Drummer Joe Gelini, a student of the legendary New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad, formed Cha Wa after immersing himself in the world of the Mardi Gras Indians — the Black masking tribes whose elaborate suits honor the Native Americans who sheltered escaped enslaved people. Working with vocalist Joseph Boudreaux Jr., a fourth-generation member of the Mardi Gras Indian community, and top players from the city’s Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and second-line brass bands, the band quickly became a staple of New Orleans street culture before carrying it to the Grammys and around the world.
The debut album, Funk ’n’ Feathers (2016), was produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman and mixed by San Francisco engineer Count (DJ Shadow, Radiohead) — a direct descendant of the seminal Mardi Gras Indian funk records of the 1970s by the Wild Magnolias, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, and Dr. John. Its wild recreations of Dr. John’s “All on a Mardi Gras Day” and “Jock-A-Mo” run deep with New Orleans roots: Davell Crawford, grandson of the song’s writer, and Irving Banister Sr. — who played guitar on the 1953 original and fathered Cha Wa’s lead Indian, Irving “Honey” Banister — both appear on the record.
