Event

In 1977, The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club in New Orleans began showcasing a traditional Crescent City brass band. It was a joining of two proud, but antiquated, traditions at the time: social and pleasure clubs dated back over a century to a time when black southerners could rarely afford life insurance, and the clubs would provide proper funeral arrangements. Brass bands, early predecessors of jazz as we know it, would often follow the funeral procession playing somber dirges, then once the family of the deceased was out of earshot, burst into jubilant dance tunes as casual onlookers danced in the streets. By the late '70s, few of either existed. The Dirty Dozen Social and Pleasure Club decided to assemble this group as a house band, and over the course of these early gigs, the seven-member ensemble adopted the venue's name: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Joseph “Monk” Boudreaux is the oldest living Mardi Gras Indian Chief, the Elder of Elders in a tradition dating back to the 1800s. As such, he sees himself as the guardian of a spiritual discipline that involves gnostic customs and beliefs shared by members within the New Orleans Black community over the course of multiple generations. He is one of the best-known and loved local culture heroes, ​a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Award​ recipient, ​the subject of murals on city walls and documentaries about New Orleans, and the inspiration for characters in television dramas like the HBO series Treme. He comes by his status as a Mardi Gras Indian chief through bloodlines of both African and Native American ancestry​. ​

Monk’s latest record is a dramatic example of how his method of singing as a Mardi Gras Big Chief can apply to other genres. The way he breaks up his lines, and the flow and spontaneity of his storytelling, makes as much sense in the context of Bloodstains and Teardrops as it does on his records with the Golden Eagles, his collaborations with Anders Osborne, Galactic, John Gros and 101 Runners, and unrecorded blues sets played with Johnny Sansone and John Fohl at the Voice of the Wetlands festival.

The record was inspired by Monk’s interest in reggae music, which has been demonstrated on several of his recordings over the years. “About six years ago, [manager] Rueben Williams and I got together, and he suggested we go to Jamaica and make a record,” said Monk. “When I got there, I found that Bob Marley had been a fan of mine for many years.”