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 GrasIndian tribes, meaning "we're comin' for ya" or "here we come". Frontman J'Wan Boudreaux is known for dressing in traditional Mardi Gras Indian clothing during performances, including an intricately designed 20-inch headdress. Cha Wa has released two albums, Funk n Feathers in 2015 and Spyboy in 2018. In 2018 Spyboy received critical acclaim and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Regional Roots Music Album category. Cha Wa was nominated in several categories at the 2019 OffBeat Best of the Beat Awards.
About
Cha Wa was formed in 2014 by bandleader and drummer, Joe Gelini. Gelini first heard of Mardi Gras Indians while he was attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston. During his time in Boston, he went to see a performance by Idris Muhammad, a New Orleans-born jazz drummer. Muhammed was performing in traditional Mardi Gras style, which piqued Gelini's interest. Muhammed later gave Gelini a lesson in Mardi Gras style which pushed Gelini to move to New Orleans after graduation. Gelini quickly became involved with the Mardi Gras Indian community in New Orleans. He began attending practice rehearsals for Mardi Gras marches. It was at these practices that he met Monk Boudreaux, the grandfather of Cha Wa's future frontman, J'Wan Boudreaux. Monk Boudreaux is also known as Big Chief of the Golden Eagles and one of the most widely known Mardi Gras Indian singers. Gelini's practices alongside Monk Boudreaux quickly turned into performances with him. Gelini met J'Wan Boudreaux while Boudreaux was still attending high school. Boudreaux then came on as Cha Wa's lead vocalist and frontman. Boudreaux is the Spyboy of his Mardi Gras Indian tribe, a respected position that entails warning the Chief of approaching rival tribes during parade processions. The band aptly named their second albumSpyboy.
''Spyboy''
Cha Wa's Grammy-nominated album, Spyboy, is deeply influenced by New Orleans street culture. The band aimed to give traditional New Orleans music a modern twist. In Gelini's words, "We wanted to take the roots of what we love about New Orleans brass band music and Mardi Gras Indian music and then voice it in our own way". Spyboy was produced by Galactic's Ben Ellman and features special guests Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and Nigel Hall. On the collaborative nature of the record, frontman Boudreaux said "Everyone put their minds together to make this music. Everyone had input on at least one song". The track "Chapters" was written by Boudreaux and explores the struggles he faced being raised in a single parent household. "J'Wans Story" gives Boudreaux a chance to explain how and why Mardi Gras Indian culture developed. Gelini and Monk Boudreaux teamed up to write "Visible Means of Support". The song chronicles Monk Boudreaux's experience with "vagrancy" laws in the city that primarily affected African-American men.
Touring and performances
In early 2019, Cha Wa performed at GlobalFest. In a review of the festival, Rolling Stone explained Cha Wa's performance as "a portable Mardi Gras dance party". That spring, the band played several shows at SXSW, including GlobalFest's official showcase at Palm Door on Sixth and the Brooklyn BowlFamily Reunion at the Historic Scoot Inn. A few weeks later, the group was featured at a celebration of 50 years of New Orleans music and culture by Relix Magazine at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Summer 2019 saw Cha Wa play several large music festivals including the 29th annual High Sierra Music Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival among many others.
