Joe Gelini: ‘Music picked me’
Growing up in Westport, Joe Gelini knew he wanted to be a musician. His parents, who were both big music fans, took him to concerts at an early age and encouraged him to pick up an instrument.
“I often say this wasn’t a choice: music picked me,” Gelini said. “From a very early age, I was infatuated with music. I was able to play in school bands and orchestras, though I didn’t think of it as a possible career until high school. But there wasn’t one other thing that I was interested in.”
Gelini played gigs with a blues band as a teen at local restaurants and clubs. He heard tales from his dad about New Orleans — mythical stories about its food, music and culture. Those conversations would stay ingrained with him until later in life.
“It felt cool to be a musician,” Gelini said. “There were so many great players that were living down the street from me and it was a great music scene.”
After graduating from Staples High School, he earned his degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying under the legendary New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad. This eventually led to a mentorship with music icon Quincy Jones.
Gelini moved to New Orleans once school was over in 2000 and recorded drum tracks for The Wild Magnolias, Nation Beats Carnival Caravan and Art Neville. He performed with Big Sam, Roger Lewis, Dr. John, and many more.
Today, Gelini serves as the bandleader of Grammynominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, whose music blends influences of funk, gospel, Mardi Gras Indian, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, second-line, rock, jazz and rhythm and blues.
“Cha Wa was born out of my fascination with Mardi Gras Indian culture and music, and I just wanted to play more of it,” Gelini said. “At first, it started as a labor of love. Then it just developed more and more over the years. I became a student of
the music and learned from the tribes on the big holidays. Some of the elders really taught me how to learn the rhythms and play the chants, and I felt like I had found my calling.”
Gelini feels fortunate to have been able to take this music around the world.
“My mantra when starting this was that I wanted to
have people who weren’t familiar with the music and the culture to be able to appreciate it as much as I did when I first saw it,” Gelini said. “That’s what I do at every gig: offer a platform for this.”
Over the past year, Gelini admits it’s been a confusing time to be an artist, but he’s made the best of it. “All of my gigs, including a European, Canadian and U.S. tour were canceled,” he said. “So was Jazz Fest and all the things locally, with everything shuttered. It really upended our entire way to provide for our families.”
On the creative side, however, the pandemic required coming up with some new ways for the band to collaborate, as they couldn’t be in the same room. “We were doing songwriting and some live streaming eventually, but we did decide not to release our new album last summer, which was ready to go,” he said.
That new album, “My People,” was released on April 2 and has already received plenty of love from fans and critics.
“I think we made the right decision, because we wouldn’t have been able to tour and wouldn’t have even been able to do the things to get media attention,” Gelini said. “I’m really grateful to be where we are now.”
Now that the album is out and things are starting to open up, Cha Wa is looking forward to getting back and playing live in front of people.
“My sense is that with more people getting the vaccine, especially here in New Orleans, we have an opportunity to play a lot of gigs this summer,” Gelini said. “We already have some gigs scheduled on the road, all socially distanced with proper protocols. It’s a step in the right direction and allows people to come out and see live music.”
Gelini has also had a long career in music education, teaching locally in New Orleans at such organizations as Music Box Village, Contemporary Arts Center, Young Audiences For Learning and Educare. He has also offered private lessons for more than 16 years.
“There’s a saying: if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” he said. “That’s true for me. Playing music has its challenges, and touring takes a tremendous amount of effort. It’s way more challenging than it looks. But if you love it, it’s amazing.”