Big Chief Monk Boudreaux Honored With U.S. Postal Service's 29th Annual Jazz Fest Mailer

NEW ORLEANS – Big Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indian tribe is the honoree on the 29th annual United States Postal Service's Jazz Fest Postal Cachet. This highly collectible mailing envelope, embossed with the Jazz Fest logo and an image of the group, will be unveiled today, Thursday, April 27, at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center, 1225 N. Rampart St., at 11:00 a.m.

         Boudreaux, 75, is expected to perform at the unveiling ceremony, which is free and open to the public.

         The 2017 Postal Cachet will be available for sale at the ceremony starting at 10:00 a.m. The cost is $15 each. They also are available for sale at the U.S. Postal Service tent at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, which takes place at the Fair Grounds.

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         Boudreaux, born Joseph Pierre Boudreaux in New Orleans in 1941, is the Big Chief of the Golden Eagles, a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. He is widely known for his long-time collaboration with Big Chief Bo Dollis in The Wild Magnolias, with whom he was friends since childhood.

         In the late 1960s, Boudreaux joined the Wild Magnolias. In 1970, Boudreaux appeared with the Wild Magnolias at the very first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and also in the same year, the group released the single "Handa Wanda" on Crescent City Records, the first studio recorded music by the Mardi Gras Indians. In 1974, Boudreaux appeared with the Wild Magnolias on their debut album on Barclay/ Polydor Records which featured Snooks Eaglin and Willie Tee in the supporting musicians. Boudreaux is exclusively featured on Golden Eagles' album “Lightning and Thunder,” a live recording released in 1988 on Rounder Records.

         After being with the Wild Magnolias for over 30 years, Boudreaux left the group in 2001. Since then he has performed and recorded with artists such as Anders Osborne, Galactic and Papa Mali, in addition to leading his own group, the Golden Eagles.

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         In the recent years, he has also participated in the recording and tour of the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars, a band that also featured Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, and Dr. John among others. He is also featured on one track in the New Orleans Social Club's album “Sing Me Back Home,” released in 2006. He currently performs regularly in New Orleans, both with the Golden Eagles and with other artists, including John Lisi & Delta Funk, with whom he has also recorded.

         In 2010, Boudreaux appeared in the feature-length documentary “Bury the Hatchet,” directed by Aaron Walker. The film is an intimate look at the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, following Boudreaux and several other Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs in the year before Hurricane Katrina, through the storm and the years after. The documentary won best Louisiana feature at the New Orleans Film festival and a work-in-progress edit of the film won the Grand Prize and Intangible Culture Award at the Royal Anthropological Institute Festival of Ethnographic Film in Leeds, England.

         In 2016, Boudreaux received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship.

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         The U.S. Postal Service's Jazz Fest Postal Cachet program began in 1989 with a commemorative envelope featuring Professor Longhair.

         The list of honorees is:

 

2016  George Wein

2015  The Meters

2014  Rebirth Brass Band

2013  Trombone Shorty

2012  Kermit Ruffins

2011  The Marsalis Family

2010  Louis Prima

2009  Mahalia Jackson

2008  Deacon John Moore

2007  Harry Connick, Jr.

2006  Art Neville

2005  The Dixie Cups

2004  Aaron Neville

2003  Ernie K-Doe

2002  Ellis Marsalis, Jr.

2001  Dr. John

2000  The Neville Brothers

1999  Fats Domino

1998  Allen Toussaint

1997  Sidney Bechet

1996  Doc Cheatham

1995  Buddy Bolden

1994  Louis Armstrong

1993  Pete Fountain

1992  Irma Thomas

1991  Danny Barker

1990  Jelly Roll Morton

1989  Professor Longhair

 

         The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is the nonprofit that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest, and other raised funds, for year-round programs in education, economic development and cultural enrichment.

         For more information

 

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