Louisiana: Return to Zydeco Nation

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017.

September 2017

The famous (might we even say "historic"?) El Sido's hosted a hurricane fundraiser on the Sunday following my return to South Louisiana.

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. C.J. Chenier and Louisiana Red Hot Band.

By the time I left the event, it was as if a reservoir inside me, almost dry from the long absence of live zydeco, had been refilled to almost-overflowing.

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express.

As is too often the case in South Louisiana, we few in the audience received far more than we deserved from the musicians, who - every one of them - delivered performances as if there had been a crowd.

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. C.J. Chenier and Louisiana Red Hot Band.

Not to take away from the power of the other bands (including Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express, Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band, Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys), the penultimate act by C.J. Chenier and Red Hot Louisiana Band blew me away.

A taste below:

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express.

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express.

El Sido's hurricane fundraiser, Lafayette, Louisiana. September 2017. Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys.

Makes you glad to be alive.

Louisiana: The Church of Zydeco

Performance center, Vermilionville, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Every Sunday afternoon, Vermilionville hosts the Bal du Dimanche ("Sunday Dance") from 1:00 to 4:00. Usually they alternate Cajun and Zydeco each week, with the occasional "swamp pop" or blues thrown in to the line-up.

I love both Cajun and Zydeco, mind you.

But. ... On every Zydeco Sunday, the same strange phenomenon occurs: I walk into the gift shop, show my membership card, get my paper bracelet, walk out of that building and into the courtyard, pass by La Cuisine de Maman's, and as I hear the Zydeco waft from the nondescript Performance Center in front of me, my mouth begins to form into a smile. It's an involuntary response, I tell you.

The nearer I get to the Performance Center, the louder the music gets as it flows through the cracks of the doors, and the wider my smile becomes. Heck, it makes me smile just writing about it.

A pale, pale sample of this phenomenon is in the video below:

On this particular Sunday in June, the Most High Reverend Mister Curley Taylor preached, along with his holy men, Zydeco Trouble.

Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble. Vermilionville, June 2015.

We celebrants confessed our sins and were blessed for another week. Or until later the same day for serious sinners, who congregated at Whiskey River. Or again that night, maybe at Randol's or O'Darby's or Feed n Seed.

Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble. Vermilionville, June 2015.

When a Zydeco band gets into a special groove, and the band members are in the music, and they lead us, the audience, up the road with them, and we add our energy to the band's energy, and the entire room thrums with a soaring, transcendent force, it evokes to me a trance dance that brings euphoria, of connection with humanity of today and humanity going back, back, back all the way to our very beginnings.

It's not just Zydeco music that does this, of course. Any music can do it. I remember a singular experience at the Lupus Chili Fest in 2013, in a garage. I described the feeling like this:

Sometimes when you listen to music, live especially, it pushes against you like an ocean wave or like a force of air, where you feel exhilarated and breathless at the same time, where your head actually falls back a little from the strength of the sound coming at you.  

This is what it felt like in the Lupus Garage when The Harvest Season played, as the band's flow rolled up and back in small waves, then pounded the shore in a rush against the beach.

If they had been calling to people at the back of the church to come to Jesus, why, I might have been tempted to do just that.

Amen.

Learning to Dance: The Pause

Dancing La Marinera in Tularosa, New Mexico. San Francisco de Paula Festival 2013.

Last year, at the Feed 'n Seed, I danced with an older gentleman. A slow-ish song. About 30 seconds into our dance, he said quietly in my ear, "Slow down, we're not in a hurry to go anywhere."

This centered me right then, and for the rest of the dance, I could be in the moment with where my partner was going and which rhythm line of the song he was choosing.

Holi Festival 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Earlier in the year, before the Feed 'n Seed experience, at a Vermilionville Bal du Dimanche, a woman generously tutored me on a zydeco movement. I had taken zydeco lessons a month or so before, and I'd learned a basic zydeco shuffle in which every beat of the eight-count in zydeco was accounted for with a step or tap. But this woman was showing me something different. I didn't see the eight counts in her steps, I couldn't replicate her movements, and it confounded me.

I asked her about the step count, and she said - bless her generous heart - "don't worry about counting, just move with the music." I couldn't do anything with that information, so I asked her to keep demonstrating her steps until I could solve the mystery. She graciously complied.

Finally, I saw it.

On the third and seventh steps, she PAUSED. The fourth and eighth step were there, but "silent." Ohhhhhh.

When I excitedly shared my newfound understanding, the woman looked a little puzzled, and then shrugged, as if to say "whatever," apparently not excited as I about my tremendous breakthrough in understanding. I'm guessing she had so internalized her step movements, she didn't even notice the pause, and thus didn't think to explain it.

Feed n Seed, Lafayette, Louisiana.

These two experiences planted seeds in my neonatal dance mind, but they didn't stick until I took a new round of zydeco dance lessons this month.

The instructor informed me several times that I was going through movements too quickly. He EXPLICITLY directed me to pause. He hammered these points when I struggled to make turns correctly, so that I'd finish on the right foot at the right beat.

Finally, I got it. I have to PAUSE when I take that first turn-step.

The pause makes all the difference.

There is a maturity, an elegance, a sensuality, in the dance pause.

It's gratification delayed, it's listening and feeling, it's a breath.



Related posts: 

Learning to Dance: Solving for X
Learning to Dance: The Tao of Following

South Louisiana Musicians: Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. is what some folks might call a show musician. He and the Zydeco Twisters are high-energy.

You might notice the apron that Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. is wearing. Based on what I've read, the use of the apron became a tradition for some Zydeco accordionists, as it protected the instrument from the performer's sweat.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

He doesn't pull as many people onto the dance floor as other performers, but he definitely keeps the audience's happy attention.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

I caught him at the Washington Catfish Festival 2015. A gorgeous festival day in a beautiful park.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

 Enjoy the video below from the 2012 Oyster Festival, covering a James Brown and a Michael Jackson song:

He's the son of the original Rockin' Dopsie, who died in 1993, and who was born in Carencro, just down the road from my temporary Opelousas home. Another of the original Rockin' Dopsie's sons, Alton (Tiger), plays drums in the Zydeco Twisters band, and a second brother, Anthony, plays accordion and sings. A third brother, Dwayne, fronts his own band, called Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers.

From Heart of Louisiana: The Dopsie Brothers, by Dave McNamara: 

Their real family name is Rubin, but dad became Dopsie when he first started playing music.

"My daddy said he got the name from a guy that danced jitterbug from Chicago," said Rockin' Dopsie Jr. He used to be a jitterbugger and his name was Dopsie, and when he died, my daddy took the name as a young kid and started playing accordion and he call himself Duped , little Dopsie."

Rockin Dopsie (original), aka Alton Rubin. Source: All About Blues Music.

(In the photo above, what do you notice about how Rockin' Dopsie, Sr. held his accordion?)


Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters get your blood racing, sha.

Lawtell, Louisiana: Zydeco History: Richard's Club

Former Richard's Club, now Miller's Zydeco Hall of Fame, Lawtell, Louisiana. 2015.

".... for a few years, it felt as if the earth shook under Richard’s Club ..."

Source: Scott Bilington, in "Richard's Club and Boozoo Chavis: The Golden Years of Zydeco"

Richard's Club is now Miller's Zydeco Hall of Fame, but back in the day, it was one of the epicenters of Zydeco. Before that, it was on the Chitlin Circuit, hosting Big Mama Thornton, Fats Domino, and Ben E. King. B.B. King played here, and so did John Lee Hooker. When Zydeco became the club's focus, Boozoo Chavis, Clifton Chenier, Beau Jocque, and John Delafose reigned.

Former Richard's Club, now Miller's Zydeco Hall of Fame, Lawtell, Louisiana. 2015.

Some descriptors: 

From Bob Kiser in 2006: "The definitive rural Zydeco Club: unpolished; spartan; smoky; and dimly lit. .... Smooth and springy dance floor with low ceilings. ..... Ladies not prepared to dance close and get sweaty should pass this up." 

From a 2008 tripadvisor article: "Located on the highway a short distance from Lafayette in Lawtell, Richard's is a road house that features some of the best zydeco music in the region.  Things don't start heating up until after 10:30.   The music is lively and you will feel very welcomed by everyone, even if you are tourists."  

Richard's Club poster, October 1976, Lawtell, Louisiana. Source: Jean Lafitte Acadian Cultural Center, Lafayette, Louisiana.

From a 2008 Ind article, The House That Zydeco Built, by Nathan Stubbs: "People of all ages, and from all across the country, hang out on tailgates in the parking lot and around the front step’s of the Zydeco Hall of Fame. A giant smoker churns out barbecue pork sandwiches, while a film crew from Denmark conducts interviews. About 40 people are lined up outside the front door waiting to get in, but the line doesn’t move. The doorman’s not letting anybody through. The club reached its capacity crowd of about 350 an hour ago. By night’s end, 620 people will have passed through the club’s front doors. ... "

From a 2015 article on WXPN, by Scott Billington:  "Historians can look back to several junctures of time and place in American music when it was clear that something significant was happening. ... For zydeco, I would argue that it was Southwest Louisiana in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Boozoo Chavis came roaring back onto the scene at Richard’s Club in Lawtell. .... Richard’s Club, a long, low-ceilinged building that seemed in danger of shaking loose from its foundations when the music got loud and the dancers filled the floor. Shiny pickup trucks packed the parking lot and the shoulders of Highway 190, while Creole couples made the scene dressed in matching Western outfits with pressed jeans. Boozoo’s simple, relentlessly driving music was a sensation. .."


Richard's Club plays a role in documentaries and books, such as:

1994: Movie: Kingdom of Zydeco, directed by Robert Mugge
1998: Book: Kingdom of Zydeco, by Michael Tisserand
2015: Public TV series (WXPN in Philadelphia): Zydeco Crossroads

Here's a song performed by Beau Jocques, called "Richard's Club:"

Louisiana Movie: Zydeco: Creole Music and Culture in Rural Louisiana

Carriere brothers. Credit: CD Universe.

One of the reasons I chose Opelousas as my new South Louisiana base is because of its history, especially of the Creole culture and music. Lawtell, just outside of Opelousas, is (arguably) the home of Zydeco.

The 1986 documentary, Zydeco: Creole Music and Culture in Rural Louisiana, is a perfect companion to J'ai Ete Au Bal, the very entertaining movie about South Louisiana's Creole / Cajun music roots.

Some songs from Zydeco: Creole Music and Culture in Rural Louisiana:

Josephine C'est Pas Ma Femme (Josephine Isn't My Wife), below performed by Clifton Chenier:

Blues a Bebe, below performed by Beausoleil. Immerse yourself:

"Bebe Carriere" referred to in the song is Joseph "Bebe" Carriere, a Lawtell Creole musician who popularized this song back in his own day in the 40s and 50s.


Blue Runner, also popularized by Bebe Carriere, performed below by D'Jalma Garnier:

Two versions of Joe Pitre a Deux Femmes (Joe Pitre Has Two Women), a lazy, sexy one by Creole musician, Canray Fontenot, and another, more vigorous one, by Zydeco band Motodude Zydeco:

In the documentary, you can watch John Delafose perform the song at Slim's Y-Ki-Ki in Opelousas. Speaking of John Delafose, he's interviewed in this movie and also in another, just-as-delightful film, The Kingdom of Zydeco. Mr. Delafose comes across as an unflappable guy who doesn't give a flip for what other folks might be doing; he's good with what he's doing. He says about his music: "I think about making everybody happy" when performing.

In both films, you see Mr. Delafose's son, Geno, as an adolescent. In Zydeco, you see Geno Delafose's famous smile, and you also see where he got it - from his mama, Jo-Ann Delafose.

Prominent names from the movie include:

• Joseph "Bebe" Carriere and his brother Eraste Carriere
• Canray Fontenot
• Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin
• August Fusilier
• Norbert Auzenne
• Leon Guillory
• Arnold "Slim" Gradney
• Luke Collins
• Amadee Ardoin
• Queen Ida Guillory
• Clifton Chenier

In the musical context, the filmmakers focus on what they're calling the Cajun-Creole cultural renaissance, which took place mid-century-ish.

The documentary also delves into the Creole cultural of Opelousas, Lawtell, and some points a little west of here. It addresses some of the layers of exclusiveness/inclusiveness based on how light or dark one's complexion was. Viewers also learn about the Inseparable Friends Benevolent Society (IFBS), still active today. My understanding is that this organization was largely for Creole men (i.e. Afro-French) who were practicing Catholics.

Here's a 1966 audio-video recording of Canray Fontenot and Bois Sec Ardoin performing the Eunice Two Step and then Bonsoir Moreau.  Aiee, they can make you cry listening. If you go to youtube to watch it, read the comments, as well. Some family reunionizing going on in addition to what I see as a long-time cultural-identification-tension between Cajun-Creole and also the tension that exists in defining what it means to be Creole.

Look at Mr. Ardoin's foot go! Reminds me of another favorite foot-stomper, Wilson Savoy.

What comes shining through this documentary is the strong sense of family, community belonging, hard work, and that ol' joie de vivre that are intrinsic to the South Louisiana culture.

Loreauville, Louisiana: Clifton Chenier Club

In front-ish: Paul Wiltz, Corey Ledet, Lynn August, Lil Buck Sinegal. Clifton Chenier Club, June 2015.

Anytime I see something related to Loreauville, Louisiana, I feel a little peak of curious energy. The name "Loreauville" is associated in my brain with three things that don't necessarily make rational sense, but the brain does what it does:

1. The word "lurid;" 
2. Dave Robicheaux' references to the Loreauville area as an example of great wealth alongside wide and deep poverty; and
3. The name of a Florida village in an apocalyptic classic, Alas, Babylon, called Pistolville, a marginalized community of Canary Island descendants, kept at arm's length from the Anglo community. (BTW, here is a mini-doc on Canary Island descendants in Louisiana, and here an article.)

Clifton Chenier Club, Loreauville, Louisiana.

The Clifton Chenier Club is outside Loreauville, and the owner (a nephew of Clifton Chenier) was hosting his annual Clifton Chenier Birthday event. I so love how this cavernous club is smack among sugar cane fields. There's a mammoth barbecue alongside:

Clifton Chenier Club, Loreauville, Louisiana.

Mr. Chenier greets you when you walk in:

Clifton Chenier Club, Loreauville, Louisiana.

And looks appreciatively upon all the goings-on within:

Clifton Chenier Club, Loreauville, Louisiana.

Hahahaha, this reminds me of the Fiesta de San Francisco de Paula in Tularosa, New Mexico, when the parishioners carried St. Francis out to the pavilion so he could view the dancing also:

San Francisco de Paula, Tularosa, New Mexico. 

Sadly, there weren't many people who attended the Clifton Chenier Birthday event, possibly because it was on a Saturday afternoon only, plus the admission fee? I don't know. But the music was grand, with many of the musicians having been performers for decades, and a lot of them who played with Mr. Chenier back in the day.

2015 Clifton Chenier Birthday poster. Credit: Clifton Chenier Club.

It's tempting to take some of the musicians in South Louisiana for granted - so easy to forget they travel around the globe, preaching the gospel of zydeco and Cajun / Creole music and culture.

A friend of mine who lives in Toronto had the good fortune to hear zydeco for the first time recently and she used the best word to describe the experience: "infectious."

A slide show of the Clifton Chenier Birthday below:

There were other performers at the event, but I'm practicing with a new (to me) camera, and any other photos I took were miserable.

The club interior is low-lit and cozy even though it's huge. The stage, with its backdrop of Mr. Chenier and jewel-tone purples, golds, and emeralds, glitters. An assemblage of tables and chairs that are reminiscent of church basement halls across the US.  Ample dance floor.

No diet soda, though. I ran into a similar situation at the International Rice Festival in Crowley last year - I could not find a diet soda Any.Where. ... Oh wait, there was a moment in time, early on, apparently, when the vendors had Diet Dr. Pepper. I'd as soon drink from the Bayou Teche.

Louisiana Movie: The Kingdom of Zydeco

Documentary: The Kingdom of Zydeco, directed by Robert Mugge.

Watch the movie in its entirety here.

Holy moly, this is an entertaining documentary about zydeco! Let's call it a snapshot of where zydeco was in 1993-1994 - or it might be better said, a slice of zydeco at that time. The music is grand.

The main protagonists are Boozoo Chavis and Beau Jocque, each with his own style, I'd say Mr. Chavis is most notable for his now-legendary songs and Mr. Espre ("Beau Jocque") for his sexy, growly voice and big ol' bear presence. Both men are dead; Beau Jocque died early of an apparent heart attack.

Here's his song, Cornbread:

I loved seeing references to places I need to go check out, like Sid's One Stop and El Sido's Nightclub, and House Rocker Records, all in Lafayette. And Richard's in Lawtell (now defunct).

So this movie was made in the 1990s and there is an interview with a Mr. Paul Scott, who I saw at the recent Creole Day in Vermilionville. Twenty years later, I swear to God, he looks the same age. Mr. Scott was presented with the Richard J. Catalon Sr. Creole Heritage Award at Vermilionville.

It was also fun to listen to musician John Delafose (father of the famed Geno Delafose) perform and also give his thoughts about the so-called King of Zydeco business.

Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas (still performing) were also featured.

Watch the movie.

Lafayette: ZydeCO at the Feed n Seed

Feed n Seed, Lafayette, Louisiana. March 2015.

Went to the Feed n Seed for the first time yesterday. Glorious space.

Feed n Seed, Lafayette, Louisiana. March 2015.

Bouncy wood floor, high flyin' rafters, an assortment of odds-and-ends seating that rims the dance floor, a ladies' room restroom with simple affirmations that make you feel good, strong fans to keep you cool, and good acoustics. Oh yeah, and fine music.

Chubby Carrier + Wayne and Same Ol' Two-Step performed - two of my favorite zydeco bands.

Enjoy the dancing in this video - everyone with his and her own stamp on the zydeCO:

A ladies' room message to all who enter:

Feed n Seed, Lafayette, Louisiana. March 2015.

Louisiana: Plaisance: The Step-n-Strut Trail Ride

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

One of my goals for Louisiana was to go on (the term "go on" being open to interpretation) a trail ride. Not just any trail ride. A zydeco trail ride. A Creole trail ride.

I had my chance with the Step-n-Strut Trail Ride in Plaisance.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

To set the stage about the trail rides in Southwest Louisiana:  

Below is a lil diamond of a video (and love the song track) about Creole riders by documentarian Tabitha Denholm:

TRAIL RIDERS from Tabitha Denholm

A companion article she wrote is here.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

Cajun filmmaker Connie Castille created a lush documentary about the Cajun and Creole history with horses in her two-hour movie, T-Galop. You can watch the documentary in its entirety on Louisiana Public Television here.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

There was lots going on at the Step-n-Strut's home base


Food


Below is a man with a vertical griller/smoker that he made:

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

This man was cooking up some pork steaks early on, preparing for sale a little later.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

Pig tails. Squeak.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

Foot care

Look at this horse's beautiful tail:

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

There was more than one way to do the trail ride

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

Coming back


It was pretty to watch the tired riders and horses return as the sun was sinking. The light and the dust made a lovely backdrop.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

2014 Step-n-Strut Trail Ride, Plaisance, Louisiana. Credit: Mzuriana.

Videos

I took several videos. I really like this one because it has everything in a short piece - pretty horses, cantering horses, dancing, good music, a trailer with not only a port-a-potty but a full-size grill and a big sound system.

Here is a 13+ minute video of the trail ride rolling out. It has drama and flair and flash. It shows the various ways one can participate on the ride. There's even a bit of an altercation.

Here is a short-short with a lot of drama. Some poor dude is missing his jeans. One can only wonder at the story there.

Rolling out #3 is pretty jumpy, but it's short and it gives a good idea at the huge number of horses and riders participating on the ride.

Rolling out #4 shows fun on both trailers and horses.



A slide show here:

 

 

#30

Oh, yeah, and there was live music, too. This is South Louisiana, after all.

Lafayette: Scenes from Festivals de Acadiens et Creoles, #3

Jamming at the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Jams are an important part of sustaining the regional culture and, frankly, part of the tourist market. People come from all over the world to jam with local musicians. I say local musicians, but these same musicians have carried the musical message of South Louisiana to all points of the globe, creating new fans, who then make pilgrimages here.

Lafayette: Scenes from Festivals de Acadiens et Creoles, #1

Rubboards, Festivals de Acadiens et Creoles 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Rubboards, Festivals de Acadiens et Creoles 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Rubboards, Festivals de Acadiens et Creoles 2014, Lafayette, Louisiana.