CHA WA
New Orleans brass band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa radiates the energy of the city’s street culture. “My People,” the band’s follow up to their Grammy-nominated album “Spyboy,” feels like pure joy, a distillation of generations of New Orleans expression. But it also never fails to remind us how hard-won that joy was and still is: not least in the tense, funky and explosive title track, with its declaration “My people, we’re still here.”
“Mardi Gras Indian songs are inherently songs about freedom,” the band’s drummer Joe Gelini says. “And that struggle is as relevant today as it’s ever been.” Popmatters describes the band as "a grand gumbo of singing, intoxicating rhythms, and deep funk grooves that are impossible to resist.”
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"I’ve seen the future of New Orleans music and its name is Cha Wa." - Paste
“Powerful, relatable, vibrant.” - NPR All Things Considered
"Cha Wa, with bass lines played on sousaphone plus trumpet and two trombones, bring the city's brass band tradition to bear. Add sick jazz-funk guitar, and...full-beaded holiday regalia, and the result was a portable Mardi Gras Dance Party!" - Rolling Stone
“Cha Wa blends Mardi Gras Indian tradition and modern pop magic.” – No Depression
THE ICEMAN SPECIAL
The Iceman Special is a 4 piece outfit transplanted from the swamps of Louisiana to New Orleans. They create a sound that resonates with the psych rock community as well as writing songs that explore reggae, funk, melodic pop, prog, and other influences. The bands live shows are notorious for their intensity and their use of innovative and creative visual stimuli while also taking pride in song writing and the delivery of their message. Screeching yet smooth guitars, wandering yet punchy bass lines, synthesizers, driving drum beats, and powerful vocals form a one of kind soundscape.
“They don’t wear their influences on their sleeves, their original songs are too good for that, but the indicators are there. The production is strong and unlike so many bands that are unable to translate their live energy to a record, the Iceman Special gets the job done.” – The Vinyl District
“The band rocks and lays down such fat, solid slabs of rock ‘n’ roll that if they are not careful, the audience can trip on them and fall a long joyous time.” – David Kunian – Curator – New Orleans Jazz Museum and Louisiana State Museum
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