Cajun music lovers - How many on here ?.

[Ivan Kelsall]

In January 1966,i travelled down from Manchester UK to London to watch the 'Stanley Brothers & the Clinch Mt.Boys' when they played at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert was great.I'd been playing Banjo for just over 3 years & was blown away by Ralph's playing.The other reason i'm glad i went down is the fact that Carter Stanley passed away later that year & i'm glad i had chance to see the Stanley Brothers together.
On the bill were an old gal.whom i'd never heard of 'Cousin Emmy' - well, she just about brought the house down when she played a tune on a rubber glove.She had more life in her that half the audience put together & she stole the concert in a way.
This concert was my first exposure to Cajun music,as there was a Cajun band on the bill. I can't remember their name,but the band consisted of a fiddle player,an accordion player,a guy playing triangle & (i think), there was a Guitar player but i'm not sure.Anyway,they were terrific.I'd never heard Cajun music before & i remember thinking that maybe this is what i should be into,there was so much life in the music.Although i don't have too many recordings of Cajun music,i love it. In it's own way it has the same drive as good Bluegrass music,if you can't tap your foot along with it - you're dead already. Since the demise of 'Bluegrassradio.org',i'v ebeen trying to find similar internet radio stations playing Bluegrass.I've found a few but they're not as good as 'BGradio' was. One station that i found played a song by the Cajun band "Beausolei" ,a beautiful slow ballad backed with all the Cajun instrumentation.It reminded me of just how brilliant Cajun music,for all it's general simplicity, can be. I must buy more CD's,Cajun music is terrific,
Ivan ;)

[Capt. E]

I'm in Austin Texas and in addition to mandolin I play a cajun accordion. I also host a jam at Fiddlers Green Music Shop on the first and third Sat each month. Since the latest string of hurricanes, there seem to be more and more cajun music lovers here in Austin. We have several good to great bands (especially Charles Thibodeaux and the Austin Cajun Aces). Love the music and the mandolin can adapt pretty well to it. Example: Michael Doucet and Beausoleil.

[Capt. E]

Here's a few band names to look for that will provide the "real thing" in cajun/creole music.
Pine Leaf Boys
Lost Bayou Ramblers
File'
Creole Belles (I love this one)
Le Trio Cadien
Jo-el Sonnier has some great cajun albums in addition to his country music.
Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band (or Savoy Family Band)
anything by: Marc Savoy, Dewey Balfa, Aldus Roger, and many others
Rounder Records and Arhoolie records both have quite a few cajun recordings available.
www.savoymusiccenter.com is also a great resource.

[JEStanek]

The Redstick Ramblers even have a little mandolin on their CD Bring It On Down. I like cajun music. It's fun and gets me wanting to dance.

Jamie

[Johnny Mandolin]

Being that I have cajun in my blood and in the last couple of years have moved to the cajun country my family originated I must say I have a huge amount of respect for cajun music though I personally do not own much. As already mentioned the Red Stick Ramblers are pretty good, and another band that someone introduced to me is Feufollet. They were nominated as one of the best cajun bands in 2008. There is no mandolin, but they are a very talented band of all young musicians. I own the album Tout un beau soir, which I guess was pretty new when someone let me borrow it a few years ago after they saw them at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, but I just saw they released a new album recently called Cow Island Hop. I may just have to check it out, and rediscover my Cajun roots once again.

[Capt. E]

I've heard the Feufollet album and it is pretty good. I recommend it highly. You are right that you generally don't see mandolins in cajun music and when they appear their roll is more a rythmn backup than anything like a melody lead. Beausoleil, being something of a crossover group and not purely cajun, does feature a mandolin occasionally.

[Jonathan Reinhardt]

i play guitar in a cajun band. started cajun music from scratch 7 or 8 years ago under tutelage of cajun musicians (after many years of guitar experience, little of which was useful in this genre). about the same time i moved nearly full time to mandolin. cajun music is fiddle, not mandolin. yes it can be played on mandolin, but it is not the tradition or the sound. oldest style is one or two fiddles (hi/lo), became accordion and fiddle (with guitar) sometime in the 1920's-30's? although i love the music, i am glad that i have mandolin to come home to.
this band has morphed into a dance band (rhythm section expanded from guitar to guitar, bass, drum kit - and we even have horns from time to time) over the past several years, but i prefer the older style trio or trio + triangle.
more fine cajun music to listen to is D.L. Menard. his Chicago influence is unique.

Jonathan Reinhardt

[Patrick Sylvest]

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have some marvelous recordings.

I've played some dobro and mandolin with cajun groups on occaision, but it really just gets lost in the mix. Once you've got a fiddle and accordian, everything else gets drowned out. Lap steel, amplified, adds nicely to it.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks for the replies guys,it's great to know that Cajun music is alive & well.The only recordings i have are 3 'compilation' CD's,which i bought just to hear as many bands as i could for a relatively low price.One of the bands i came across is called "The Cajun Grass Band" & they actually use Banjo in their band to great effect.It's kept in the background but the 'sound' is there & they're terrific. I've heard of the majority of bands that you folk have mentioned & i really must get a few recordings. The track that i heard by 'Beausolei' the other day was "Windhorse Eyes" from their CD 'Gitane Cajun' - that's right at the top of my shopping list. I'm forgetting Mandolin for this music,it's Guitar all the way. A friend of mine down in London & a fellow Cafe member was also at the Stanley Bros.concert & still has the programme (mine got shredded over the years & i dumped it - big mistake) i'll ask him to root it out & let me know who the Cajun band was.
Ivan:cool:
PS - I don't know why the pic. of Michael Doucet didn't download as a pic.,but i really must start wearing shades when pickin'.

[Dan Johnson]

yeah Cajun... ever try to play that triangle? harder than it looks...

[onassis]

yeah Cajun... ever try to play that triangle? harder than it looks...

The trick is to use the "right" triangle. badabing! Any geometricians in the audience tonight?......

I got bitten biy the cajun bug a few years ago when I saw Feufollet at Merle. Something about a beautiful girl belting out these songs in cajun French over that irresistible two step! Then later thet summer I saw the Red stick Ramblers at Floydfest, and their combo of cajun and western swing with a twin fiddle attack completely sucked me in. I've been ctching live cajun music at every opportunity since. Don't have too much recorded material, just a Rounder compilation (Louisiana Spice-really good!) and RRS, Pine Leaf Boys, Feufollet. For me, though, it's DANCE music, so it's all about the live performance. Nuthin' like Cajun!

[Ivan Kelsall]

The Cajun band at the Stanley Bros.concert back in '66 was "Cyp Landrenau's Cajun Band".
I've just done a web search & found only one reference to them & that being that some of their music appears on a Bear Family 'Old Time' music compilation CD. A 'right triangle' conjures up a square one Mitch - you get an extra 'clang for your buck' with one of those,
Ivan:grin:

[coletrickle]

Don't forget to check out The Balfa Brothers "Play Traditional Cajun Music Volume 1 and 2" http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:djfixqr5ldse. The real deal and simply an outstanding album. It will probably remind you of that show you saw.

I just recently starting getting into traditional Cajun after a few years of shying away from it. Listening to the Balfa brothers, and then the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and the Balfa Toujours really showed me what I was missing. So many correlations with Appalachian old time music.

[Mandodrummer]

I have played drums in a cross-over electric blues/Cajun/Zydeco band for many years. I really enjoy the style. Haven't tried mandolin with them yet but hopefully soon.

[onassis]

I was also struck by the many similarities between cajun and appalachian old-time, and at festivals it seems that many performers are passionate about both, the most notable to me being Dirk Powell

[Capt. E]

I love Beusoleil, they are a great band, but not classic old-style cajun. Michael Doucet can certainly play it though, especially when combined with a traditional accordionist such as Marc Savoy. One of the great things about some of the new young bands such as the Lost Bayou Ramblers is their commitment to the preservation of the traditional music of sw Louisiana, though when they get the opportunity they love playing western swing. That's when they need a mandolin to join them.