As Chris Ardoin, J. Paul and Curley Taylor keep pushing zydeco to its progressive left; Lil Wayne and Same Ol Two Step keep it firmly staked close to where it once sprouted. The third CD from Same Ol Two is its most consistent yet and more traditionally bedrocked in the Opelousas-Lawtell school of zydeco than [...]
Dennis Paul Williams has always had a unique voice as a zydeco guitarist, practically playing the role of jazz shaman in his brother Nathan’s Zydeco Cha Chas and nephew Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers. To say that his own solo recording is long overdue is like saying Mardi Gras is as a good [...]
Unlike his contemporaries Keith Frank, Chris Ardoin and Curley Taylor, whose fathers also played professionally, Dwayne Dopsie leans more towards the older, bluesier variety of his father, the legendary Rockin’ Dopsie, Sr., than the mainstream courtings of his peers. Granted his tempos are usually amped up and turbocharged on this all-original affair, but they’re not [...]
When Cedric Watson’s eponymous debut dropped in 2008, only the astute realized that this was not just a solo record by a talented Pine Leaf Boys member but a premonition of greater things to come. His amicable departure from the band made sense; Watson had too much to say about his Creole culture not to [...]
As promised, Live from Breaux Bridge Pt. 2 (Live from Breaux Bridge was released in March, 2009) is the second installment of live recordings by Cajun supergroup High Performance. If you’re reading this review for advice on which volume to purchase first, forget it – making such a recommendation is practically impossible. This one continues [...]
By now it’s a safe bet that Don Rich won’t gallop into any virgin territory. With another platter of fan-favorite, heartfelt originals and well-chosen swamp pop covers, he doesn’t have to. But what’s surprising about his 10th CD is that the track sequence is entirely different than what Rich originally submitted to Jin Records.
Instead of [...]
Based on their longstanding musical association, it’s only fitting that Linzay Young and Joel Savoy unite for this eponymous recording and Valcour’s inaugural installment of its Artist Series. Young and Savoy have played together more than half their lives, since teenage-hood and later as Red Stick Ramblers during their LSU years. This collection of a [...]
After an involuntary government- imposed hiatus (read: incarceration), Wayne Toups emerges more popular than ever, as evidenced by the zealous response on this live disc culled from three separate events. Material-wise, it’s what you’d expect from a Toups concert, the early hits (“Johnny Can’t Dance,” “Sweet Joline”), a Cajun trad romp—DL Menard’s “Back Door” interestingly [...]
The Mamou Playboys’ David Greely reminds us of the fiddle’s forgotten legacy in Cajun music with this off-the-beaten-path collection of fiddle and other eclectic tunes that have recently come in touch with their “fiddle” side. A good portion of this is traditionally rooted, drawing heavily from the canons of Dennis McGee, Varise Connor and Wade [...]
Even before he crossed the Sabine and homesteaded his music career in Acadiana, Corey Ledet was already a force to be reckoned with. The then- teenaged accordionist quoted Clifton Chenier tunes perfectly and got more out of an accordion with three fingers than most guys using four, not a widely known fact according to fellow [...]
