The Minneapolis brass band bringing joy amid grief: ‘When people see us playing, it gives them hope’

Brass Solidarity was formed after George Floyd’s murder, and now also marks the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at its weekly meetupA week after a federal officer shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, a troupe of brass players, percussionists and singers gathered at the site of the killing, to play a blaring, defiant rendition of the O’Jays’ Love Train.Trumpeters, trombonists and sousaphonists had lined up along the ice-slicked sidewalk or were balancing on the snowbanks, blowing up clouds of condensation. Continue reading...