In 1980, Brock made the first professional recording of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which he played frequently on WWOZ. In 1982, he arranged a concert at
Tipitina's, which was the first time they had played at a "white club" in New Orleans. In 1984, promoter
George Wein booked the band on a tour of southern Europe. That was followed by dates in New York—at Tramp's and
The Village Gate, and three more trips to Europe. , where their original short bookings were extended to six weeks.
Concord Jazz released of the band's first album, ''My Feet Can't Fail Me Now''. In 1986, the band's set at the
Montreux Jazz Festival was recorded and released as
Mardi Gras at Montreux on
Rounder Records. The album and the band's touring successes attracted major-label attention, and in 1987 the band signed a contract with
Columbia. Their Columbia debut, 1989's
Voodoo featured guest appearances by
Dr. John,
Dizzy Gillespie, and
Branford Marsalis. Later recordings saw them joined by a variety of special guests including
Elvis Costello,
DJ Logic,
Norah Jones, and
Danny Barker. The group has also toured and recorded with
jam band Widespread Panic, as well as spending almost all of 1995 as the opening act for
The Black Crowes 'Amorica Or Bust' US Tour. In 1990, at the memorial service for
Jim Henson, the band played a Dixieland jazz version of the "
When the Saints Go Marching In" at the
St. John's Cathedral in New York City. Through letters written prior to his passing, Henson requested that a
Dixieland band play a rousing version of "Saints" at the conclusion of the memorial service. The performance was described by
Life magazine as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event". In 1998, the band released
Ears to the Wall on
Mammoth Records. They followed it up in 1999 with
Buck Jump, which was produced by
John Medeski of
Medeski Martin & Wood. Their next album, 2002's
Medicated Magic, appeared on
Ropeadope Records, as did their subsequent studio release,
Funeral for a Friend, which appeared in 2004.
Funeral for a Friend is a documentation of a New Orleans "
funeral with music", the original environment of the brass band form. They appeared on the 2005 benefit album
A Celebration of New Orleans Music to Benefit MusiCares Hurricane Relief 2005, and on two tracks on
Modest Mouse's album
Good News for People Who Love Bad News. On August 29, 2006, the Dozen released ''
What's Going On, their version of the 1971 Marvin Gaye album What's Going On'' as a response to the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans one year earlier. The band appears in performance footage, and Gregory Davis is interviewed, in the 2005 documentary
Make It Funky!, which presents a history of
New Orleans music. In the film, the band performs "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" with guests
Irvin Mayfield and
Troy Andrews. ==Influence==