Biography

The boundaries of world music are as limitless as the internet. Culture cross-pollination has brought to
life a musical Frankenstein - strong but sometimes confused. This extraordinary recording session
bringing Big Chief Monk Boudreaux to Kingston Jamaica, shows no monsters created from the parts
found. The session shows more of a dream representative of a lifetime living in spirit, despair,
celebration, depth of heart and guardianship.
Big Chief (Joseph) Monk Boudreaux’s long and deep roots run from his Cherokee Indian grandfather and
his Haitian grandmother. Monk’s first tambourine was made from sticks and bottle caps. He would
eventually go on to be a founding member of the legendary Golden Eagles tribe and is now the oldest
living Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief in New Orleans. Monk belongs to a discipline that few of us ever could
- a spiritual human grounded to this earth. A guiding force that seems as though he has always been
here and always will be.
In this recording, Big Chief wears the clothing and walks in the shoes of the people
from his long and sometimes troubled life. He sings about hope, love and understanding. His voice,
words and presence translate a language that speaks for itself - the music of the world.
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux
Bloodstains and Teardrops
Louisiana and Jamaica have always been hotbeds of music and culture, and they share many things in
common such as: once British ruled, sugar cane production, parish divide and of course, music. It is said
that early Ska was created by the sound of radio waves of early rock-and-roll broadcasts out of New
Orleans. Bouncing in transmission across the sea, the sounds became delayed and backward with an
upbeat instead of a down-beat as they came out of transistor radios in Kingston. Others say it was the
early R & B and rock-and-roll of New Orleans musical pioneers Fats Domino and Louis Jordan being
mixed in with Calypso and Mento music on American military broadcasts.
This project originated in Kingston was recorded at Tad’s International Limited
with the great Jamaican studio musicians and returned to Louisiana to find its way into
the good hands of Tab Benoit and members to be mixed with the Blues, Cajun, Zydeco
and Swamp music indigenous to South Louisiana.
In the same way, it crossed the ocean in the late 1940s, it’s alive and happening all over again.