Indians, here ‘dey come…
11th March 2019 · 0 Comments
By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer
With a late Mardi Gras, March began as a month of feathers and tambourines and continues with the always highly anticipated Indian Super Sunday that is presented by the Mardi Gras Indian Council on March 17. Of course, the Black Indians will be out roaming the streets again two days later on St. Joseph’s night, March 19.
The Super Sunday is always special because it really is two events in one. There is the beautiful Indian procession, which is the highlight and begins at 1 p.m. at A. L. Davis Park, Washington Avenue and LaSalle Street. It brings Mardi Gras Indians from throughout the city – uptown, downtown, across the Mississippi – together to strut down the neighborhood streets and really show off their ornately beaded and decorated suits and crowns. It’s an opportunity for spectators to get a close up look at their intricate, handmade artwork that has gained the Black Indians admirers from not only in New Orleans but from around the world. It’s also an opportunity to lean in close to the circle of chanting Indians and hear their stories of Carnivals from the past.
At the front, the Hot 8 Brass Band will set the tempo with a division of the Young Men Olympian Benevolent Association and the Lady Buckjumpers in the mix. The stunning procession heads down LaSalle Street, turns left on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., left on S. Claiborne Avenue, left on Washington Avenue and returns to A. L. Davis Park.
The festival element of Indian Super Sunday happens before, during and after the incredible procession of feathered, tambourine wielding Indians. The music kicks in at noon at one stage and at 1 p.m. at the other at A. L. Davis Park where food booths and activities for children abound. Some festival favorites include the always right-on DJ Captain Charles and the return of the soulfully harmonizing R&B group BRW.
“I love to see the Indians,” says BRW lead vocalist Billy Kennedy. “It’s like being a part of history.” BRW, a front-line vocal trio with Kennedy and brothers Wayne and Rohillion Guidry backed by a bass, guitar, keyboards and drums, was formed in 1972 with the three guys coming out of the Desire Housing Project and having attended George Washington Carver High School. BRW’s bag is definitely in the Motown and O’Jays’ groove with tastes of New Orleans, including Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino numbers and more modern sounds like those of Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 thrown in.
“Motown is something that we started out with and we incorporate it into the weddings (where we perform),” explains Kennedy who brings in a 10-piece band for private events and parties. “The brides, they’re young and they love when we do the Temptations, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and all of that. They came up on that through their parents.”
“Motown music is timeless,” Kennedy continues. “That’s why it lives on the way it does. Some of those songs are like they just came out over and over again – you never get tired of them. Today’s music you might hear on the radio for a few months and after that it’s gone. Two years later, you forgot what it was.”
BRW, the initials which come from the first names of the members of the group, have performed at the Indian Super Sunday spectacular for about seven or eight years. “It’s a diverse crowd, a fun crowd and they enjoy the music we do,” Kennedy says. “I also like the energy of the Indians. Those guys with their costumes are really into what do. Their enthusiasm and dedication is always there.”
Long ago, Kennedy and BRW learned about the importance of looking good for every show. “We don’t get on stage unless we’re head to toe clean,” says Kennedy who picks out the group’s outfits. “That’s how we were taught from day one. We were told that if you want to emulate the Temps or the O’Jays then you’ve got to dress like them.”
In 2017, BRW, which performs Monday through Thursday at Bourbon Street’s 544 Club, was honored by New Orleans with a Lifetime Achievement Award for its remarkable 45 years of musical contributions to the city. Its appearances at the Indian Super Sunday events also speak of its dedication to the community and the Black Indian culture and tradition.
“I’ve enjoyed the years,” Kennedy simply expresses.
Music Series Fill the Gap Before Big Time Fests
Nickel-A-Dance, Jazz at the Sandbar, Wednesdays at the Square stand as some of the mainstay music series that kick-off this spring, filling the “gap” between the French Quarter Festival (April 11 – April 14) and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (April 26 – April 28 and May 2 – May 5). These presentations all have two big advantages – they are either free or admission is low and they begin early in the evening.
The traditional jazz Nickel-A-Dance shows get started on Sunday, March 10 with Papa Henry’s Steamin’ Syncopators Reunion that is presented in honor of the ensemble’s late leader, pianist and vocalist Henry Butler. David Torkanowsky will take over at the piano with a star-packed group that includes trombonist Freddie Lonzo, trumpeter Wendell Brunious, bassist Mark Brooks, drummer Shannon Powell and more. Next up on the schedule of the free performances presented at 4 p.m. at Frenchmen Street’s Maison is the much talked about band Tuba Skinny.
This article originally published in the March 11, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
