We're Comin' for Ya!

Cha Wa creates a mashup of Mardi Gras Indian chants and brassy horns.

- Geraldine Wyckoff

When a Mardi Gras Indian striding down a New Orleans street yells, “Cha wa!” he’s warning nearby Mardi Gras Indian gangs, “We’re comin’ for ya!” It stands as a signal of his tribe’s arrival on a block or in a community. For the Cha Wa band, co-led by vocalist J’Wan Boudreaux, the grandson of the Golden Eagles’ noted Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, and drummer/percussionist Joe Gelini, it’s a declaration of its serious intent to carry on as well as revisit the rich street cultures of the Black Indians and brass bands that flourish here. As heard on its latest release, Spyboy, which features personnel from both traditions, Cha Wa creates a sound that successfully mashes up Mardi Gras Indian– based esthetics with brassy horns direct from a second line parade.

“It’s one big culture,” J’Wan declares, adding that there are guys who mask Indian and also play in brass bands. “On Super Sunday you have both—the second line [organizations] and Indians in one parade.”

“I think it’s a connection with the drums—the rhythms,” he continues. “Sometimes you’ll hear the beat that the bass drum and the snare drum play with the brass bands and you hear it in Indians too. And they sing Indian songs like ‘Shoo Fly,’ ‘Li’l Liza Jane’ and ‘Shallow Water.’ They took some of the songs from the Indian culture and made them into brass band songs.”