Get To Know Joe

Joe Gelini is the epitome of a New Orleans drummer. Blending influences of funk, gospel, Mardi Gras Indian, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, second-line, rock, jazz, rhythm & blues, Joe creates a deep pocket with impeccable timing. Also a bandleader, songwriter and educator, he is a founding member of the multiple Grammy Award-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa, and is currently the Music Director at Nola Detox in New Orleans, leading a music program for patients in recovery.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Gelini’s talents have led to collaborations with New Orleans’s most significant musicians including The Wild Magnolias, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Nation Beat’s Carnival Caravan, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Anders Osborne & Art Neville, Cyril Neville, and many others. An educator with 16 years of experience, Gelini’s teaching includes positions at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Andy Hymel’s School of Music and the Music Box Village. 

Originally from New England, he visited New Orleans for the first time in 1996. Live performances from the jazz giant Ellis Marsalis at Snug Harbor and funk juggernaut Galactic at the Mermaid Lounge helped turn the mythological city of New Orleans into his North Star. Though the influence of the city’s native jazz and funk musicians was undeniable in shaping his future, Gelini credits prolific jazz drummer Idris Muhammad with a groundbreaking moment in his life: an introduction to the tambourine rhythms of Mardi Gras Indians. In addition to the exceptional technical education he received at Berklee, Gelini received master classes in New Orleans drumming from Monk Boudreaux, Big Chief of the Golden Eagles; Irving “Honey” Banister Jr, Flagboy of the Creole Wild West; Bass Drummer from The Wild Magnolias, Norwood “Geechie” Johnson; and regulars at the United Indian Practice.

Gelini has become a pre-eminent scholar of the city’s musical heritage including the songbooks of Mardi Gras Indians and second line bands, as well as the rhythms of funk, gospel, traditional jazz, rock, Afro-Cuban music and more. In 2019, he helped lead Cha Wa to the global stage through Spyboy’s nomination in the category of Best Regional Roots Music Album. The band is up again in the same category, this year for My People. 

Throughout his career, Gelini has shared studios or stages with James Singleton (James Booker, Professor Longhair),  Jeff Watkins (James Brown), Eric  Bloom (Lettuce), Carl Dufrene (North Mississippi AllStars), Tommy Malone (The Subdudes), Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk), Ron Johnson (Greg Allman), Mike Dillon (Les  Claypool, Rickie Lee Jones), Kirk Joseph (Dirty Dozen), The Czech Radio Symphony, Walter “Wolfman" Washington, Papa Mali, Big Sam, Phil DeGruy, Chris Thomas King, Noah Young (Naughty Professor), Tab Benoit, June Yamaguchi, Richard Stoltzman, John Mooney, Colin Lake, Luther Dickinson, Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indians, and many more. 

In addition to his performing, recording and teaching careers, Gelini is a husband, father, and a musician in recovery. His official endorsement partners include Porter & Davies.