Cajun and zydeco music is not just for old people

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Geoff Himes has a nice article in the March 4, 2007 NY Times about young Louisiana Cajun bands like the Pine Leaf Boys, and how they are attracting a young audience in Louisiana. I know that there are also young Louisiana and Texas Creole zydeco bands who incorporate rap and funk into their sound. Now I discovered Louisiana sounds when I was in my 20s. Years later though, in the DC area at least, the only people who go to zydeco and Cajun shows are fanatic Cajun and zydeco dancing couples who also discovered the music back when i did or even before. The Pine Leaf Boys play to 40 something and up only crowds here in the DC area. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that (since I'm in the over 40 age group myself)? Maybe there's not enough media attention to attract current 20 year olders the way I was intrigued by Joe Sasfy articles in DC papers and Christgau and others mentioning stuff in the Voice? Maybe cuz the groups uysed to play bars years ago and not just dances (where folks who can't do all the 'right' steps might feel intimidated). Whether you worry about this or not, you can weigh in here on zydeco and Cajun sounds... I'll post the Pine Leaf Boys article below...

― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 March 2007 14:23 (6 years ago) Permalink

Pine Leaf Boys NY Times article

NEW YORK TIMES
March 4, 2007
Music
Cajun Sound, Rock ’n’ Roll Energy
By GEOFFREY HIMES
LAFAYETTE, La.

THIS wasn’t a show for Mardi Gras tourists. On Lundi Gras, as they call the day before Fat Tuesday in south Louisiana, the Pine Leaf Boys were onstage before a crowd of locals at the Grant Street Dancehall here. The five musicians, all in their 20s, played songs by Cajun legends like the 1950s accordionist Iry LeJeune and the 1930s fiddler Dennis McGee, but the dancers who were packed shoulder to shoulder on the well-worn wooden floor didn’t seem to care about the history. They were more interested in the visceral excitement of the band’s signature song, “Pine Leaf Boy Two Step.”

The songwriter Wilson Savoy, a long and lanky accordionist in a white mesh farmer’s cap, sang in Cajun French with whoops of excitement. A bleating melodic phrase from his button accordion was echoed by a high-pitched fiddle line and shoved along by an impatient rhythm section of guitar, bass and drums. A spell was cast, combining a mysterious past — the nearly forgotten dialect and the archaic squeezebox’s red bellows — with an unabashed rock ’n’ roll energy conducive to the elbow-flying, hip-swiveling spirit on the dance floor.

The band sustained that spell for 90 minutes. The fiddler Cedric Watson, dressed in a blue Cajun Mardi Gras costume with yellow and green fringe, closed out the show with a new arrangement of “Zydeco Gris Gris.” Mr. Watson sawed out the infectious tune and led the cries of “Zydeco!” The musicians’ fellow 20-somethings in the crowd hollered right back.

This was the Pine Leaf Boys’ seventh show in five days, and if you had spent the Mardi Gras weekend in Lafayette, the biggest city in the Cajun region known as Acadiana, you could have also seen the Lost Bayou Ramblers at the Blue Moon Saloon on Saturday night and the Red Stick Ramblers at 307 Downtown on Sunday night. At each spot you would have found young dancers responding with the same enthusiasm.

These three Lafayette bands, with a fourth — Feufollet, a teenage group that spent the weekend touring the Midwest — form the core of a renaissance in Cajun and Creole music. After years of recycled arrangements and graying performers and listeners, Acadiana’s dance halls are suddenly filled with young musicians, young dancers and a hard-rocking approach to the old acoustic instruments.

Next month Arhoolie Records will release the Pine Leaf Boys’ second album, “Blues de Musicien,” an impressive recording that may vault them onto the national roots-music scene — though probably not onto the pop charts. They are introducing the album with an East Coast tour that brings them to Connolly’s in Manhattan on Sunday night.

Cajun music is the fiddle-and-accordion-based sound invented by French immigrants in rural southern Louisiana and first recorded in 1928; Creole was the variation created by their African-American neighbors. In the 1990s Cajun and Creole were eclipsed on the local music scene by zydeco, an outgrowth of Creole that was bluesier and more percussive. There were some great zydeco acts in the ’90s — Beau Jocque, Boozoo Chavis, Geno Delafose, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas — but they largely abandoned the fiddle, the waltzes and the French language, all essential elements of Cajun and Creole. The Pine Leaf Boys are able to bring back those neglected Cajun aspects without sacrificing any of zydeco’s dance-floor excitement.

“Cajun music has survived because it’s dance music,” Mr. Savoy, 25, said before the show. “Cajuns have a need to go out on a Saturday night to a dance hall and have a good time.”

When he goes out to dance, Mr. Savoy said, “I want to hear a 25-year-old kid jamming on the accordion in a bar where young people are screaming on Football Friday.” Then again, “I don’t want to hear five two-steps in a row,” he added. “I want to hear a waltz so I can get close to a woman.”

ON the Sunday afternoon before Mardi Gras, Marc and Ann Savoy gave a tour of the home where their four children, Wilson, Joel, Sarah and Gabie, developed their deep affection for Cajun culture. Outside Eunice, La., northwest of Lafayette, the 1911 white farmhouse with the yellow trim and red roof sits at the end of a long driveway flanked by old cypress and oak trees and at the center of a 200-acre farm that belonged to Marc’s grandfather. There are home movies, Ann Savoy said, of her children in their pajamas sprawled on the screened porch with their coloring books while some of the greatest figures in Cajun music — Dennis McGee, Dewey Balfa and D. L. Menard — jammed with the parents of the oblivious children.

Like many Acadiana musicians Wilson and his siblings more or less inherited the family business from their parents. Marc Savoy is one of North America’s most respected makers of button accordions, smaller and reedier-sounding than piano accordions. His shop, the Savoy Music Center in Eunice, sells Cajun instruments and recordings. With his wife and the fiddler Michael Doucet of Beausoleil he plays accordion in the Savoy-Doucet Band; last year he self-released his latest solo album, “Marc Savoy Plays Cajun Accordion: Back to the Basics Savoy Style.”

Ann Savoy, a singer and guitarist, has her own bundle of projects, including the Zozo Sisters, a duo with Linda Ronstadt that resulted in the 2006 album “Adieu False Heart” (Vanguard). Nominated for a Grammy for best traditional folk album, it lost to Bruce Springsteen last month.

Ms. Savoy’s parents were jazz buffs in Richmond, Va., and she revisits those roots on a swing record to be released in May, credited to Ann Savoy and Her Sleepless Knights. Meanwhile her all-female Cajun band, the Magnolia Sisters, is working on a second album of traditional Cajun children’s songs. And the second Savoy Family Band album, with Marc, Ann, Wilson and Joel, is set for a summer release.

“Music was a part of the household,” Ann Savoy, 55, recalled. “The instruments were all over the place. We didn’t make a big deal about taking lessons. We just said you can pick up an instrument and join in if you want. Sometimes the best way to drive children away from music is to pressure them to play.”

Marc Savoy, 66, added: “When Wilson said, ‘Daddy, can I play your accordion?’ I said, ‘Sure, but you have to treat it with respect, because it’s delicate. But don’t expect me to show you anything. You have to figure it out for yourself.’ ”

He admitted that later, after he saw that his children were serious about music, he showed them a thing or two. “This music is part of who we are as a family and a people,” he said, “so you don’t want to screw around with it.”

The Savoy tradition was also passed along to Joel, who was a founding member of the Red Stick Ramblers. He didn’t adapt well to the band’s grueling road schedule and amicably departed to start a new Cajun-Creole label, Valcour Records. His most recent release is “Allons Boire un Coup: A Collection of Cajun and Creole Drinking Songs.” Featuring contributions from the Pine Leaf Boys, the Red Stick Ramblers, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Feufollet, Ann Savoy and Joel Savoy himself, the disc’s combination of old songs and fresh approaches is a fine introduction to the lively revival.

“I want to document what’s going on here,” Joel Savoy, 26, said, “because it’s exciting to see all these young kids playing this weird traditional music with accordions and fiddles and to have all these young kids eating it up like it’s the coolest thing ever.”

Joel Savoy’s commitment to the Cajun-Creole revival includes organizing a traditional Courir de Mardi Gras near his parents’ home. This old rural Mardi Gras run features costumed revelers on horseback or foot going from farm to farm to beg for chickens for the gumbo pot while a Cajun band wagon plays on an old hay wagon.

In recent years the courirs in many Louisiana towns have allowed floats, beads, recorded music, uncostumed onlookers and drunken fights until, he said, they became a bad parody of Mardi Gras in New Orleans’s French Quarter. So he and his childhood friend Linzay Young started a traditional courir.

“Linzay and I have always been into creating our own scene,” Joel Savoy explained, adding, “We did that with the Red Stick Ramblers and now we’re doing it with our Courir de Mardi Gras.”

So it was that at 9:30 on Mardi Gras morning 300 people in screen masks (made from window screens), conical caps and fringe-draped costumes stood in the front yard of Joel Savoy’s neighbor, Rick Smith. Mr. Smith was on his roof, holding a writhing, flapping chicken in each hand. He was willing to donate them to the gumbo pot, but according to custom he was going to make the maskers chase and catch the chickens. The maskers responded by stretching out whichever hand wasn’t holding a beer.

Meanwhile, beneath a tree in the yard, Joel’s brother Wilson, dressed in a plaid costume with gold and maroon fringe, was playing accordion while Joel, decked out in a red and yellow costume, was playing fiddle. It was Cajun music for catching chickens, and the two brothers were beaming.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 March 2007 14:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

I need novamax (Lomax) from Houston to add some wisdom here, and the American Routes people.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 March 2007 16:41 (6 years ago) Permalink

The Bluerunners, also from Lafayette, have always had a big dose of punk energy.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:33 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yea, I think they're still around. I saw them up here in DC and once down in Louisiana.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 March 2007 05:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

A sad article

Losing Louisiana

This Robert Buckman article says that in Louisiana small zydeco clubs are closing and Creole-Americans are losing interest, although some zydeco bands are playing to bigger crowds in more anglo clubs.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 March 2007 14:39 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, when I was living in Richmond, you'd get large doses of this stuff in Anglo clubs and at festivals.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Tuesday, 6 March 2007 23:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

In DC it is now less heard at clubs and festivals. Just mainly special dances ala swing dances and folk contra events. It's interesting (and disappointing) to see how now the music seems most popular around the US only to over 40 white folks though (I remember when under 40 white folks got into it), and in Louisiana and Texas it is appealling to, well --I'm not sure, it depends on whom you talk to how many Creole Americans of whatever age are still into it (and Cajuns too). The only under 40 folks outside of the gulf coast who seem the most remotely interested are jamband types (and I do not like jamband sounds at all)!

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 March 2007 23:50 (6 years ago) Permalink

Sounds cool, I wish the show had been this Sunday instead.

― calstars, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 00:37 (6 years ago) Permalink

On the Houston-Beaumont zydeco Web site zydecoevents.com, there are about a dozen zydeco shows listed in the Greater Houston area in the next week alone. There is zydeco on black radio here and about six or seven Creole Catholic churches that hold dances. And it's not just an old crowd that goes to these shows -- crowds for the rap-influenced groups like J. Paul and the Zydeco Nu-Breed and Nooney and the Floaters have a median age of about 30.

Zydeco is kind of the unofficial soundtrack to spring time in Houston. There are lots of crawfish boils this time of year and you can't have one of those without zydeco. (Or brass band music if you're rollin' NOLA style.)

Creole fiddler Cedric Watson of the Pine Leaf Boys is from near here; so is accordionist Corey Ledet, another ardent neo-traditionalist. (Ledet is from the prosperous suburb of Sugar Land; Watson is from the rural town of Sealy, which is about 40 miles west of Houston.) What's striking is that both of these young guys have turned up their noses at the easy money they could get pandering to the zyde-rap market to play the super-trad music they love, which has meant that they have had to go to Louisiana. There they can play for both the Creole old-timers and the young (often white) kids who seem to be leading another South Louisiana cultural renaissance.

I also found that Buckman article pretty sad, but possibly flawed. It could be that he just talked to the old guard. Zydeco is definitely not frozen in time down here, and just because a 40-year-old joint run by a 89-year-old man is having trouble does not mean the music is dying out. It could be that his audience has died off, the type of zydeco he likes is no longer hip, or his place now seems shabby compared to a nicer joint across the Parish that might even have its own beer license. The same rock clubs don't stay cool forever -- why should zydeco be any different?

Which is not to say that casinos aren't tough competition for club owners, 'cause they are. And here in Houston, there are a few places that don't bother with bands and opt for zydeco DJs instead. (They will mix in country, soul-blues, R&B and the odd rap tune, too.)

Roger Wood's book Texas Zydeco is a must-read for anyone curious about the state of modern zydeco, as well as its all-too-often neglected Texas history.

As for Cajun music, there is almost none here and I recently wrote a column wondering why the hell that was so. My guess is that the Cajuns assimilated more. The Creoles had a lot more cohesiveness -- as Catholics they were apart from the black community and it has always been their churches that have held them together. Cajun emigres to Houston have never had their own parish churches -- they just mixed in with the Catholics that were already here. And that's a bit weird since there are so many of them -- more here than in all but a couple of La Parishes according to census data -- and Houston does have Catholic churches that started out German, Polish, Mexican, Vietnamese and even an Italian one if I am not mistaken. (Most of the urban churches that aren't black or Vietnamese are now Mexican or Central American in any case.)

This article was spurred on by seeing the excellent young Cajun swing revival band the Red Stick Ramblers. I caught 'em at the Continental here -- don't miss 'em if they come through your town.

― novamax, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 04:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

Unfortunately, I did miss the Red Stick Ramblers the last time they came through town. Of the young Cajun bands, I've only seen the Pine Leaf Boys but not the Red Stick Ramblers, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, or Feufollet. I think J. Paul and the Zydeco Nu-Breed once came through this way (hmmm, I forgot whether I saw them). I did see Lil Brian and the Zydeco Travelers, a Houston area group that incorporates old-school funk into their zydeco sound. Lil Brian told me awhile back that he's doing more gigging in Europe and around the US then back in Texas.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 09:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

I saw Lil' Brian in 1997 in Nashville and his music was one of the things that cemented my then-shaky decision to move from there to Houston.

Yeah, he doesn't play here that often because he has become expensive, so that angle of the Buckman story does have some merit now that I think about it.

CJ Chenier also lives here and rarely plays here, but in his case it's not just his fee. There is some animosity toward him from the other bands...Not sure how much is over the Clifton connection or because they think he is overrated or what, but people really hammer him down here. (At least that was the case about six years ago.)

― novamax, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 18:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

Thanks for all that info.

― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 March 2007 13:59 (6 years ago) Permalink

[Removed Illegal Link]

From the Times of Acadiana

story by Nik belanger, Times staff
photos by Leslie Westbrook

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sid Williams, owner of El Sid O's Zydeco dance club, holds his local liquor license Monday at the club. Williams said there's a possibility that he will close his club when the license expires.

As zydeco gains popularity around the globe, local support dwindles. El Sid O's may soon close its doors permanently, ending the legendary venue's multidecade reign as Lafayette's premiere zydeco stop.

They don't dance at El Sid O's like they used to. The club, which at one time brought excitement to the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and St. Antoine Streets every weekend, now holds only a few dances every month. ...."

― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

Acadiana article

Hopefully I posted it right this time

― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

But the Grant Street club in Lafayette is apparently doing ok.

― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Lots of zydeco and Cajun action down in New Orleans at the Jazz & Heritage Fest (Aka Jazzfest). I'm not there this year, but here's one of likely several folks blogging about it:

http://www.jazzfestblog.com/

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

I wish some of those Houston zydeco bands would come up to DC. We just keep getting the same ol' Louisiana acts (they're not bad, I just want something new).

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 14:54 (6 years ago) Permalink

Longtime Offbeat writer John Swenson has an article in the May issue of that magazine about how zydeco no longer has performers competing and claiming the title of King of the genre (like in the Boozoo vs Beau Jocque days or way back when with others). He does not mention any Texas zydeco bands though (but notes how zydeco has developed a following internationally). The article confirms for me why I lost interest in Terrance Simeon--he just wants to reach aging deadheads and jamband fans. Ugh. He does talk about Boozoo's relatives and Rosie Ledet. I haven't seen her or heard her in years, but I always loved her early double-entendre filled stuff.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 14 May 2007 15:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

I gotta research those Houston bands...

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 May 2007 04:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

Bois Sec Ardoin died. Story in the Louisiana Advertiser: http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/NEWS01/705180302/1002

This Creole accordionist was something special.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 20 May 2007 04:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QHfB2tEXuo

Bois Sec with Canray on Youtube.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 20 May 2007 04:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

Not punk, but plenty of soul, was Balfa Toujours, at least live; I haven't heard their albums. Started by the daughter of Dewey Balfa, I think, and some other offspring of the Balfa Brothers involved at some points. Wanna say they're broken up, though hope not. There's also some excellent cajun and zydeco on the soundtrack to a German movie, Shultze Gets The Blues. It's about a German folk fan who gets totally bored with middle age, and comes to the American South, and it's got German-American bands, and the Bobby Jones Czech Band, and Kerry Cristensen, who combines Swiss- and Jimmie Rodgers-associated yodelling (the combination, or unbroken connection, seems to have its own party tradition in the Southeast-Southwest cusp that Schultze is travelling) Cajun and zydeco incl. Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, The Creole Connection, Carriere Brothers,Zydeco Force, Cleoma B. Falcon (some of these are from Shultze's collection, apparently, like 78s)Forced Exposure's where I got mine.

― dow, Sunday, 20 May 2007 19:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

Kerry "Christensen," that is.

― dow, Sunday, 20 May 2007 19:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

Yea, Balfa Tujours are nice Cajun. I also have fond memories of the late Dewey Balfa. I found the below at a website:

http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/music/balfatj1.htm

With the birth of their second child, Sophie Jo Powell, born February 12, 2004, Christine Balfa and Dirk Powell and Balfa Toujours have not been touring as much lately, but the group is still making appearances at select venues around the country, including a performance before a crowd of some 5,000 in El Paso, Texas, in June 2005. Meanwhile Dirk Powell has been busy with a variety of projects, including performing on Loretta Lynn's Grammy-winning album.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 20 May 2007 20:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

Forgot she'd married Dirk Powell! Good to know they'll be back, apparently/hopefully.

― dow, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

Not all zydeco or Cajun, it's Texas accordion music in Houston courtesy of Ramiro Burr's San Antonio blog:

It's down to the final seven contestants in the Texas Folklife's 18th annual Accordion Kings & Queens show and The Big Squeeze. Film producer Hector Galan will be in Houston Friday, June 1 to work on his latest project, 'The Big Squeeze,' a film about Texas Folklife's first accordion contest, including the June 2 Accordion Kings & Queens concert at which the winner will be chosen.

Performing at the 2007 Accordion Kings & Queens concert will be Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Mingo SaldÃvar y Sus Tremendos Cuatro Espadas, Ginny Mac & the Road to Texas Band Miller Outdoor Theatre is located at 100 Concert Drive in Hermann Park.

And, the seven contestants in the big squeeze are: George Arechiga, Mission; Jose Ricardo Calleros, Mission; A.J. Castillo, Austin; Juan Longoria Jr., Brownsville; Matt Tolentino, Dallas; Robert Vega

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

I wonder who won

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 3 June 2007 04:21 (5 years ago) Permalink

Still wondering. Maybe google will eventually help me find out.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 3 June 2007 14:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/music/musicmain.htm

LSU website that lists lots and lots of zydeco and Cajun bands, offers bios, and links

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 15 September 2007 20:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

Maybe that music critic guy from Baton Rouge Advocate who shows up here every once in a while to do ask some research questions will have something to add.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 16 September 2007 01:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

I just went to a zydeco dance with Rosie Ledet and her band band tonight. I hadn't seen her in years but have always loved her sultry soulful voice. They are still worth seeing even if you don't have the proper zydeco dancing footwork down. They're gonna be in NYC at Connolly's in midtown Sunday night.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 16 September 2007 05:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

I do not think she did my fave cut though, "I'm Gonna Take Care of Your Dog (Show him where he can bury his bone)."

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 16 September 2007 12:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

My two sons were on stage with Buckwheat Zydeco last week.
Sorry, had to tell someone.

― Jazzbo, Sunday, 16 September 2007 12:49 (5 years ago) Permalink

That's cool (I once sneared at Buckwheat and Dimension 5 (Haikunym Cibula) rightly took me to task for my snobbery. Buckwheat has a zydeco kids cd, right. Plus I think he used to play in funk and soul bands in the 70s.

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 16 September 2007 23:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

I was a Zydeco skeptic until I saw Beau Jocque perform at the Mid City Lanes Rock 'n Bowl back in the early '90s. He was a pretty intense performer, which I guess you have to be if you want to be heard above the sound of balls smashing into bowling pins.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 17 September 2007 01:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

Beau's bass player, Chuck Bush, was on guitar with Rosie Ledet at the zydeco dance the other night. He added more fuzztone than you usually hear from a zydeco axe-slinger.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 17 September 2007 04:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Saw Rosie Ledet last month, and Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners last night (I think they're playing in Providence tonight and New York City Sunday night). Need to blurb more about this. Plus I've been reading about various festivals and stuff.

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 27 October 2007 17:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

Nice funky bottom from Leroy Thomas' rhythm section. Plus covers of Ray Charles, Hank Williams and the Everly Brothers. He does some of the same songs that Geno Delafose does. Like Geno he takes a traditional approach--that means he can get '70s style funky but no hiphop influence like some of the younger guys. Zydeco couples dancing when done right is so cool. But I don't have the time to practice.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 October 2007 14:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007711190320

Article published Nov 19, 2007
Popular accordion player Zydeco Joe dies at age 64
Herman Fuselier
hfusel✧✧✧@theadverti✧✧✧.c✧✧
Funeral services are pending for musician Zydeco Joe, aka Joseph Adam Mouton of Lafayette, who died Saturday at Lafayette General Hospital. Mouton was a popular accordion player, known for hits such as "You Can't Rooster Like You Used To," "Poppa Jack" and "Jack Rabbit."
Mouton was 64. Syrie Funeral Home in Lafayette is in charge of arrangements.

Joseph Mouton, Mouton's son, confirmed Sunday that his father died from complications related to strep pneumonia. After several attempts to revive Mouton from cardiac arrest, he was declared brain dead Saturday afternoon. Mouton was kept on life support for 24 hours so his organs could be harvested for donation.

Mouton's death came as a shock to many in the zydeco music community. He had performed Nov. 10 at Rock the Moon, a KRVS listener appreciation party, held Nov. 10 at the Blue Moon Saloon. He also played Wednesday during the 21st Annual Thanksgiving Zydeco Food Drive at El Sido's Zydeco and Blues Club.

Cullen Washington of Lake Charles, his longtime producer, said Mouton was preparing to go back into the studio. His recent CD, "Black Cat" on Zydeco Gumbo Records, had become a best seller. Washington was ordering more copies for distribution.

Washington remembers Mouton as "a giving person" who often played for elderly residents nursing homes. Mouton was also proud of his Creole roots and the French language used in his music.

"What you see with Zydeco Joe was what he was," said Washington. "He used to tell me he might not be the best accordion player.

"But I used to tell him he might not be Keith Frank or J. Paul, but nobody could beat him at what he did. Not many could do the old school zydeco and the Creole French like he did. He was a natural guy."

Mouton was born Oct. 25, 1943, in rural Lafayette Parish. Although he played guitar as a teen, Mouton did not learn accordion until he was 45. A close friend, Robley Hebert, died in an auto accident and his mother gave the accordion to Mouton.

Dudley Broussard, a nursing home resident, showed Mouton how to play blues and old-style, zydeco tunes.

After mastering the instrument, Mouton formed his Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler Band in 1988. The group played clubs and festivals from Lafayette to New Orleans, along with some out-of-state appearance.

Mouton recorded two CDs, "Jack Rabbit" in 2001 on Maison de Soul Records of Ville Platte, and "Black Cat" in 2006.

― curmudgeon, Monday, 19 November 2007 20:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

Man, that's terrible. Me and a friend of mine here in Houston have a two-man Zydeco Joe cult. "Can't Rooster Like You Useta" is a classic.

― novamax, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 12:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

Awesome song title

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 19:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

croc style - boom like that

― CaptainLorax, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

― CaptainLorax, Sunday, 27 January 2008 22:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS01/802110320

Terrence Simien used to put on some great zydeco shows back in the 80s and he would occasionally add some blues and reggae and roots rock into the mix. By the '90s he increased the amount of non-zydeco and began to attract a jam band following. I lost interest in him. Recently I read that he and his wife's multi-year effort to get a Cajun and Zydeco category added to the Grammies paid off. And sure enough, the Grammy folks just gave him the award this year! While his efforts schooling the Grammys folks on the need for such an award is to be commended, it's a bit more questionable saying his latest cd was more worthy than that of the other artists nominated (and some of the great artists not even nominated). Yes I will admit that I have not heard his latest. And maybe expecting a smart decision from the Grammy folks (who once gave Jethro Tull the best heavy metal band award)is naive.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 13 February 2008 01:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I'm way into zydeco right now. I admit, the 'hipster proof'ness of the genre is what drew me to it initially, but man, there is some rockin' shit to be discovered here. This was sorta my last stone unturned, genre wise, and I'm pretty excited about it right now. Anyone got any recommendations besides those listed above?

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 06:31 (5 years ago) Permalink

do u guys prefer polkas or waltzes

― Curt1s Stephens, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 06:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Waltzes are Cajun (and sometimes Creole), polkas are not. I prefer faster-tempoed zydeco to both, but if I had to choose I'd take waltzes.

I like all the zydeco acts that regularly come through the DC area--Curley Taylor, Andre Thiery, Geno Delafose...Plus, if you want to just listen to cds of old classic stuff you can also check out that Kingdom of Zydeco book. There's another book on Texas zydeco that I've been meaning to get.

I wish the more hiphop-inflected zydeco acts from Texas (Houston area mostly) would come my way-Step Rideaux and others. I'm spacing out on some of the names right now. Will list more of 'em later.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 11:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

Actually Novamax listed 'em above. On the Cajun side of things, I've always liked Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys who add zydeco, melodic swamp pop, and minor-key balladry to their Cajun sound. They're touring the US in May (or at least coming to DC).

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 12:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

Another great Houston act: Lady D and the Zydeco Tornadoes. Her albums just make me smile.

― novamax, Wednesday, 9 April 2008 16:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 83 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2011/03/album_review_mama_ill_be_long.html#more

Amede Ardoin cd collection

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 1 March 2011 19:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

Steve Riley east coast tour on now. Bandmate David Greely is leaving after this tour because of ear damage. They have a nice new album with various special guests on it. They are at Artisphere outside DC tonight, then 2 nights in NYC I think

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 March 2011 16:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/travel/24zydeco.html?pagewanted=1

Nice long article on zydeco trail rides by Shaila Dewan. Here's a small excerpt

Virtually everyone wore T-shirts proclaiming their allegiance to a particular riding club: the No Limit Riders of Mamou, La., the Spare Time Riders of New Roads, the Hip Hop Ghetto Riders of Breaux Bridge. Some clubs, like the Exclusive Steppers, showed loyalty to a particular kind of mount, the high-stepping Tennessee walker, considered the Cadillac of trail riding (“If you ain’t steppin’, you ain’t reppin’ ”). Others, like the Wild Bird Riders, honored their favorite whiskey, while the Suga Riders were named in memory of “one of the realest cowboys you would ever get to know,” a Lafayette man who rode his horse to nightclubs. The Mixed Breed Riders, a youthful posse in short-shorts and tank tops, gave a nod to the racial mélange so common in Acadiana. I counted upward of 50 riding clubs, though a few of them didn’t seem to bother with actual horses.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/travel/24zydeco.html?pagewanted=3

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 28 April 2011 17:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

If you get a chance to see the Anthony Bourdain No Reservations tv show where he visits New Orleans and Cajun country (where Red Stick Ramblers and members of the Savoy family play at an outdoor feast and cook too) you should

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

http://rhythmandroots.com/ws/pages/schedule.php

A fair amount of interesting zydeco and Cajun acts at this Rhode Island fest (plus various roots-rock acts)

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 20:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Big zydeco fest in the W. DC area this weekend

http://dancingbythebayou.com/

― curmudgeon, Friday, 21 October 2011 19:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

And I missed it. There's plenty of zydeco acts coming to the DC area these days(but alas, not those Houston hip-hop inflected ones I am curious about)

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 October 2011 16:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

I wish Texas writer (and ocassional ILX poster) John Nova Lomax was still writing about Houston zydeco...

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 October 2011 16:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

zydeco in Opelousas

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20111103/ACADIANA04/111030310

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 19 November 2011 15:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

In his year-end wrapup Southern soul blogger Daddy B. Nice said in part:

--The Zydeco sound was contagious, with artists from T. K. Soul to Kenne' Wayne to Ms. Jody endeavoring to incorporate it into their music. All of the attempts paled next to the mesmerizing rhythms of the real thing in the hands of veterans Keith Frank ("Cassanova," "Haterz") and Rosie Ledet ("When I'm Gone"), whenever Southern Soul deejays deigned to insert their masterful work into their playlists.

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/corner2012.cfm

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 January 2012 05:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Zydeco acts are always coming through the W. DC area and somehow I always miss CJ Chenier. Missed him again last night at Hill Country BBque. I like his albums. I think some zydeco dance fanatics are less crazy about him, as he does not always just stick to that zydeco beat

― curmudgeon, Friday, 16 March 2012 13:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

Minneapolis seems to have fallen out of favor for touring zydeco bands, so I haven't seen him for quite a few years now. Always prefer his concerts and albums to Buckwheat. I think he's a better, more soulful singer than many of those guys.

― On the sidelines in a trash can grumping (Dan Peterson), Friday, 16 March 2012 14:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Curley Taylor, Leroy Thomas, Rosie Ledet, Dennis Stroughmatt, Steve Riley, and others are always coming through the Washington DC/Baltimore area.

http://wherewegotozydeco.com/

I wish obscure Houston and Louisiana zydeco bands that rarely tour would come through.

― curmudgeon, Friday, 16 March 2012 14:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

The same bands tour up and down the East Coast. Here's a June 2012 Connecticut fest schedule. But no obscure Houston bands I don't think.

http://www.strawberrypark.net/cajun-zydeco-festival/

― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 April 2012 15:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Saw Cajuns Goldman Thibodeaux, Hadlee Castille and Steve Riley at Jazzfest in New Orleans, among others.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 16:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Missed new and upcoming zydeco artist Ruben Moreno appearing in Maryland last weekend

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 20:19 (11 months ago) Permalink

"New" means he has only been leading a band and touring the East coast recently, but this 22-year-old has been in bands since he was 13

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 20:20 (11 months ago) Permalink

http://www.zydecoevents.com/texaszydecoevents.html

lots of zydeco in Texas

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 13:52 (11 months ago) Permalink

Extended video version of zydeco-r'n'b dance song "Do It With Your Boots On" by Cupid

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 27 May 2012 02:32 (11 months ago) Permalink

there's a cajun music thread and i never posted this
????

― Never translate Dutch (jaymc), Sunday, 27 May 2012 07:45 (11 months ago) Permalink

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/06/01/why-zydeco-player-curley-taylor-likes-r-kelly/

― curmudgeon, Friday, 1 June 2012 18:47 (11 months ago) Permalink

New York City's zydeco scene is in trouble

http://jimsrootsandblues.com/blog/letter-from-zydecolaura/

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 2 June 2012 01:53 (11 months ago) Permalink

Pine Leaf Boys are probably the first Cajun band to tour in these countries

June 13-18 Kyrgyzstan U.S. State Department Tour
June 19-24 Tajikistan U.S. State Department Tour
June 25-July 2 Uzbekistan U.S. State Department Tour

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 12 June 2012 04:05 (11 months ago) Permalink

The Savoy family (maybe with Wilson Savoy from the Pine Leaf Boys) were just in the UK, France and Belgium.

x-post re the future of zydeco gigs in the Northeast USA:
Read nice writeup of recent New Jersey and Connecticut festivals with zydeco bands. The zydeco fanatics are making it out to the festivals if not to single band shows in individual East coast towns.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 12 June 2012 14:40 (11 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/garden/at-home-with-louis-michot-of-the-lost-bayou-ramblers.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Nice NY Times piece on the fiddle player from raucous Cajun Band Lost Bayou Ramblers and his unique home

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 July 2012 13:52 (10 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Rhythm and Roots Festival, on Labor Day weekend in Ninigret, RI is getting lots of attention from zydeco fanatics although the bill does not look as good as fests in Louisiana or Texas, naturally

http://www.cascadezydeco.com/trips/festivals.shtml

Host Band: The Pine Leaf Boys Featuring Steve Riley, David Bromberg, Geno Delafose, The Gourds, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Johnny Nicholas, Roddie Romero and that's just the start... many more TBA!

Bed & Breakfast Referrals (from Bed and Breakfast Referrals of South Coast Rhode Island)

There are two huge dance floors, and dancers galore of both sexes! Dancing goes til midnight all three days.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 August 2012 15:12 (8 months ago) Permalink

I go to R&R every year (we’ll be there Sunday). It’s my favorite festival ever — very relaxed, cool people, great workshop tents, good food. Just a fantastic all-around atmosphere.

― Jazzbo, Thursday, 30 August 2012 16:47 (8 months ago) Permalink

I have never been, but I am on a Washington DC area zydeco and root-rock email list with a number of people who go up there every year and always seem enthusiastic

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 August 2012 17:54 (8 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

http://www.offbeat.com/2012/10/25/hadley-castille-1933-2012/#.UIoJwNqOB1E.email

RIP. I saw this great Cajun fiddler a few times.

― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 October 2012 13:47 (6 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

zydeco and Southern soul line dance music come together with autotuned vocals:

Here's the zydeco remix of Bigg Robb's "Work That Sexy"

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 21 November 2012 04:42 (5 months ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Lost Bayou Ramblers were raucous and rocking in San Francisco tonight, where I saw 'em while on vacation

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 6 December 2012 09:45 (5 months ago) Permalink

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2012/nov/29/issue-79-dragged-through-forest-long-gone-sound-am/

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Thursday, 6 December 2012 17:26 (5 months ago) Permalink

Those old-time Creole fiddlers like Amede Ardoin are great

― curmudgeon, Monday, 10 December 2012 05:48 (5 months ago) Permalink

he was an accordionist iirc.

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Monday, 10 December 2012 16:56 (5 months ago) Permalink

Doh! Of course. I must have been thinking about Canray Fontenot, who performed often with Bois Sec Ardoin

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/02/obituaries/canray-fontenot-72-a-singer-and-violinist-in-creole-style.html

― curmudgeon, Monday, 10 December 2012 20:27 (5 months ago) Permalink

I need to check out that Oxford issue

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 16:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

I've been listening to the new Oxford CD at work a lot. Some familiar songs ("Bon Ton Roula," "Sugar Bee") but lots new to me: a great Johnny Adams oldie I hadn't heard before, and Margaret Lewis covering Johnny's "Reconsider Me." They always include one or two "arty" cuts (this time it's "Fifteen Saxophones" by Dickie Landry) that disrupt the flow.

Having friends over for jambalaya this weekend, and already planning what NOLA music will accompany!

― Sailor-neighbor of Chaucer's wife (Tubby) (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 10 January 2013 17:45 (4 months ago) Permalink

Step Rideau & the Zydeco Outlaws
STEP IS COMING TO TOWN! IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG
@Tremont Suites Ballroom, 222 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD
"Take Off" Texas Rollin' Empire Inaugural Zydeco Gala
Doors Open 8pm - 12 midnight Music all night

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 January 2013 18:49 (4 months ago) Permalink

Oh that's Friday and Saturday the 18th and 19th plus Dress: Semi Formal Western Wear "Glitz & Jeans"

I like Step's funky zydeco but am not likely gonna be able to head up to Charm City for the gig

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 15 January 2013 18:51 (4 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Panel discussions Saturday April 20th at the EMP Pop Conference in New orleans at Tulane

Dancehalls of South Lousiana
12:00pm–1:00pm

A brownbag talk with John Sharp
Featuring
John Sharp

The Creolization of Cajun and Zydeco
1:15pm–2:45pm
Featuring
Michael Tisserand
Ben Sandmel
D'Jalma Garnier

http://empmuseum.org/programs-plus-education/programs/pop-conference/2013/emp-pop-conference-2013-new-orleans.aspx

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 17 April 2013 16:47 (1 month ago) Permalink

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/04/26/2552992/young-musicians-cling-to-cajun.html

"Cling"

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 27 April 2013 15:36 (3 weeks ago) Permalink

heard lots of interesting stuff re zydeco and Cajun at EMP.

Meanwhile over in Texas there's a great Mothers Day weekend zydeco and Southern soul gig:

94.5's zydeco meets the blues fest:

May 11 (Skyline Ranch @ 1801 E. Wheatland Rd., Dallas, TX, 75241) 1:15pm

Step Rideau & The Zydeco Outlaws, Brian Jack and The Zydeco Gamblers, Lil' Nate & The Zydeco Big Timers Cupid, Mel Waiters, Floyd Taylor, Latimore, Denise LaSalle & The PG Man, and Don Diego & Eddie G

― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 April 2013 19:41 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

http://www.zydecoevents.com/texaszydecoevents.html

― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 April 2013 19:42 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

So if I was to get just one cajun/zydeco compilation, which should it be?

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 29 April 2013 19:54 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

let me think about it. I hope you realize that Cajun and Zydeco are 2 different things-- Cajun is more country and slower tempoed and is created by white folks descended from the French (and relies more on the fiddle); while Zydeco has faster tempos and is created by Afro-Creoles who incorporate r'n'b influences (and uses the accordion more than the fiddle).

― curmudgeon, Monday, 29 April 2013 21:44 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

Yes, I realize I'm guilty of conflating two distinct styles. So recommend me one of each, then, fair play.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 30 April 2013 00:17 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

You can't go wrong with any discs from Rhino's "Alligator Stomp" series. Start with Vol. 1.

― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 30 April 2013 11:19 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

As a marketing technique and from folks who don't know the difference Cajun and zydeco are often used interchangeably.

I still need to think of an answer as I just have mostly individual releases from artists and not compilations

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 30 April 2013 14:14 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

There's a nice reissue of Amade Ardoin that complicates the genre issue. He is a Creole who was making music long before zydeco became established. His sound is a bit like more what we think of as Cajun, but its different.

Arhoolie began releasing Cajun and zydeco long ago, need to see if they have any nice comps.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 30 April 2013 14:19 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Did not make it to Jazzfest this year, but this Gambit writer did:

The Fais Do-Do stage hosted a Lafayette double-header with stalwart young Cajun bands Feufollet and Pine Leaf Boys moving big crowds — despite a formidable mud pit. Showing off just how far Cajun music traditions can be pushed, Feufollet struck up an eerie uptempo take on Brian Eno's "Baby's On Fire," before cheekily asking the crowd, "Y'all ready for some Hall and Oates?"

Roots revival

The Pine Leaf Boys kicked the crowd into gear with a couple of mid-set covers, including a raucous "Great Balls of Fire" and a gorgeous, reverential Cajun tribute to George Jones with his "A Picture of Me (Without You)." The band continued its memorial with a tribute to Les Blank, the documentarian who helped revive interest in Cajun culture with a series of films in the 1970s. The band also caved to an audience request of an early track, "Pine Grove Blues."

Ramble on

"Who's beastin' it today?" shouted Lost Bayou Ramblers singer Louis Michot before the band launched into "The Bathtub," its cut from the Beasts of the Southern Wild soundtrack. The band ripped through songs from old and new albums, including the vinyl single "Bastille" that featured Gordon Gano and got a remix by GIVERS. The band finished its set by dedicating its French version of The Who's "My Generation" to a 30-year-veteran Jazz Fest stage member.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/thrills-and-chills/Content?oid=2197009

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 15:37 (5 days ago) Permalink

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