Cajun Music

Cajun Music
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : OCLC:159868307
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (07 Downloads)

Synopsis Cajun Music by : Ann A. Savoy

Cajun Music and Zydeco

Cajun Music and Zydeco
Author :
Publisher : LSU Press
Total Pages : 148
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0807117692
ISBN-13 : 9780807117699
Rating : 4/5 (92 Downloads)

Synopsis Cajun Music and Zydeco by : Philip Gould

"Imagine," writes Philip Gould, "a remote club nestled in a rural community that is barely on the map, where upon entering through worn screen doors one feels the flow of air from the wall-sized floor fans working hard to relieve the sultriness. Folks of all ages glide across a worn wooden dance floor as a Cajun or zydeco band belts out spirited two-steps and waltzes..." In this engaging book Gould takes us into the fascinating world of south Louisiana's celebrated musical cultures. Cajun Music and Zydeco contains more than one hundred color photographs of the performers, dance halls, and appreciative fans that have made the state's indigenous music a national, even worldwide, phenomenon. The photographs span a period of some ten years. They include portraits of Cajun musicians like Zachary Richard, Dewey Balfa, Wayne Toups, Michael Doucet, and Steve Riley and such zydeco performers as Terrance Simien, the Ardoin family, Canray Fontenot, Boozoo Chavis, and the legendary Clifton Chenier. Gould photographs many of the venues in which these musicians have performed, including El Sid O's Club and Hamilton's Place, in Lafayette; La Poussiere and Mulate's, in Breaux Bridge; Smiley's Bayou Club, in Erath; Slim's Y Ki Ki, in Opelousas; and Tipitina's, in New Orleans -- not to mention Carnegie Hall. He also shows throngs of music lovers at annual events such as the Zydeco Festival in Plaisance and Lafayette's Festival International de Louisiane. Many of the images reinforce the importance of family and community among the musicians, and others emphasize the sheer power the music holds over performers and listeners alike. Philip Gould first came to Louisiana in 1974, just as the revival of Cajun music and zydeco was beginning to take shape. Indeed, one of his early assignments as a photographer for the Daily Iberian newspaper was to cover the first Tribute to Cajun Music, which was held in Lafayette on March 26, 1974. A driving force behind that magical event was Barry Jean Ancelet, whose informed Introduction to this book provides a brief history of Cajun music and zydeco. Ancelet describes the multivarious ethnic mix that contributed to the development of the two musics, outlines their waning popularity during the early years of this century, and celebrates their reenergized vitality since the mid-1970s. He provides a vivid description of the 1974 festival, which unexpectedly attracted more than twelve thousand spectators. It proved to be a watershed in the renaissance not only of Cajun music and zydeco but of Cajun and Creole culture in general. Deeply rooted in the unique world of south Louisiana, Cajun music and zydeco are an important part of the American folk tradition. This beautiful book is a fitting tribute to their enduring appeal.

Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing

Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing
Author :
Publisher : University of Southwestern Louisiana, Center for Louisiana Studies
Total Pages : 560
Release :
ISBN-10 : UCSC:32106018880416
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (16 Downloads)

Synopsis Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing by : Ryan A. Brasseaux

A sweeping overview of Cajun music from early studies to the present.

Cajun Breakdown

Cajun Breakdown
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 336
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780199711314
ISBN-13 : 0199711313
Rating : 4/5 (14 Downloads)

Synopsis Cajun Breakdown by : Ryan Andre Brasseaux

In 1946, Harry Choates, a Cajun fiddle virtuoso, changed the course of American musical history when his recording of the so-called Cajun national anthem "Jole Blon" reached number four on the national Billboard charts. Cajun music became part of the American consciousness for the first time thanks to the unprecedented success of this issue, as the French tune crossed cultural, ethnic, racial, and socio-economic boundaries. Country music stars Moon Mullican, Roy Acuff, Bob Wills, and Hank Snow rushed into the studio to record their own interpretations of the waltz-followed years later by Waylon Jennings and Bruce Springsteen. The cross-cultural musical legacy of this plaintive waltz also paved the way for Hank Williams Sr.'s Cajun-influenced hit "Jamabalaya." Choates' "Jole Blon" represents the culmination of a centuries-old dialogue between the Cajun community and the rest of America. Joining into this dialogue is the most thoroughly researched and broadly conceived history of Cajun music yet published, Cajun Breakdown. Furthermore, the book examines the social and cultural roots of Cajun music's development through 1950 by raising broad questions about the ethnic experience in America and nature of indigenous American music. Since its inception, the Cajun community constantly refashioned influences from the American musical landscape despite the pressures of marginalization, denigration, and poverty. European and North American French songs, minstrel tunes, blues, jazz, hillbilly, Tin Pan Alley melodies, and western swing all became part of the Cajun musical equation. The idiom's synthetic nature suggests an extensive and intensive dialogue with popular culture, extinguishing the myth that Cajuns were an isolated folk group astray in the American South. Ryan André Brasseaux's work constitutes a bold and innovative exploration of a forgotten chapter in America's musical odyssey.

Let the Good Times Roll!

Let the Good Times Roll!
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 236
Release :
ISBN-10 : UOM:49015003455723
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (23 Downloads)

Synopsis Let the Good Times Roll! by : Patricia Nyhan

Alphabetically arranged biographies of 132 musicians.

Cajun and Creole Music Makers

Cajun and Creole Music Makers
Author :
Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages : 180
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1578061709
ISBN-13 : 9781578061709
Rating : 4/5 (09 Downloads)

Synopsis Cajun and Creole Music Makers by : Barry Jean Ancelet

The virtual renaissance of all things Cajun and Creole has captivated enthusiasts throughout America and invigorated the culture back home. Who, just fifteen years ago, could have predicted that this regional music would become so astonishingly popular throughout the nation and the world? This new edition of a book first published in 1984 celebrates the music makers in the generation most responsible for the survival of Cajun music and zydeco and showcases many of the young performers who have emerged since them to give the music new spark. More than 100 color photographs, show them in their homes, on their front porches, and in their fields, as well as in performance at local clubs and dance halls and on festival stages. In interviews they speak directly about their lives, their music, and the vital tradition from which their rollicking music springs. Many of the legendary performers featured here--Dewey Balfa, Clifton Chenier, Nathan Abshire, Dennis McGee, Canray Fontenot, Varise Connor, Octa Clark, Lula Landry, and Inez Catalon--are no longer alive. Others from the early days continue to perform--Bois-sec Ardoin, Michael Doucet, D. L. Menard, and Zachary Richard. Their grandeur, humor, and humility are precisely the qualities this book captures. Featured too are young musicians who are taking their place in the dance halls, on festival stages, and on the folk music circuit. Cajun and Creole music makers, both young and old, still play in the old ways, but as young musicians--such as Geno Delafose and the French Rockin' Boogie, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys-- experiment and enrich the tradition with new sounds of rock, country, rap, and funk, the music evolves and enlivens a whole new audience. Barry Jean Ancelet, a native French-speaking Cajun, is chair of the Department of Modern Languages and director of the Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Among his many books are Cajun Country and Cajun and Creole Folk Tales (both from the University Press of Mississippi). Elemore Morgan, Jr., is an artist and retired professor of visual art at University of Southwestern Louisiana.

The Cajun Fiddle

The Cajun Fiddle
Author :
Publisher : Mel Bay Publications
Total Pages : 103
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781619115194
ISBN-13 : 1619115190
Rating : 4/5 (94 Downloads)

Synopsis The Cajun Fiddle by : Craig Duncan

Beginning with a section of easy arrangements of popular Cajun tunes, this book progresses to more difficult solos based on the playing of various fiddlers includingDewey Balfa, Michael Doucet, Doug Kershaw, and Rufus Thibodeaux. Cajun stylings, rhythms, double stops, slides, turns and trills, bowings, and tunings are discussed throughout the book. Fiddle and guitar are used in demonstrating the tunes in this book. Comes with access to online audio including recorded versions of most of the pieces in the book. The recorded versions are played at a slower tempo than typical performance speed to allow the listener to pick out details of the Cajun style

Made in Louisiana

Made in Louisiana
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 144
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1946160806
ISBN-13 : 9781946160805
Rating : 4/5 (06 Downloads)

Synopsis Made in Louisiana by : Marc Savoy

Upon seeing a Louisiana-handmade diatonic accordion for the first time in 1957, a teenage Marc Savoy began a quest that arguably no one has come closer to achieving: to build the perfect Cajun accordion. Told in Marc's own words, Made in Louisiana is the story of the evolution of his Acadian brand accordions--but it is also the story of how an instrument once known as the "German-style" accordion became the iconic image of Louisiana's Cajun culture.

Swamp Pop

Swamp Pop
Author :
Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages : 288
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0878058753
ISBN-13 : 9780878058754
Rating : 4/5 (53 Downloads)

Synopsis Swamp Pop by : Shane K. Bernard

A search for the sources and sounds of an often overlooked sister genre of Cajun and zydeco music

Accordion Dreams

Accordion Dreams
Author :
Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages : 264
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781604733389
ISBN-13 : 1604733381
Rating : 4/5 (89 Downloads)

Synopsis Accordion Dreams by : Blair Kilpatrick

By age thirty-nine, Blair Kilpatrick had settled into life as a practicing psychologist, wife, and mother. Then a chance encounter in New Orleans turned her world upside down. She returned home to Chicago with unlikely new passions for Cajun music and its defining instrument, the accordion. Captivated by recurring dreams of playing the Cajun accordion, she set out to master it. Yet she was not a musician, was too self-conscious to dance, and didn't even sing in the shower. Kilpatrick's obsession took her from Chicago's Cajun dance scene to a folk music camp in West Virginia, back and forth to south Louisiana, and even to a Cajun festival in France. An unexpected family move brought her to the San Francisco Bay Area, home to the largest Cajun-zydeco music scene outside the Gulf Coast. There she became a prot--and--eacute;g--and--eacute; of renowned accordionist Danny Poullard, a Louisiana-born Creole and the guiding spirit of the local Louisiana French music community. Engaging, uplifting, and illuminating a unique patch of the American cultural landscape, Accordion Dreams is Kilpatrick's account of the possibility of passion, risk-taking, and change--at any age. Blair Kilpatrick has an independent practice in psychotherapy in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also performs and records with Sauce Piquante, a traditional Cajun-Creole band she founded in the late 1990s. Learn more at www.blairkilpatrick.com