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No group better exemplifies the indomitable spirit of New Orleans than the Hot 8 Brass Band, which galvanized a near-full house Sunday at the Miller Center for the Arts in a concert presented by Reading Area Community College's Downtown Performing Arts Series.

The band has suffered more than its share of hardships, including losing members to gun violence, losing homes and family to Hurricane Katrina and, in April 2006, having one member badly injured in an automobile accident.

Terrell Batiste, who lost his grandmother in the hurricane and both legs to the accident, sat front and center, weaving magic with his trumpet. And the rest of the band, dressed in dignified ties and jackets, filled the auditorium with the most joyous music imaginable.

Led from the back by sousaphone player and founder Bennie Pete, the band played both traditional music heard on the streets of New Orleans in weekly second-line parades (the descendants of jazz funerals), and their own contemporary, funk-infused compositions.

Starting off with the gospel tune "I'm a Soldier of the Lord," with tenor saxophonist Wendell Stewart singing lead, the band had the audience clapping along from the beginning, enjoying what he called their "feel-good music."

There is nothing quite like a New Orleans brass band - a little raucous, brilliant in sound and almost defiantly cheerful.

Members of the Hot 8, heard in Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke, are definitely the real thing, all superb players. The three trumpeters - Batiste, Julian Gosin and Raymond Williams - demonstrated creativity and soul in their solos.

Trombonists Gregory Veals and Corey Peyton, Pete and Stewart, Samuel Cyrus on snare drum and Terence Andrews on bass drum, all played with the effortless ensemble typical of longtime friends, and delighted with their singing and solos. They continued with another gospel tune, "Over in That Glory Land" - a bebop-influenced modern piece featuring amazing sax and trumpet work as well as scat singing.

Then came "Bourbon Street Parade," from the second-line tradition; Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" (his words with the Cajun tune "Grand Texas"); and a slow, deep swing contemplating death as only a New Orleanian can.

The second half opened with a punchy, up-tempo version of "Sweet Georgia Brown." The rest of the program was devoted to the band's snappy, hard-driving, brash and funky originals.

As an encore, in honor of the New Orleans Saints' triumph at the Super Bowl, they played "When the Saints Go Marching In."