Winterlude Jazz Festival featuring Mardi Gras Mambo - The Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas

Purchase your passes now to lock in the lowest price. The full lineup will be announced in September.

Mardi Gras Mambo

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are pioneers of the modern New Orleans brass band movement, recognized worldwide as an unstoppable musical machine. Nathan Williams provides a direct connection to Zydeco’s storied pioneers such as Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis. Reunited, the two groups will deliver a nonstop Mardi Gras celebration that will have everyone on their feet. Blues, Cajun, New Orleans soul, zydeco, and R&B from two Louisiana legends!

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Since their founding in 1977, the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans-based Dirty Dozen Brass Band has taken the traditional foundation of brass band music and incorporated it into a blend of genres, including bebop jazz, funk and R&B/soul. This unique sound, described by the band as a “musical gumbo,” has allowed the Dirty Dozen to tour across five continents and more than 30 countries, record 12 studio albums, and collaborate with a range of artists from Modest Mouse to Widespread Panic to Norah Jones. More than 40 years later, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a world-famous music machine whose name is synonymous with genre-bending romps and high-octane performances.

Featuring:

• Roger Lewis - Baritone Sax/Vocals
• Gregory Davis - Trumpet/Vocals
• Kirk Joseph - Sousaphone
• Trevarri Huff-Boone - Tenor Sax/Vocals
• Stephen Walker - Trombone/Vocals
• Julian Addison - Drums
• Takeshi Shimmura - Guitar

Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha Chas

Nathan Williams started his professional music career at 21, just five years after high school, recording singles for his brother's El Sid label. Sid also opened a venue in Lafayette, El-Sid-O's, where Nathan became a staple performer on Friday nights.

Williams' big break came when Buckwheat Zydeco recommended him to Rounder Records, which was searching for an accordionist after Buckwheat left for Island Records. He auditioned, secured a recording contract, and in 1985, he founded Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, inspired by a Chenier instrumental. The band debuted at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1988.

For over three decades, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas have toured extensively, performing everywhere from local Louisiana spots to international stages in countries like Austria, Spain, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, and even Poland, a first for a zydeco band.

The band has always been a family affair, featuring Nathan on accordion and vocals, his brother Dennis Paul on guitar, cousin Mark Anthony "Chukka" Williams on rubboard, and Sid as manager. Other family members involved include his son Nathan Jr., cousin Allen, and nephew Djuan, alongside non-family members like bassists Paul Newman and Wayne Burns, and saxophonist Allen "Cat Roy" Broussard.

In his 1995 album "Creole Crossroads," Williams collaborated with Cajun fiddler Michael Doucet from BeauSoleil, highlighting a rare fusion of zydeco and Cajun styles with his brother Sid and Sid's wife, working in their grocery store. During a period of illness recovery, Williams chose to devote himself to mastering the accordion, practicing secretly in the bathroom. He looked up to Buckwheat Zydeco, who was a key mentor, but it was Chenier who left a lasting impact on his music. Sid eventually bought Nathan his first accordion from Buckwheat Zydeco.

This is part of the two-day Jazz Festival (Mar. 6-7); additional artists to be named later.