Bamboula 2000 was founded in 1994 by percussionist Luther Gray, born 1952, who had already begun the work that would define his legacy five years earlier: in 1989, Gray co-founded the Congo Square Preservation Society with Bamboula Queen Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, successfully campaigning to have Congo Square added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 and erecting the Congo Square Historic Plaque in 1997. The society has sponsored weekly Sundays in Congo Square Drum & Dance Workshops since 1989, a tradition Gray continues to lead to this day.
Bamboula 2000 takes its name from a traditional love dance performed to the beat of drums, and the band's music travels the full African diaspora, from its African roots through contemporary rhythm and blues, reggae, and New Orleans' own Mardi Gras Indian culture. Members over the years have included trumpeter and vocalist Jeremy Thomas, bassist and vocalist Cheryl Woods, vocalist Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, and percussionist and choreographer Seguenon Kone, a native of the Ivory Coast. The band released its debut album, Cultural Warrior, in 1996, winning both an Offbeat Music Award and a Big Easy Award the same year, and has gone on to win the Big Easy Award for Best World Music Group three times total.
Bamboula 2000 has performed regularly at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and toured internationally, with members appearing in HBO's Treme, TNT's Memphis Beat, American Horror Stories, and the 2016 reboot of Roots. Gray also leads the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians, continuing a lifelong commitment to preserving and performing the deep African and Afro-Caribbean roots that gave rise to New Orleans music itself.
