A relatively small area of the state of Louisiana produces much of the recorded Cajun and zydeco music in the world today. This is some of the most vibrant and soulful music ever produced in North America, and many of the musicians who make it are members of musical family dynasties going back several generations. These facts leap out from this sterling collection of music and folklore compiled and produced by Rounder’s Scott Billington. What a delightful collection it is!
The last 20 years have seen an explosion in the production and appreciation of Cajun and zydeco music and dance. Rounder, along with Arhoolie, Rhino, and Smithsonian Folkways, has done much to bring this music to the attention of the outside world.
This collection of 15 tracks from various Rounder projects plus a CD-ROM — the title of which translates “Let’s go to Louisiana” — works excellently as an overview of some of the best music by some of the most relevant musicians in the two traditions; and as a primer on French Louisiana culture, history, folklore and music. Each disc succeeds on its own, and the two complement each other as a package.
The Music CD
Although there are two distinct types of music represented here, Cajun and zydeco, the distinction is more manufactured than real, as this CD makes plain. Louisiana’s culture is a rich stew of American, Spanish, French, African and Caribbean influences, out of which have emerged a wealth of folk arts, from musical to culinary and everything in between. Those who make the music often blur its boundaries, although their fans tend to fall more strongly into one camp or the other.
In a nutshell, Cajun music blends American hillbilly music with the French-Acadian music brought to the region by the people that the British kicked out of the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Zydeco is a blend of Creole music and American rhythm ‘n’ blues. But it’s only been about a generation since both were known in their homeland as “French music.” Each has influenced the other over the years, as the Cajun and Creole families mixed, socialized and intermarried, and as the musicians shared ideas with each other.
The current generation of musicians is enlarging the boundaries of both genres, as well as bridging the gap between the two styles. Thus we have the band Balfa Toujours — whose leader Christine Balfa is the daughter of Dewey Balfa, one of the leaders of the Cajun revival of the Sixties — recording with Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin, one of the godfathers of zydeco, and with Geno Delafose, one of the new generation of funk-influenced zydeco. We also get Delafose with his own band, French Rockin’ Boogie, playing the Cajun diatonic accordion over the funky bass and drums of his modern zydeco style. And of course there’s Beausoleil, the most popular Cajun band in the world, mixing elements of zydeco, Tex-Mex, Afro-pop and garage rock into their heady gumbo.
All in all, it’s some of the earthiest and most honest music being made in the U.S. at the turn of the century.
There are numerous excellent performances among the 15 tracks on this disc. Although every track has something to recommend it, I like some better than others.
My favorit4, “Going to the Country,” by Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, is right in the middle of the disc and carries with it a somber note. Beau Jocque (Andrus Espre), one of the most popular of the new crop of zydeco musicians, died in the fall of 1999.
This is the slowest piece on the disc, grinding blues with a funky wah-wah guitar and Jocque’s very strong vocals. He had a deep, very colorful and expressive voice and was also quite good on the accordion. This is an outstanding piece by a great band, beautifully recorded — a fitting tribute to the bandleader, even though this collection was in the works for some time before his untimely death.
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys is another excellent young band, and their contribution, the second track, fairly crackles with energy. Again, good production and fine playing on this quick Cajun two-step.
The only female vocalist in the collection, and one of the few in either Cajun or zydeco, is Christine Balfa. She and her husband Dirk Powell are the nucleus of Balfa Toujours, which turns in a fine Cajun waltz, “Restez, mom et pop, Restez.” They also back 82-year-old Bois Sec Ardoin on the old-time zydeco number “Allons Danser,” an endearing and energetic two-step.
Bois Sec’s grandsons, Chris and Sean Ardoin, and their band Double Clutchin’ kick things into high gear with the funky “Lake Charles Connection.” Chris, still a teenager, has been singing and playing accordion for many years, and this track does his family heritage proud.
I’m not a huge fan of funk, and I’m also picky about zydeco. I have little patience with songs that are mostly about themselves, and you get a lot of that in funk and zydeco — “We’re a funky band, uh! we play funky music, uh! everybody dance, uh!” or “I’m from Louisiana, I love my zydeco!” This song definitely doesn’t fall into that camp, although it’s on another common zydeco theme, the evil yet irresistible woman. The Ardoin brothers and their band have made this a very likeable bit of funk-driven zydeco.
Ditto the contribution from Geno Delafose’s French Rockin’ Boogie. Part of the attraction, I think, is the use of the “chanky-chank” diatonic accordion in place of the piano accordion more common in zydeco since the days of Clifton Chenier. The little instrument just imparts a higher energy to this kind of music. And energetic it is, with its way-out-front bass and double-kicked bass drum.
Unfortunately, on both this track and the CD’s opener, an old Canray Fontenot tune featuring Geno on a mellow piano accordion, Delafose’s vocals don’t quite live up to the energy of the music itself.
Another of the strong zydeco numbers is the album’s bluesy closer by Li’l Brian and the Zydeco Travelers, part of a new wave of Houston-based bands. Brian Terry gives the piano accordion a good workout — think Tower of Power with an accordion instead of a horn section — and young Patrick Terry turns in the hottest guitar solo on the CD. This is excellent dance music.
I also really like Al Berard and the Basin Brothers’ slow country waltz “Dans la Louisiane,” and Bruce Daigrepont’s old-timey waltz “Le clef de mon coeur.” Both have sharp production and top-notch musicians. Berard is a good fiddler and vocalist with a solid backing band that includes Tommy Commeaux, formerly of Beausoleil. And Daigrepont does an outstanding job of combining old-time Cajun sound with modern instruments. He has a pleasant voice and is a real whiz on the diatonic accordion, throwing in lots of grace notes and flourishes but never losing track of the melody.
I’m a little disappointed in the selection of “Bon Temps Rouler” by Beausoleil. It’s an interesting piece, but its dominating Afro-pop rhythm is not entirely typical of the band’s sound. Also, its vintage production shows — it’s off a 1988 album and lacks the high fidelity of some of the more contemporary numbers.
The production on Bois Sec Ardoin’s “Allons Danser” doesn’t have such an excuse. It sounds as though it was recorded using one microphone, and not a very good one at that, as the various instruments and vocals seem to rise and fall at random in the mix. A couple of the zydeco numbers, Boozoo Chavis’ “Who Stole My Monkey?” and Nathan and the zydeco Cha Chas’ “Hey Bebe,” have enough energy to overcome the nearly non-existent lyrics.
The CD-ROM
It used to be, all across rural and urban America, you could go to your local library and check out records. Back in the Sixties, a lot of people got turned on to the folk revival in this way. They’d take home some Smithsonian Folkways recording of Woody Guthrie, an Alan Lomax Delta-blues record, or even something by Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel or Ian and Sylvia, and listen to it for a week, devouring the liner notes at the same time.
I’m a little afraid, and yet a little hopeful at the same time, that the CD-ROM may be taking the place of the local library’s record collection. Those collections were compiled when a 33 rpm long-playing album cost three dollars or so, and I doubt that many libraries have the kind of budget that could buy a good CD collection at $15 or more a pop.
I say all that by way of introduction, because I’m not yet sold on CD-ROMs as an educational or entertainment medium. Since I have a job at which I sit in front of a computer all day, I don’t think of sitting in front of one at home, whether for games or movies or multi-media CD-ROMs like this one, as a satisfying recreational pastime.
Having said that, let me say that this Allons en Louisiane CD-ROM is pretty good. It’s an informative and fun introduction to Cajun and Creole culture, and has a lot more background on each of the bands featured on the CD than you could realistically put in printed liner notes.
The program is divided into six sections. There’s Cajun music, zydeco music, travel in southern Louisiana, Mardi Gras as celebrated in the countryside (as opposed to the Carnival-like atmosphere of New Orleans), cooking and dance.
The two music sections are most extensive. There’s a two-screen or larger section on each band or performer, with good photos, a history of the band, the musicians’ family ties, and more. It’s an excellent resource, limited only by the fact that it focuses narrowly on artists who record with Rounder. The best bits are recordings of the musicians themselves talking. Sometimes it’s about their music, but often it’s about other subjects. Michael Doucet gives a mini-lesson on the history of the Cajuns; D.L. Menard cracks old-time Cajun jokes; Geno Delafose talks about his love of horses; Boozoo Chavis talks about the huge parties he and his wife host every year at their home. You also get some interesting information about what these artists do when they’re not making music. Many of them are not full-time musicians. Eddie Lejeune, son of Fifties Cajun and rockabilly star Iry Lejeune, runs a tire store.
The recipe section is fun. It’s got two QuickTime movies, one of Al Berard making gumbo, and one of Geno Delafose’s mom making “sauce piquant,” another spicy stew of several different kinds of meat that you serve over rice. Fans of the high-protein diet would be in hog heaven in Creole Louisiana — just leave out the rice. The program also has printed versions of each recipe so you don’t have to try to decipher the cooks’ thick accents.
The travel section features a rudimentary map of southwestern Louisiana, where most of this music comes from and is still played in the clubs and on the front porches. If you click on the main towns, it takes you to a photo of the town, with information on the best places to hear the music and other helpful info. I wouldn’t use it as a sole travel guide if going to the region, but its tips on where to go for the music — and especially the pictures of them — would be helpful.
The dance instruction segment is less useful, I thought. It might be a good starting point to give someone a basic idea of how the Cajun two-step or zydeco “traveling man” steps are supposed to look, but don’t count on it to actually teach you the dances.
The best thing about the CD-ROM’s content is the way it humanizes the musicians. We see these people in everyday activities, hear them talking about their lives and music, and see them interacting with their families at home. And it gives a little better idea than the liner notes themselves of the differences and similarities between the two musical styles.
If you’re already a fan of Cajun or zydeco music but want to branch out a little bit or learn about different bands, this disc is a good resource. And if you’re new to the music, it’s a great place to start. Congratulations to Scott Billington and everyone else at Rounder who was involved in this project!
(Rounder, 1999)
