A new record by BeauSoleil is always cause for celebration, and Gitane Cajun is no exception. It’s the band’s first studio recording since 1999’s Cajunization and Doucet & Co.’s first for the venerable Vanguard label.
The band is closing in on 30 years as an entity, but shows no hint of slowing down or getting tired, coming right out of the gate with the rocking two-step “Peut Pas Me Refuser,” a Michael Doucet original.
The title track comes in two flavors, and more or less bookends this CD: the second track is a lovely lilting waltz version, with a little bit of minor-key gypsy influence on the fiddle and accordion playing; and the final track reprises the melody, this time as a fast and furious two-step.
BeauSoleil has never been content to be mere revivalists — although the band played a huge role in the Cajun music revival and the preeminent role in bringing that music to the world — but consistently has explored and expanded the boundaries of the genre. In the past, they’ve incorporated zydeco, surf-rock, swamp pop and various Caribbean and New Orleans sounds into their mix, and have played with guest artists ranging from jazz clarinetist Dr. Michael White to folk-rock guitar wizard Richard Thompson to Texas roots-rocker Augie Myers (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornadoes). On Gitane Cajun (which translates as “Cajun Gypsy”), they’ve added slide guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, who plays on nearly every track, as well as swamp-rocker Dave Egan (Li’l Band o’ Gold) on piano and Rushad Eggleston (Fiddlers Four, American Fiddle Ensemble) on cello.
Cashdollar’s Dobro, lap steel and pedal steel on many of the tracks brings the music on this album closer to the country sound Cajun music had in the 1950s and ’60s, particularly on the traditional “La Femme Qui Jouait Aux Cartes” (The Card-Playing Woman); Lawrence Walker’s “Lena Mae,” with superb country-style vocals by David Doucet; and especially the pedal steel on the old Sidney Brown classic “Chere Bebe.”
For something really different, there’s the chamber Cajun of “Les Fleurs,” a Doucet composition that sounds ancient, a modal waltz with just Doucet and Al Tharp on fiddles and Jimmy Breaux on accordion.
BeauSoleil pays tribute to the late zydeco musician Boozoo Chavis with an arrangement of his “Bye Bye Jolie” that puts Breaux’s accordion front and center on the instrumental parts, with Michael belting out the verses and great harmony from David. They give a jazzy, funky arrangement to the calypso-like “Malinda,” by the great zydeco player Canray Fontenot; Cashdollar’s Dobro delightfully mimics steel drum on this one.
The highlights of Gitane Cajun come in the middle, with a brilliant stripped-down arrangement of a traditionial waltz, “Le Hack a Moreau,” and the flat-out fiddlefest of “Me and Dennis McGee.” On the former, Breaux and Doucet showcase their first-rate interplay on Cajun music the way it used to be, with just accordion, fiddle and mournful vocals. On the latter, Doucet pays tribute to one of his mentors with some of the fastest and most ornate fiddling he’s ever put on record. Tharp’s bass-playing pushes the beat on this one, keeping it moving forward at breakneck speed, and everybody gets a turn at the melody.
How BeauSoleil can continue to produce such inspired and inspiring music after more than a quarter-century is anybody’s guess, but Gitane Cajun is phenomenal. Bravo!
(Vanguard, 2004)
