Cha Wa's infectious grooves and emphasis on New Orleans masking Indian culture is “a portable Mardi Gras dance party,” as Rolling Stone put it. Indeed, the twice Grammy-nominated group celebrates Mardi Gras Indian music - the driving rhythms, call and response chanting, and elaborate feathered suits – with the same excitement found in the streets on Fat Tuesday. Cha Wa (a slang phrase used by masking Indian tribes, meaning “here we come” or “we comin’ for you”) was founded by drummer and bandleader Joe Gelini, who was a music student in Boston when he first heard of Mardi Gras music, and who moved to New Orleans to study the complex rhythms after graduation and following a tutorial by the great jazz drummer Idris Muhammad. Gelini connected with legendary Big Chief and musician Monk Boudreaux and his son and grandson Joseph Boudreaux Jr. and J’Wan Boudreaux, both of whom served as frontmen for the band in earlier years. 

Cha Wa’s lineup has evolved over time and as of this writing includes Gelini, the dynamic duo of Honey Bannister and Tahj Derosier on lead vocals, with Derosier offering greasy sax grooves to boot, Rik Fletcher on keys, Trevor Nathan on guitar, Wes Anderson on trombone, Marlon Jordan on trumpet, and Syrajh Hamilton on vocals. 

The group has toured across the country, and has issued four albums: their debut 2016 Funk n Feathers, the 2018 Spyboy, My People in 2021, and the 2023 EP Live at Brooklyn Bowl. Spyboy was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Regional Roots Music Album category, and My People received a nomination in the same category in 2021. The band has earned numerous local awards, including a 2021 Offbeat Best of the Beat award for Best Music Video for the single “Visible Means of Support (No Justice No Peace Remix.)”