When Seattle band Tubaluba comes to the Tri-Cities, they plan to kick up a little dust at the Emerald of Siam gig Oct. 19 in Richland.

Besides providing an evening of funky music, this eight-member troupe of zany musicians plans to hold a funeral procession in true New Orleans style.

"We are planning on doing a funeral procession, but we just found out we have a bit of a transportation problem," said band member Josh Wilson. "It's not anything that will prevent us from getting to Richland, but one that makes it a bit tricky to bring a 6-foot wood coffin."

But if their transportation woes don't pan out, Wilson says the funeral march will go on with or without a coffin.

"Halloween and Mardi Gras tend to be the big holidays on our calendar," Wilson said. "Last year was the first year we did a funeral procession in Seattle on Halloween.

"The idea is really to get people in the streets acting silly, wearing costumes and following the band. We don't really expect people in Richland to follow us this time, mostly because it'll be our first time in town and it's not an official parade."

The band will dress in their zombie best, he added.

The band will start the procession about 7 p.m. and parade around the parking lot in front of the Emerald of Siam.

Following the procession, the band will hit the stage and crank up the volume for a mix of music that Wilson describes like this: "Our music was born from brass, forged in the hips, tempered with a dose of New Orleans tradition, and cultivated in the artistic fusion reactors of Seattle. We pull songs right out of your soul and play them for your body, creating a kinetic euphoria that has an intrinsic life of its own."

What that means, Wilson said, is that Tubaluba found a way to join powerful horns with the silky voice of Janet Schwab.

"We have a magic tuba. We play trumpets, trombones and saxophones," he said. "We sing and we dance, wear costumes and laugh. We play some stuff everybody likes to sing.

"When you see a funky parade celebrating soul in your neighborhood, a party of dancing horns spill out of a city bus or a restaurant, abandon your inhibitions, do your duty to your booty and join the Tubaluba celebration."

Wilson is the keyboard player and the rest of the band includes Jon Hansen on tuba, Bill Jones on trumpet, Joseph Sheedy on sax, Kohen Burrill on drums, George Iftner on trumpet and Jason Cressey on trombone.

*Dori O'Neal: 582-1514; doneal@tricityherald.com