Actor brings music of 'Treme' to D.C.

By Mike Joyce
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, June 10, 2011

Wendell Pierce isn't a trombonist, but he plays one on the acclaimed HBO series "Treme." In fact, he's so convincing that he has managed to fool not only a lot of viewers but even musicians familiar with the proper embouchure and finger positions.

Wendell Pierce, who grew up in New Orleans with such jazz artists as Branford and Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard, wants to present "what is uniquely ours, the demonstration of the American aesthetic, the ability to adapt, the ability to improvise."

Still, the 48-year-old actor won't have his horn with him when he hosts "A Night in Treme: The Musical Majesty of New Orleans" at the Kennedy Center on Monday night.

"I'm not ready for that display yet," Pierce says with a laugh.

Smart move. The concert, part of the DC Jazz Festival, boasts a stellar Crescent City lineup, with performances by the Rebirth Brass Band, Mardi Gras chief and alto saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., trombonist Big Sam Williams, singer-trumpeter James Andrews and clarinetist Dr. Michael White.

Pierce, a native of New Orleans who grew up with Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and other well-known jazz artists, went to HBO with the idea of a "Treme"-inspired national tour before the series' debut last year.

"The focus is just on the music," Pierce says of the concert, speaking from his home in New Orleans. "It's not about post-Katrina; that doesn't define New Orleans. I just wanted to have an outlet so that people could be exposed to the influence of New Orleans -- what is uniquely ours, the demonstration of the American aesthetic, the ability to adapt, the ability to improvise -- all that."

Pierce will narrate the program, a celebration of the Treme's African American and Creole cultures as well as the neighborhood's historical significance as the birthplace of modern brass band traditions and Congo Square. With Rebirth serving as the house band, the show will explore second-line parade traditions, the influence of French opera, the history of Mardi Gras Indians, the rise of Fats Domino and other rockers, plus illustrations of brass-powered funk and modern jazz. The second half is unscripted -- a New Orleans house party that probably will send Rebirth parading up and down the aisles.

On "Treme," Pierce plays Antoine Batiste, one of two plum roles that screenwriter-producer David Simon has given him. (The first was homicide detective Bunk Moreland on the Baltimore-based police drama "The Wire.") The opportunity to play an engaging and resourceful yet seriously flawed character who is struggling to survive in a storied New Orleans neighborhood was enormously appealing and also offered Pierce a chance to work with Simon and his colleagues again.

There are aspects of Batiste's personality that Pierce immediately understood and appreciated.

"I know about the city, the culture, the people. There was a sense of comfort," he says. "At the same time ... when they place those scripts in front of me and I have to sing or play the instrument, there's a mountain of time and effort that goes into making just a few seconds on the screen."

It doesn't help that many of Pierce's close friends who make a living playing jazz are scrutinizing his every move, even though they know the sound of his horn is produced by an off-screen trombonist.

"That's why I pay so much attention to my portrayal, because I know they are on me like white on rice," the actor says. (That also explains why Pierce continues his trombone lessons.)

Awash with Crescent City sounds -- some familiar, some forgotten -- "Treme" has been embraced by many New Orleanians for that reason alone. But Pierce is convinced that the show operates on a deeper, more significant level.

"On Sunday nights, there are watch parties all over the city -- at different bars, restaurants, private homes. It's been therapeutic," he says. "It helps people work through their own feelings of what they're going through and what they've been through. It really exemplifies the role of art for me."

Pierce spends a lot of his time helping to redevelop Pontchartrain Park, the historic African American neighborhood devastated by flooding from Hurricane Katrina. And when he isn't hosting the award-winning radio series "Jazz at Lincoln Center" or adding to an impressive list of theater credits, he's busy making movies. Pierce just finished shooting "Lay the Favorite," starring Bruce Willis. Next month, he'll appear in "Horrible Bosses," with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. He's also in the upcoming "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn."

Soon he'll portray a living legend in "B.B. King and I." Due out next year, the film will require the actor to exchange his trombone for King's signature Gibson, "Lucille." No doubt Pierce's jazz buddies will be watching closely then, too.