In a world of war, poverty, ecological disasters, dissent and conflict in the social fabric of society, Marvin Gaye found himself looking to the heavens in 1971 and asking the heartfelt question What's Going On? And with that Gaye created the unqualified masterpiece of his astounding career, an album addressing these questions of an uncertain world.

In 2006, with the same questions looming even larger, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has borrowed on Gaye's inspiration to create a crowning achievement in their own career, which spans more than three decades of innovation and leadership in New Orleans music and beyond.

Mixing vibrant instrumental pieces with simmering, scorching vocal numbers (performed by guests Chuck D., Bettye LaVette, G. Love, Ivan Neville and Guru), the Dirty Dozen has translated the songs from What's Going On into its own music language.  The new recordings are infused with the powerful feelings resulting from the band's own experiences with Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent massive flooding and the devastation of their homes and communities.

The August 29th Shout! Factory release of What's Going On marks the one-year anniversary of Katrina's devastation of New Orleans.

“It just made sense in light of all that happened with the storm,” says trumpeter Gregory Davis, who with fellow Dirty Dozen co-founders Roger Lewis (baritone and soprano sax), Kevin Harris (tenor sax) and Efrem Towns (trumpet, flugelhorn), make up the group's core.  “But even beyond that, to ask ‘What's going on?' in the world makes sense.  What happened with 9/11, what happened with the tsunami, what happened with the earthquakes over in Iraq and Afghanistan, what's happening with the so-called war.  What's really going on?”

“It's a timely question,” adds Harris.  “What the hell is going on?  It's been freaky out there.  Bad enough when human beings are snapping at each other left and right, but when nature is drowning thousands of people with tsunamis and hurricanes and scourges?  Things are changing, getting strange.”

The idea for the project came as the group discussed potential album plans with Shout! Factory A&R executive and producer Shawn Amos.

“I was spending time with the guys, getting to know them,” says Amos.  “We were thinking about what kind of record to make, and one afternoon the conversation turned to Katrina.  The Dozen were the first people from New Orleans I had hung out with post-Katrina and it shook me to hear their stories.  They lost their homes and their memories.  One of them was on a cell phone dealing with an insurance company.  The guys were so understandably angry at what was going on in their city, or rather what wasn't going on.  We talked about it, and the discussion led to the war and to other political matters.  I asked them how they would feel about remaking Marvin's album.”

The Dirty Dozen has been up for big challenges in the past with its bracing, innovative blend of traditional New Orleans sounds and modern jazz sensibilities.  The ensemble has recorded with artists from Dizzy Gillespie (a hero and inspiration) to Elvis Costello, taken on the music of jazz inventor Jelly Roll Morton for the album Jelly and reinterpreted the hymns and parade songs of the Crescent City second-line bands for 2004's Funeral For A Friend (following the death of co-founding member Tuba Fats).  They've mixed intriguing approaches to traditional and familiar material, but in a context emphasizing challenging original music composed by the Dozen members themselves.  In the course, the band resurrected, revitalized and put distinctly personal stamps on what was a dying tradition of New Orleans brass bands when the group formed in the late ‘70s, inspiring a full-on revival that's flourished with several new generations of young brass bands each bringing their own twists to the form.