Cha Wa is a Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band based out of New Orleans, Louisiana.The name Cha Wa is a slang phrase used by Mardi Gras Indian tribes, meaning "we're comin' for ya" or "here we come." About. New Orleans brass band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa radiates the energy of the city’s street culture. “My People,” the band’s follow up to their Grammy-nominated album “Spyboy,” feels like pure joy, a distillation of generations of New Orleans expression. They shouted and chanted in a unique dialect that scholars have tried to explain the roots of, but never quite agreed on. “Cha Wa” is a traditional Mardi Gras Indian shout from which the band took its name; so is “jock-a-mo-fee-nah-nay”, familiar to music fans from the enduring tune “Iko Iko.” "A Band of Mardi Gras Indians" - New Orleans 1903. The first recorded slave dances on plantations in Louisiana were recorded by the French in 1732. Archival records documented the first enslaved Africans apparently dressing as Indigenous people in a celebratory dance called Mardi Gras in 1746. The Rumble continues the legacy of Mardi Gras Indian funk, which was pioneered in part by Boudreaux’s father Big Chief Monk Boudreaux with the Wild Magnolias. The younger Boudreaux is a Grammy nominated singer himself and a well respected leader of the Black Masking Indian community. Cha Wa is Mardi Gras Indian slang for, “We’re coming for you!” Funk is the mission of this New Orleans band. They’re riding high on their first album, Funk ‘n’ Feathers, a record that captures the gritty funk sound that melds with the Crescent City Mardi Gras Indian traditions. Mardi Gras Indians have been a part of Jazz Fest since its debut in 1970. Back then, the flamboyant tribes, with roots in the intermingling of Native and African cultures during colonial times, were strictly a backstreet phenomenon whose traditions and music were mostly unknown to the general public. New Orleans brass band–meets–Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa radiates the energy of the city’s street culture. In 2021, Cha Wa released its third album, the Grammy-nominated My People, as the follow-up to 2018’s Grammy-nominated Spyboy. The album is at once a joyful distillation of generations of New Orleans expression and a reminder of For the May 1991 “Indian Blues” recording sessions in New York, he was joined by his jazz band, Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack and members of the Guardians of the Flame, the Mardi Gras Indian Packed with a vivid assemblage of New Orleans sounds and stories, this new Cha Wa record infuses the traditional chants of the Mardi Gras Indians with grooves reminiscent of a ‘70s New Orleans funk band like The Meters (particularly on offerings like “Wildman” and “Bow Down”) and takes clear influence from the city's rich history of CONTACT THE MARDI GRAS INDIAN SHOW. 1920 St. Claude Ave New Orleans LA 70116. 504-975-2434. info@mardigrasindianshow.com The New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council always has their Indian Sunday on the third Sunday of March, around St. Joseph's Day. Their festivities begin at noon in A.L. Davis Park (at Washington & LaSalle Streets) where the Mardi Gras Indians once again dress in their feathers and suits and take to the streets to meet other "gangs". Advocate staff photo by A.J. SISCO -- Mardi Gras Indian Irving 'Honey' Banister, right, belts out a chant with the band Cha Wa during the Freret Street Festival in New Orleans on April 4, 2015. CONTACT THE MARDI GRAS INDIAN SHOW. 1920 St. Claude Ave New Orleans LA 70116. 504-975-2434. info@mardigrasindianshow.com A group calling itself the Wild Magnolias, participating in the local "Indian masking" traditions and performing New Orleans Mardi Gras music, extends at least back into the 1950s. The group's lead member was called the Big Chief, and at least three Big Chiefs are known to have headed the band for short stints prior to 1964: Leon, Flap, and Joe NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Joseph Boudreaux Jr. and Joe Gelini of the New Orleans funk band, Cha Wa, about their new album celebrating the sounds and culture of the Mardi Gras Indians. The song of the Mardi Gras Indians exudes joy, defiance — and mystery. American Anthem Music that challenges, unites and celebrates. In New Orleans, 'Indian Red' Is The Anthemic Sound Of Tradition. The contemporary Mardi Gras Indian band the 79rs Gang opens the show at 10 p.m. Tickets are $32. Blues-based guitarist, pianist, singer, Start your Mardi Gras morning off early with the free, 5:15 a.m. “sunrise set” at Tipitina’s featuring Big Chief Juan Pardo & the Golden Comanches Mardi Gras Indians with special guest The Rumble's debut album, "Live at the Maple Leaf" , received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Regional Roots Album 2024. Their live show is a symphony of rich color and propulsive sound, with each member sharing vocal duties and engaging the audience in the classic Mardi Gras Indian-style call-and-response chanting.
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