The Rumble feat. Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. is New Orleans’ premier Mardi Gras Indian Funk ensemble, representing the legacy and preservation of NOLA music and black masking culture. Through their authentic Big Easy brass sound fused with deep funk and black masking street culture, The Rumble gives audiences a full on New Orleans experience.
The group was created in 2021 by seven members of multiple GRAMMY nominated band Cha Wa. After their mass exodus, the collective vowed to both preserve and further their musical vision which blends New Orleans culture from past, present and future. Fronted by Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the legendary Golden Eagles Indian tribe, the collective boasts some of the next generation’s most prolific artists.
The Rumble continues the legacy of Mardi Gras Indian funk, which was pioneered in part by Boudreaux’s father Big Chief Monk Boudreaux with the Wild Magnolias. The younger Boudreaux is a Grammy nominated singer himself and a well respected leader of the Black Masking Indian community. Trumpeter Aurélien Barnes masks with the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, another hallmark black masking carnival group. The brass band culture of New Orleans is represented by Barnes who plays with Kings of Brass and especially by trombonist José Maize of the TBC Brass band, known for electrifying crowds at the city’s famous second line parades.
The horn section consists of Maize on trombone, Barnes on trumpet, and Gladney on saxophone, all of whom are amongst the most respected players in New Orleans. Gladney leads his own eclectic-modern ensemble and has toured worldwide with Christian Scott and Jake Shears. A funky rhythm section in the tradition of The Meters led by first call musicians Ari Teitel on guitar, TJ Norris on bass, and Andriu Yanovski on keys lays down hypnotic grooves. Teitel performs frequently with members of Dumpstaphunk and the Neville Brothers including Ivan Neville and Tony Hall, and has toured with the Motet. Norris, a multi-instrumentalist, plays trombone in the legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Yanovski is a virtuoso keyboardist who tours worldwide with Boogie T.rio and Revivalists frontman David Shaw. Each of the Rumble’s members sing, with lead vocal responsibility regularly being passed around.
From black masking culture, to the brass band tradition, to the legacy of jazz, funk, and other forms of New Orleans music and culture, The Rumble is the whole package. This band is the future of New Orleans music and is continuing on in the footsteps of great bands such as the Wild Magnolias, the Meters, and the Neville Brothers, delivering that classic mystique of the past, while bringing a fresh original sound that is in-tune with the times.
