Benny Jones Sr., leader of the Treme Brass Band and founder of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, will once again rule over the krewedelusion annual Mardi Gras parade on Sunday, February 5. The satirical Carnival krewe will return with a parade themed “The Night of Delusion,” beginning at 6:45 p.m. at and ending at 9 p.m. for the Bedlam Ball at d.b.a (618 Frenchmen Street). The Roots of Music will lead off the parade this year.
Jones was also the recipient of OffBeat‘s Best of the Beat Heartbeat Award in 2022.
Delusion’s Captain Oscar Diggs stated “I have the honor to fulfill my duty to reveal that as was for our 12th episode on our 13th year, now shall be for our 13th episode, that Dirty Dozen Brass Band founder, Social Aid & Pleasure Club Parading Veteran and leader of the Tremé Brass Band, Benny Jones Sr., shall continue to rule over krewedelusion, New Orleans and everything else! He is one of those rare New Orleans gentlemen whose life personifies both the preservation of his cultural traditions and the duty to guide the generational evolution of those traditions—and it is the tradition of krewedelusion to reappoint any Ruler whose float breaks down during the celebration of their Rule! Benny Jones led the band; Benny Jones danced in the streets, and The Sultan of Syncopation shall be a role model for us all!”
Benny Jones was also crowned the “Ruler” of krewedelusion at their 2022 parade and was also honored as the grand marshal for the Sudan Social Aid and Pleasure Club in years prior.
Benny Jones. Photo: Emma Dugas
Jones grew up under the tutelage of his father, the late Chester Jones Sr. of the Onward Brass Band. The younger Jones played bass and snare drums with Onward and learned from great musicians like Danny Barker, Shannon Powell, Herlin Riley, Zigaboo Modeliste, Placide Adams, Harold Dejan, Earnest Watson and Dave Bartholomew. In 1977, Jones founded the Dirty Dozen Brass Band along with members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans jazz style. A traditionalist at heart, Jones later founded the Tremé Brass Band, thus becoming a major influence both in the evolution and preservation of traditional New Orleans brass band music. He is among the founding members of the Black Men of Labor, who will join the krewedelusion parade for the first time.
As part of their mission “to save the Universe,” krewedelusion has put the “green” in purple, green and gold by using “mule-free, fuel-free” hand-operated floats, forbidding the use of plastic beads and encouraging revelers to offer handmade throws crafted from naturally abundant or recycled materials.
An updated route for the 13th episode of krewedelusion has not been made public at press time.
The updated route below (1/30/23):
