Draft:Washboard Chaz: Difference between revisions

• Comment: As NotCharizard mentioned, some sources still lead to 404s. Additionally, Bandcamp and last.fm are not reliable sources. Rambley (talk) 00:42, 21 June 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: A few of your links in the references do not lead anywhere, it would be worth double checking they are correct. -- NotCharizard ^🗨 10:27, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

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• Comment: I am affiliated with Washboard Chaz and am creating the Wikipedia article about him to help document his career. I believe he is an important musician; there are not many Washboard players in the world, and this is a genuine musical craft that I would like documented for historical purposes. I intend to follow Wikipedia's guidelines for neutrality and reliable sourcing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jedediahpaulson (talk • contribs) 15:52, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

Washboard Chaz
Birth name	Charles Leary
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	Blues, jazz, swing
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Washboard, vocals
Years active	1970s–present

Washboard Chaz (born Charles Leary) is an American acoustic blues and washboard player based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known both for the washboard he plays and also for fronting several New Orleans traditional jazz and blues ensembles, including the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Tin Men, Washboard Rodeo, and Palmetto Bug Stompers. Chaz has performed and recorded extensively since the 1980s.

Early life and Colorado

Charles Leary is originally from Queens, New York, and was drawn to music as a youth after watching “jazz musicians strut out the door in their fancy suits,” following poker games at local roadhouses. He discovered the washboard in Key West in the early 70s, and has made it his own, affixing a mix of tin cans, wood block, and a hotel bell with a bright “CHAZ” painted across the top in yellow on a royal blue background. He moved to Boulder Colorado in 1975, where he played with groups such as the Ophelia Swing Band, Prosperity Jazz Band, Judy Roderick and the Forebears, BBQ Bob & Washboard Chaz and Bleeker Street.

After a brief stint in Kansas City, Chaz settled in New Orleans in 2000, where he has become a unique and well-regarded talent among the city’s vibrant music scene.

New Orleans

After moving to New Orleans, Chaz quickly formed the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, performing Piedmont finger-style, Delta, and Chicago blues. Their discography includes Courtyard Blues (2002), Dog Days (2004), Hard Year Blues (2006), and Live at the Spotted Cat (2015).

In 2002, he joined guitarist and vocalist Alex McMurray and sousaphonist Matt Perrine, members of Royal Fingerbowl, to create The Tin Men. Their discography includes “Super Great Music For Modern Lovers” (2003), “Freaks for Industry!” (2005), “Avocado Woo Woo” (2013), “Sing With Me” (2018), and “Hit It!” (2023). The Tin Men received praise from RollingStone following their 2018 Jazz Fest performance as one of “The Seven Best Things We Saw” with praise for Chaz’s rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” as well as McMurray’s “witty” wongrwiting.

Chaz formed Washboard Rodeo around 2005, driven by a desire to create a band rooted in Western Swing, a genre he was introduced to in Colorado. Inspired by 30's greats Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, and Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, Chaz gathered other local musicians and began rehearsing in 2006. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina displaced the band, but they reconnected following the storm and released their first CD in 2010.

Chaz also formed the Palmetto Bug Stompers in the mid 2000s, featuring a heavyweight team of jazz musicians from New Olreans including Robert Snow on acoustic bass, John Rodli on guitar and vocals, Will Smith on trumpet and vocals, Paul Robertson on trombone, Bruce Brackman on clarinet and Washboard Chaz on washboard and vocals. Their discography includes “Palmetto Bug Stompers” (2003), “Ol’ New Orleans Home” (2006), “Live @ D.B.A.” (2009), ”Sugar Blues (2016), “Stomping Our Way Into Your Hearts” (2019).

Festivals and Appearances

In 2006, Alex McMurray formed Chaz Fest in response to the increasing exclusion of local musicians from the city’s ubiquitous Jazz Fest. The festival was held on the Thursday between the two weekends of Jazz Fest in the Bywater neighborhood, and featured a mix of local musicians. As the festival was named after Chaz (a mashup of Jazz Fest and Chaz), he would take a turn playing with each band throughout the day. The Festival ended in 2016 as the festival location was sold. The festival was named Best Neighborhood Festival by Offbeat in 2011 and came back for a couple of years in 2019 and 2024 featuring Washboard Rodeo among other local bands.

Chaz’s New Orleans bands have performed annually at French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Crescent City Blues Fest.

Collaborations and appearances

Washboard Chaz has performed or recorded with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, John P. Hammond, Anders Osborne, Robert Cray, and Doc Watson. He appears on over 70 recordings, including John P. Hammond's Grammy-nominated Long as I Have You (1998).

Chaz has made television appearances on HBO's Treme (TV Series), NCIS: New Orleans, and in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Chaz was also featured in Playing For Change's "Stand by Me" video project, alongside Keith Richards, Keb' Mo' and other global musicians in Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" song. Chaz was introduced to the Playing for Change team by Roberto Luti, an Italian slide guitarist who was a member of Chaz's Blues Trio.

Instruction and Teaching

Chaz is a member of the faculty of the Centrum (arts organization) Acoustic Blues workshop in Port Townsend, Washington, returning annually to instruct aspiring and experienced musicians in blues, percussion, and the washboard.