It’s important to foster the passion for music in our children, and it seems the city of New Orleans has done just that.

All Around Brass Band is a popular band in the city, which isn’t unheard of. But the thing that sets these guys apart is that they’re a group of young teenagers, and they’ve got as much fire as any of these other older bands.

All Around Brass Band started with Emmanuel Mitchell’s two sons and nephew about seven years ago. Now, the seven-piece ensemble consists of three trumpets, two trombones, a tuba, a bass drum and a snare. Starting out, they performed around their neighborhood in the lower Ninth Ward and within their church. Later, as they branched out, they went on to perform with popular bands such as Treme Brass Band and Trombone Shorty and also attended the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.

“They just got together one day and said, ‘Well, we want to make some money doing this,’” their manager Emmanuel Mitchell said.

Fast forward four or five years and these young men are playing events all over the city. One of their latest big performances was at this year’s Creole Tomato Festival when they played for almost two hours on a Saturday evening at the Dutch Alley Stage. Their set included some soulful jazz improv, their own rendition of the “Happy Birthday Song” for a very lucky birthday girl, an impressive display of talent in which the two trombonists gave the illusion of holding a note for over five minutes while the band continued to play in the background (after which one was so exhausted he needed a break from the stage and received a cheerful applause from the audience), and a brief second line at the end of the set when they circled the alley and the fans followed, hanging on to their every note.

All Around Brass Band has become well-known in the world of brass bands throughout the city. They were even included in the book Talk That Music Talk by Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes and Rachel Breunlin. There will be many more sets like the one at Creole Tomato Fest by All Around Brass Band, and you can catch them at the Old U.S. Mint this weekend on July 9 and again on the 16th from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and then on July 23 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.