundraiser for the New Bedford Boys & Girls Club – an evening of New Orleans Mardi Gras music – will be the band’s first show since the passing of their beloved friend and musical comrade Gilda Pietragalla–Downey, the manager of Gilda’s Stone Rooster in Marion, who died recently at the age of 98.
“In many ways this show will be a celebration of Gilda’s life – she really was beyond category,” says Mike Rocha, trombone player with the band. “She touched the lives of so many musicians from this area. She really was our patron saint for so many years. She was an incredible person who shared her gifts with the world.”
And the music of the South Coast Brass Band is fitting for a celebration of life.
“The sounds of New Orleans are uplifting, spiritual sounds, and we focus on playing music in that spirit,” Rocha says. “New Orleans has faced some tragedies but always seems to bounce back, and music is so important to that entire culture. It’s music every night of the week there, and our goal is to bring that to this area.”
The South Coast Brass Band features five horn players, a drummer and a percussionist. They include Rocha, Paul Chadborne on tuba, Shawn Baptista on trumpet, Ryder Corey on tenor sax, Susan Gedutis-Lindsay on baritone sax, Dan Schwartz on percussion, and Charlie Kalajian on drums. Their instrumentation is similar to the famed New Orleans-based group, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
“We’ll be playing tunes that you will hear in New Orleans during Mardi Gras,” Rocha says.
This will be the fourth year that the South Coast Brass Band will be performing to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club. In 2018, 2019, and 2020 they performed at Greasy Luck in downtown New Bedford, before doing a virtual broadcast in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. They did not perform for the event last year.
This is only one charity that the group performs for. They are also scheduled to do a fundraiser for the Immigrants Assistance Center Gala on May 12’th at the Kilburn Mill. They traditionally perform at the Cape Verdean Recognition Day Parade, the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament Parade, as well as doing numerous shows at Cisco Kitchen & Brewery in New Bedford’s south end.
Raising funds for the Boys & Girls Club is an endeavor close to Rocha’s heart. He has been on their Board of Directors since 2013.
“I learned how to play basketball at the Boys & Girls Club,” he says. “It fostered lifelong relationships with friends, and to this day I look back fondly on my memories of going to the club and being a part of that.”
Programming at the club includes music and art, as well as after-school programs to support kids academically.
“We’ve had our challenges over the years but we have some exciting things taking place, we’re not just a gymnasium,” Rocha says. “It’s really special to me. It’s dear to my heart and part of my home.”
And for many years, Gilda’s Stone Rooster was a home.
“Gilda taught us that it’s all about the music and community, her gift to us was all about building community,” Rocha says. “So to be able to give back to the Boys & Girls Club and celebrate Gilda’s life and being able to celebrate one another is very important.”
Sonic SouthCoast 