Feathers fly this weekend

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Saturday, March 19, is St. Joseph’s Day and traditionally, as the sun goes down, the Mardi Gras Indians take to the streets uptown and downtown. This year, the date is also the start of the two-day Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival (March 19 and 20), an annual event presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in Armstrong Park’s Congo Square. Saturday boasts a Black Indian-heavy line-up that runs from a “Mardi Gras Indian Battle” at 4:15 p.m., followed by a performance by the legendary and always soulful Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles at 5:15 p.m. and wraps up with keyboardist/vocalist Ivan Neville’s “Injuns Here Dey Come,” featuring the chiefs of the Golden Eagles, the Wild Tchoupitoulas and the Golden Comanche.

The question is whether the Mardi Gras Indian gangs performing at the festival will head home or hit the streets as custom holds on St. Joseph’s night. Big Chief Monk, for one, says he no longer comes out for the holiday though he fondly remembers the nights back in the 1960s and 1970s when the gangs would stop by various houses and eat and drink and then go to the next home. “Mostly we went to different tribes’ houses and we went to the I.L.A. Hall (on South Claiborne Avenue) because they used to have trophy give-aways there.”

When the tradition of the Indians “masking” on St. Joseph’s night began remains a mystery. The late Mardi Gras Indian Council Chief of Chiefs Robbe once recalled Indians out on the holiday when he first started masking in 1929. He also knew Indians who hit the streets on St. Joseph’s night before World War I.

MONK BOUDREAUX

Most Mardi Gras Indians concur that the custom originated because throughout this predominately Catholic city, which boasts a large Italian population, people enthusiastically observe St. Joseph’s Day. Years ago, the streets would be active with folks visiting food-laden altars constructed in the saint’s honor at churches, private homes and Italian-owned grocery stores.

The third Sunday in March, which this year falls on March 20, just one day after St. Joseph’s has been designated as the date when the Mardi Gras Indian Council presents its annual Indian Super Sunday. Formally, the Council has presented the parade since the organization was chartered in 1985 though there were, according to the council’s director Bertrand Butler, processions held uptown since the early 1980s.

This year, the activities at A.L. Davis Park, the heart of the festivities and where the procession of Black Indians and brass bands begins, get a jump start. Three gospel groups will bring the spirit to the area on Saturday, March 19, starting at 1 p.m. “We’re calling it Super Weekend,” declares Butler, who foresees Indians gathering there at sundown before taking it to the streets. With daylight saving time in effect by St. Joseph’s Day, the timing seems about right.

On Sunday, festivities in the park begin at 11 a.m. with DJ Captain Charles, DJ Jubilee and the rhythm and blues group BRW plus various other live bands.

New World Rhythms Festival Beyond the Indian Beats

As the name of the festival at Congo Square suggests, the schedule includes a variety of musical styles from around the African diaspora. Of particular interest is the arrival from Jamaica of The Overtakers. The trio of musicians – guitarist/vocalist Ruben Brooks, vocalist/maracas player Ruth Brooks and LeRoy Williams, rhumba box (a drum that one sits on), who impressed during their last visit to New Orleans, perform roots reggae and its precursor, mento. Tonally and rhythmically, their wonderfully simple style and minimal instrumentation recalls the African continent. The all acoustic group offers a fresh take on reggae hits like “Stir It Up” and “One Love” as well as more Jamaican folk-oriented material. The Overtakers, a Jamaican roots music ear-opener, perform at 1 pm on Saturday.

Another much-anticipated highlight of the Rhythms Festival is the 5th annual Class Got Brass Competition. Students from various middle and high school marching bands break out to form brass bands and go head-to-head in a battle vying to win a title and instruments for their schools. Last year, Landry-Walker High School won the top prize in the high school division. The first year of the contest Kipp McDonogh 15 took top honors, even beating out their older competitors. The Class Got Brass Competition, which continually grows in popularity and has made an impact on creating brass bands of the future, takes place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday in Congo Square.

The festival keeps the second line rhythms going with the Grammy-winning Rebirth Brass Band closing out at 6 p.m. on Sunday That performance should give inspiration to some of those young players in the competition.

This article originally published in the March 14, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.