This edition of In Performance at the Governor’s Mansion celebrates American music, beginning with the brass band music of the mid-1800s performed by Saxton’s Cornet Band. Pianist Ray Johnson of Louisville follows with a salute to America’s music—jazz. And the Juggernaut Jug Band winds up the evening with a unique brand of music featuring tunes from the 1930s to the present.

It was during the Civil War that American brass bands enjoyed their greatest popularity, and it was during that era that the original Saxton’s Cornet Band was formed. In its current incarnation, the band uses actual mid-19th-century instruments while performing Civil War-era arrangements.

Jazz developed in New Orleans in the 1890s, growing out of the rhythms of West Africa and drawing from diverse sources, including ragtime, spirituals, blues, popular dance tunes—even brass bands. Johnson pays tribute to one of the great composers and performers of the genre, the legendary Duke Ellington.

While jazz began in the deep South and worked its way northward, another uniquely American music form began in Louisville around 1900 and made its way downriver. Jug band music borrowed from ragtime, blues, country, and jazz. What set it apart was the instruments, which included common household items such as spoons, washboards, and of course jugs. Our musical journey ends with Louisville’s Juggernaut Jug Band expanding on tradition, mixing in a little rock ’n’ roll and some original tunes.

Seasons 2-5 were made possible
by a generous grant from Ashland Inc.