North America has a sizable contingent of French speakers, including much of the Canadian province of Quebec, and much of southern Louisiana. The two regions are connected by history, too; the ancestors of the Louisiana Cajuns were driven out of parts of Canada that were originally francophone when the British consolidated their hold there. The folk songs and dance music of these two regions also share certain traits. You can hear it in these four newly released francophone discs: one Quebecois, one from the Maritime provinces, and two from Louisiana.
Le Vent du Nord, Têtu
For its eighth studio release in 13 years, the contemporary Québécois folk ensemble Le Vent du Nord (The North Wind) presents a sprawling opus of 15 songs and tunes. Entitled Têtu or Determined, it comprises a variety of topics and styles, from a capella songs to stripped-down arrangements to a few with backing from a string trio.
Le Vent du Nord is Nicolas Boulerice (hurdy-gurdy, piano and voice), Olivier Demers (fiddle, feet and voice), Réjean Brunet (accordion, bass, jaw harp and voice) and Simon Beaudry (bouzouki, guitar and voice). It’s one of the premiere folk groups out of Quebec, so although the album gets off to a bit of an uneven start, it eventually takes off and soars. The second number “Loup-garou,” a parable about a werewolf who seeks revenge on the Catholic church, is a purposely choppy with an upsetting rhythm that skips from five beats per measure to six. It’s a spare arrangement with extra percussion, lovely vocal harmonies and beautiful fiddle runs. It’s not until the fifth track, though, that the true passion of which this group is capable fully kicks in with “Confédération,” about the unification of Canada, which some francophones still don’t entirely appreciate.
After a short and dreamy instrumental, some foot-stomping dance tunes and another impassioned tale of injustice against the French Canadians, the album moves to a highly charged finish, starting with the traditional “L’échafaud,” The Gallows, a suitably portentous arrangement of four-part harmony accompanied only by a droning electric bass guitar. This beautiful and haunting song leads directly into “La marche des Iroquois,” a rousing bit of turlutage (the Quebecois equivalent of Celtic mouth music) in march tempo with call-and-response verses and counterpoint choruses; and that’s followed immediately by “Papineau,” a traditional chanson-style song about what’s known as the Patriots War of 1837.
Though perhaps a bit too long, Têtu in the end earns its place among Le Vent du Nord’s distinguished catalog. Find Le Vent du Nord on their website as well as Facebook and Twitter.
(Borealis, 2015)
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys, Voyageur
Although it lacks the post Gulf oil spill angst of 2011’s magnificent Grand Isle,
Voyageur, the latest release from Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys continues to push Southern Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole music in new directions while remaining respectful of its traditions. Voyageur is their 12th studio album (not counting a live release and a best-of) in more than 25 years of simultaneously pushing at and honoring the boundaries of Louisiana dancehall music. Its title honors the Acadian French ancestors who first pushed into the backwaters and bayous.
Steve Riley remains the driving force of the group on lead tenor vocals and diatonic accordion or fiddle, but Kevin Wimmer, late of the Red Stick Ramblers, adds to the mix another songwriting voice and powerful baritone vocals, in addition to his own fiddle prowess. (Co-founder and fiddler David Greely is playing solo these days.) And Sam Broussard is the Playboys’ secret weapon, his electric and slide guitar playing adding layers of depth on many of these songs.
Chief among the pleasures of Voyageur are the nods to Louisiana Creole culture and music, particularly the covers of Canray Fontenot’s “Bernadette” and Boozoo Chavis’s funky “Boozoo’s Blues,” plus the traditional “Madame Faillelle,” a swampy two-step, and Wimmer’s composition “Bottle It Up,” a zydeco-style rocker that ends the disc. Wimmer’s rough-hewn and passionate vocals enliven all four of those tracks, as does his rustic fiddling on the Cajun rocker “Plus Creux.” Riley and Co. also pay homage to some of the 1960s and ’70s Cajun music pioneers including Dennis McGee — with the fiddle tune pair “Crapaud/Frugé” and Dewey Balfa and Nathan Abshire’ with their “La Danse De Mardi Gras,” whose clopping rhythm depicts the Cajun Mardi Gras tradition of riding horseback from house to house gathering “donations” of food and drink.
Additional highlights include the opener, Riley’s tongue-in-cheek farewell to his hometown “Au Revoir Grand Mamou” with dreamy Beatle-esque backing harmonies, soaring B-3 organ from Eric Adcock, and a wall of rocking guitars and percussion behind Riley’s lead vocals and chanky-chank accordion; the drinking song “Allons Boire Un Coup,” Broussard’s wicked slide guitar setting the swampy mood behind double fiddles; and Abe Manuel’s rocking Cajun country song” ‘Tite Fille De La Campagne,” with Riley on lead vocals.
Voyageur‘s deep journey into the bayous is another solid offering from Riley and the Mamou Playboys. Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have a website. Allons a dancer!
(Self-released, 2015)
The Revelers, Get Ready
I’m always excited when I find a Cajun band that’s new to me, and The Revelers are more exciting than most. I’m sure everybody in Lafayette and all around Cajun country has known about them for a long time, but up here in the cold Pacific Northwest, word travels slow. But The Revelers is a Cajun supergroup, featuring former members of two of the top Louisiana bands of the past decade, the Red Stick Ramblers and The Pine Leaf Boys. In addition to being founding members of those two groups, individual Revelers have played with everybody from Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy, Wayne Toups, Steve Riley, Cedric Watson, T Bone Burnett, Natalie Merchant, The Duhks, Mamadou Diabate, and Tim O’Brien. Among others.
Putting all that aside, though, this is a great band in its own right (featured on HBO’s “Treme,” for instance) and Get Ready is their third release. It has all the makings of a night of revelry on the dance floor in its 11 tracks comprising all new original songs by the band, sung in Cajun French and English. Sung by various members, too. They include former Ramblers Glenn Fields on drums and vocals, guitarist Chas Justus, bassist Eric Frey and fiddler Daniel Coolik; plus founding member of the Pine Leaf Boys Blake Miller on accordion, and on fiery tenor sax is Chris Miller.
Four of the tracks are French Cajun numbers, including the opener “Toi, tu veux pus me voir” (“You Don’t Want Me Anymore”) a rocking Cajun-Creole hybrid; the fast two-stepper “Ayou on Va Danser” (“Where Do You Want To Dance”); the honky-tonk country two-step “Juste Un Tit Brin,” and the country waltz “Pus Whiskey” (“No More Whiskey”). Among the English-language songs there’s some classic swamp pop “Just When I Thought I Was Dreaming” and “Being Your Clown” and some swampy rockers like “Please Baby Please” and “Single Jeans” and some sweet roots rockers like “Play It Straight” and “Outta Sight.”
If you want a glimpse of what a musical night out in Cajun country is like, check out this fabulous debut disc from The Revelers. They’re on Facebook and Twitter, too. Here’s that opening track in an actual dancehall setting.
(Self-released, 2015)
Vishtèn, Terre Rouge
Vishtèn has produced four superb albums beginning with their self-titled debut in 2003, introducing the rest of us to the delights of the music of Maritime Canada, Prince Edward Island-style. For their fifth, Terre Rouge or “Red Earth,” they spent some time going back to their roots and digging deeper into their musical heritage.
Vishtèn is sisters Emmanuelle and Pastelle LeBlanc, who hail from PEI, and Pascal Miousse from the Magdalen Islands, a part of the Province of Quebec in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The music of both places is a heady stew combining Celtic and Acadian influences. In preparation for Terre Rouge Miousse, who plays fiddle, mandolin and guitar, spent some time deepening his skills with some top fiddlers from PEI. Likewise Emmanuelle, who plays many instruments and provides percussive Québécois-style footwork, put in some time with the fabulous step-dancer Sandy Silva. And Pastelle, who plays keys and sings, worked closely with historian and archivist Georges Arsenault to deepen her skills in Canadian-style mouth music, which draws on Celtic, French and Micmac (a Northeastern Canada First Nation). You can see Silva’s footwork influence in this demonstration video from the band’s website.
That extra work has paid off in a collection of songs and tunes that have lots of extra sparkle and joie de vivre. The opening title track, which is heavy on guitars and mandolin, is a very Cajun-sounding song, down to the chorus, which starts “allons dancer, ma jolie,” (“let’s dance, my pretty one”) a line you’ll find in about half of the Cajun songs ever written. The next, an instrumental titled “Coq du Sud,” is a reel featuring a lead accordion plus fiddle, piano and foot percussion, on a tune and arrangement that are strongly influenced by Cape Breton music, as are some other tracks including the lovely “Hélène,” an uptempo song with superb fiddle work and impeccable three-part harmony vocals.
You can hear the results of Emmanuelle’s woodshedding with Sandy Silva on tracks like “Trois Blizzards,” her rock-inflected footwork driving the fiddle-piano tune; and, more subtly, on the jaunty mid-tempo French song “Ma Mie Tant Blanche,” which has a very nice bluesy guitar solo and sweet flute lines. Pastelle’s mouth music is matched by the fiddle on the melody of “Je Vous Aime Tant.” This is one of my favorites, because it showcases all three musicians’ skills including some superb rough-edged fiddle, and driving piano and footwork that push the tempo. According to the one-sheet this one was cobbled together from an Upstate New York tune plus verses and a chorus that come from two separate songs. And don’t miss the final track “Sarazin,” which showcases the “crooked” Acadian fiddling style.
Terre Rouge and all of Vishtèn’s albums are worth checking out if you’re a fan of Celtic or Québécois music. They put a spin on these traditions that is all their own. You’ll find lots of information on Vishtèn’s website in English or French.
(self-released, 2015)
