THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-nominated New Orleans band Cha Wa return with My People, a new collection that honours and builds upon the rich culture and traditions of the city’s Mardi Gras Indian community.
My People is an exuberant homage to the sounds of the Mardi Gras Indians — a group predominantly made up of New Orleans’ African-American community which pays respect to the area’s Native American tribes with their wardrobe, music and dialect. Packed with a vivid assemblage of New Orleans sounds and stories, this new Cha Wa record infuses the traditional chants of the Mardi Gras Indians with grooves reminiscent of a ’70s New Orleans funk band like The Meters (particularly on offerings like Wildman and Bow Down) and takes clear influence from the city’s rich history of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, rock, soul and African-inspired arrangements (including a chilling cover of Bob Dylan’s Masters Of War).”
