Six years ago, Ersel “Garfield” Bogan III conceived of the idea of his non-profit organization “Save Our Brass” because he saw lots of kids coming up playing brass band music that “didn’t know the music, didn’t know the people and didn’t know the culture.” Thus, the Original New Orleans Brass Fest was born.

The Original New Orleans Brass Fest, which takes place on March 19 this year in Armstrong Park, is the main fundraiser for “Save Our...