by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"I'm a bit of an obsessive New Orleans fanatic," says John Dodge, leader of the Fat Tuesday Brass Band. "A lot of that music just destroys me, and not just the brass bands. To be honest, some of the most down-and-out, rummy street musicians who can barely string a sentence together are better players than a lot of people you'll find in the clubs here in Montreal."

A harsh statement from this local musician, but considering the fierce competition and cultural pride among New Orleans's players, from the lowly buskers to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, it's probably true.

Whether or not he considers himself on par with the Big Easy's brass, Dodge certainly aspires to their high standards. His obsession stems from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a legendary New Orleans act that introduced soul and funk to the traditional style.

"It was a life-changing musical experience," he says. "As soon as I heard them, I bought everything they had ever recorded and I learned how to play the sousaphone so that I could form a brass band."

Though Dodge's plan was stalled by his other passion, the upright bass - which he studied throughout the '90s and currently plays with the bluegrass collective Notre Dame de Grass - Fat Tuesday, a second-line septet (meaning there are two drummers, bass and snare), was born in 2002, and they remain Canada's only band ever to assume the true New Orleans style.

"It's hard to know why this music hasn't travelled," says Dodge, "but I'm hoping to do something about that. One of our former members moved to Toronto and he liked what we were doing so much that he said he's gonna form a band there. It would be nice to have some company."

After two years spent tightening up, Fat Tuesday is ready to celebrate Mardi Gras, the debauched climax of the Carnival celebration, in Canada's own French quarter.

"I've never actually been down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and if things work out, I'll never get a chance to."

Dodge's goal is to make Montreal's Mardi Gras annual, eventually expanding to a multi-day music festival, including a march through the underground city.

"The whole raison d'être of these bands is to be out on the street parading, but there's a bit of an issue in Montreal with the weather," he says, recalling the -30 C conditions the band endured when they were hired to play a boisterous, New Orleans-style funeral last year.

As for this year's inaugural party, Fat Tuesday will showcase their debut album Balconville and incorporate such Mardi Gras staples as costumes and masks - the band will be dressed up, and they'd like you to be too, despite the sax player's wish to make it a "clothing-optional" event. A traditional King Cake will be served, and whoever gets the piece containing a bean will win a CD, a drink and a Mardi Gras crown.

"The tradition used to be that whoever got the bean was allowed to do anything they wanted for a week. Anything. All laws were rescinded. If they wanted to have sex with your wife, then that's what they'd do, but at the end of the week, they'd be executed. But don't worry, that's not part of our plan."

With Kumpania at El Salon on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 9 p.m. sharp, $10

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