Harold "Duke" Dejan, the 86-year-old leader of Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band, had come to the backyard studio of producer/Olympia trumpet player Milton Batiste on this April morning to be interviewed.

His opening line to his interviewer, then, was meant to make sure all present knew, in very broad terms, what they would be talking about.

Harold Dejan’s life, and his life in music ...conversations on those topics could stretch for days. Many of the young brass bands that have revitalized th...