A record number of people came to celebrate Amoeba Hollywood’s annual Fat Tuesday celebration. This year saw The Dirty Dozen Brass Band perform live and lead the annual Second Line Parade down the aisles of Amoeba.

The band brought New Orleans cheer to the store, getting the family-friendly audience dancing in the aisles with their influential funk-infused jazz style. Some attendees showed up in Mardi Gras costume, including a quartet of girls in white dresses spattered with fake blood — maybe it’s a True Blood thing, I’m not sure.

While homemade floats, masks and beads floated around the audience, the extraordinary musicianship on display wasn’t lost on the audience. A sax solo introduced the band’s second song, breaking out into a drum solo before returning to the song and drawing huge applause. They got the audience clapping to what I thought was a standup bass but was actually DDBB’s tuba player playing a rubbery bassline. They thanked the audience and Amoeba as they capped off 36 years as a band before leading everyone through a parade while playing “When the Saints Go Marching In” up and down the aisles.

Amoeba is distributing The Congo Square Project Foundation: Sacred Ground Vols. 1 and 2, the first two of six planned volumes tracing the development of New Orleans music, with all proceeds of the sale benefiting New Orleans relief efforts. Additionally, a portion of all proceeds for the day (including sales on Amoeba.com) went to Tipitina’s Foundation, which seeks to preserve Louisiana and New Orleans’ musical heritage, and New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, which is dedicated to providing affordable healthcare to New Orleans musicians. A total of $3,000 was donated from Amoeba's revenue Feb. 12, adding to the $1,400 raised through a charity auction held at Amoeba Hollywood Feb. 2 ($700 was raised from auction sales, with a $700 match from Amoeba), for a combined total of $4,400 sent to the two charities.

On Saturday, February 2 we kicked off "New Orleans Month" at Amoeba Hollywood with a rockin' auction hosted by the inimitable and charming Billy Calhoun. Billy's soothing and unflappable style not only inspired some major bidding, but he deftly and seamlessly dropped some science on all the onlookers about New Orleans and the two foundations we were focusing on (New Orleans Musicians Clinic and Tipitina's Foundation), as well as what we are doing on Amoeba.com and how long we have been doing the charity auctions. People learned a lot while they had fun bidding on really cool items. More than a few customers mentioned that they didn't realize we do these auctions every month, and that they learned a lot from all that Billy had to say. Billy educated folks on our Vinyl Vaults and Louis Armstrong digital restoration, as well as the exclusive release of the Congo Square Project which is an amazing collection of music available only on Amoeba.com.

We had several bidding wars, and Billy effortlessly kept the momentum going and kept people engaged. Here are some of the highlights for today's auction---one of the highest generating auctions we have had in a long while. Way to go Billy!!

We are honored to announce that the Tipitina’s Foundation is inducting Amoeba Music into The Tipitina’s Foundation Wall of Fame tonight in New Orleans during their annual event, Instruments A Comin’!

The Tipitina's Foundation was founded before Hurricane Katrina (in 2003), and is committed to preserving Louisiana culture and musical heritage. Of course when the storm ravaged most of the city, the need for resources for displaced musicians and a community place became even more crucial. The Tipitina's Foundation continued to serve unemployed musicians, as well as raise money to replace instruments, and keep the spirit of Louisiana culture alive and well and in the hearts of all New Orleans residents.

In 2005, Amoeba began hosting regular charity auctions to raise money for Gulf relief efforts post-Katrina. In addition to the money raised during the auctions themselves, Amoeba has matched the winning bids dollar for dollar, doubling the money for the Tipitina's Foundation. We also share our love for New Orleans with a Mardi Gras party each year, complete with beads and a parade.

Music is an integral part of New Orleans culture and a huge part of the spirit of one of the most beloved American cities. Keeping that spirit alive and thriving is a huge focus of the Tipitina's Foundation and we are humbled and thankful to be a part of that community.

Today happens to be International Jazz Day, and one of the richest American cultural exports is jazz music. American jazz and blues are the foundation of our cultural heritage---so we celebrate that today. 

Happy Fat Tuesday 2012 from Amoeba Music where, in addition to the big, fun Fat Tuesday celebration at Amoeba Hollywood this afternoon from 3pm to 5pm where you are invited to bring your own instrument, all day today a portion of the proceeds from sales  at each of the three Amoeba stores will go directly to help musicians and New Orleans artists through the Tipitina's Foundation - a worthwhile cause rigorously supported by Amoeba since the Katrina Hurricane in 2005. Additionally, today through tomorrow (Feb. 22nd) you will receive 15% discount off all purchases made on the Amoeba online store. All you need to do is copy and paste the special promo code mardigras15 when you check out. And remember that music and movies purchases always ship free in the US!

Click the following link for full details on the fun Fat Tuesday celebration at Amoeba Hollywood today.
 
To further help celebrate this Fat Tuesday, I have included here (above and below) three music videos from some of my favorite brass bands whose infectious sounds just move my soul and hopefully yours too; the Rebirth Brass Band (of course), the Hypnotic Brass Band, and the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Happy Fat Tuesday!

Celebrate Mardi Gras at Amoeba Hollywood with our annual celebration of Fat Tuesday and New Orleans’ musical legacy on Tuesday, February 21!

Plus, shop at Amoeba Hollywood on Fat Tuesday to help musicians and New Orleans artists! A portion of the day’s proceeds will be donated to the Tipitina’s Foundation in New Orleans. So visit our New Orleans section on Amoeba.com  or pick up some new music and movies at Amoeba Hollywood and help keep the music playing! 

Fat Tuesday festivities will include:

• Amoeba DJs spinning New Orleans party music starting at 3pm
• A photo station on the stage to take a Fat Tuesday picture
• Mardi Gras Gift Bags for kids
• Our home grown parade at 4:30pm with beads and revelry
• Bring your instrument and play "When The Saints Go Marching In" with us
• AND enter to win our Fat Tuesday Grand Prize: 2 tickets to fly to NEW ORLEANS!

All are invited – bring your instrument and join us for the joyful cacophony! 

If you've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, read a quick primer on the Mardis Gras Indians. If you've never been to Amoeba on Fat Tuesday, take a look at what you've been missing: