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Welcome to "Cajun Corner".
The main reason for my first visit to Louisiana was purely musical.
I wanted to experience the atmosphere of those Cajun-songs in their original environment.
During my visit also the interest in the whole Cajun-culture grew.
Although their ancestors had a hard time, the Cajuns are a proud and optimistic folk.
This site is made to promote that great music from Southwest Louisiana's "Cajun Country".
On the Cajun Corner, you'll find information about Cajun, Zydeco & Swamp Pop music from
in and outside Louisiana.
Laissez les bons temps rouler !
Don't hesitate to contact me…
Yvieboy
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Game
Scroll down a few articles and watch the picture of Shane Leger & Cajun Xtreme.
Now if you zoom on that pictureIf, you may see that man here...
That man surely didn't have "un autre soir ennuyant" right then.
If you can tell me who's that man standing there, you may have chance to win a bottle of "Chateau Richard".
Added : 11 1, 2004
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Li’l Anne and Hot Cayenne
style : Zydeco
This band, based in the Northeast of the U.S., had its first gig in February 2002. Now they already became quite popular and shared the stage with big Zydeco stars, such as Willis Prud’homme, Roy Carrier, Zydeco Force and Sean Ardoin.
Listening to their cd “Li’l Anne and Hot Cayenne”, I can only confirm they play real quality Zydeco. The sound is great and being recorded live, these 13 tracks give the real atmosphere of a live concert (when played loud enough, of course). Li’l Anne (Anne Stork) learned to play the accordion by Willis Prud’homme 4 years ago. Just like Willis she also plays the one-row button accordion. Not only Cajun music, but also Zydeco sounds great out of such a box! The cd includes 3 zydeco-songs from Willis Prud’homme: “Salty Dog”, “Goin’ Down The Road” and “Speed Bump”. From Boozoo Chavis they play the swingin’ Zydeco song “I Wanna Go Home” and the nice bluesy Zydeco “Tell Me What’s The Matter”. The 2 fine tracks from Robby Robinson (Zydeco Force) also fit this band. These rhythmic Zydeco-songs are “Party Goin’ On” and “B-Flat”. Funky Zydeco is also present with “Have Mercy” and Keith Frank’s “Funky Feet”.
They’re all real good musicians and rubboard-player Phil Sanguedolce has a good strong Zydeco-voice.
more info on :
http://www.lilanneandhotcayenne.com
Added : 11 1, 2004
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The Cajun Tradition – “A La Vieille Façon”
style : Cajun
Singer-accordion player Jamie Berzas founded “The Cajun Tradition” in 1979. This exciting band is from Mamou, Louisiana.
Swallow Records originally released “A La Vieille Façon” on album in 1988, which has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Traditional Folk recording” in 1989. Now they remastered these 10 tracks and put it on cd.
“Cajun Tradition Special” is a great starter. It’s a self-made instrumental, a bit in the style of Lawrence Walker’s “Mamou Two-Step”. Following is a great traditional sounding waltz, written and sung by the great fiddler Lee Manuel. Lee also sings his own “It’s My Mistake” (which could have been called “Red River Waltz”, because it sounds a bit as a waltz version of “Red River Rock”) and Fred Charlie’s “Mom, Tell Me”, another Cajun waltz. “I’m Cajun” is a nice Two-Step written and sung by rhythm guitarist Mark Young, who also sings Dewey Balfa’s “Mardi Gras Song” and his own “The Day You Left”, which is a waltz in the style of “99 Year Waltz”. Jamie Berzas vocals can be admired on his original “Louisiana Two-Step”, on Dewey Balfa’s outstanding “When I Was Poor” (“Quand J’étais Pauvre”) and on his Cajun waltz “Forever”, co-written with Lee Manuel. This is a real fine cd with 7 originals out of 10. The lyrics of the originals are all included (with the English translations). There’s only 28 minutes and 43 seconds of music on this cd, but it’s all real good Cajun and the cd is also lower priced than the “60-minutes” cd’s.
Added : 10 30, 2004
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Nancy Tabb Marcantel – “Louisiana Makes Me Smile”
This Louisiana lady sings a nice repertoire of Acadian pop, ballads and Country with a Cajun flavour in. She sings in English and in French. She spent a time in Canada, which can be heard on her accent (while she’s singing in French), which is quite different from other Cajuns. Let’s say people from Paris will understand her French easier than for example that from D.L. Menard. This is also one of the things that makes her music different from pure Cajun music.
This cd, released on Musique Acadienne, starts out with “Louisiana Makes Me Smile”, which is one of her real nice Cajun-Country songs. This version is in English, but a bit further on the cd you also find that same song overdubbed with French vocals. She did the same with Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou / Doux Bayou” and “Down At The Twist And Shout / Allons En Louisiane”. On a cd, which includes 23 tracks, you surely can see those “other” versions as nice extras. “Ma Louisiane” (which is a French version of “Take Me Home Country Roads”) and “Jambalaya” are 2 tracks, which are released on one of her 45rpm singles on Swallow Records. Nancy also sings a lot of ballads, which fit well to her smooth voice.
If I have to compare this singer with others, I think I’d compare her with Lucille Star and Crystal Plamondon. Nancy Tabb Marcantel me fait sourire…
more info on :
http://www.nancytabbmarcantel.com/
http://musiqueacadienne.com/
Added : 10 27, 2004
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Belton Richard – “The older the wine, the finer the taste!”
style : Cajun
In the fall of 2003, Belton Richard released “The Older The Wine, The Finer The Taste!” on Swallow Records. I know it’s a bit late to review this cd here now, but you Cajuns surely will understand, me, Thibodeaux, let the wine grow a bit older to make it taste still better!
And yes! I just took a first taste from this cd and I like it so much I took the rest of the bottle. I like every second on this cd! About 2164 seconds of great Cajun music (with a nice Swamp Pop taste).
Belton Richard (and the other great musicians, which are Rodney Miller, Pat Smith, Joey Savoy, Chad & Glen Cormier) starts out with a great Swamp Pop-Cajun version of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You”. He made a typical Belton Richard song out of it. The song is done with great French vocals, a bit in the style of his own super-hit “Un Autre Soir Ennuyant”. I was even more surprised when I heard his French version of Buck Owens’ fantastic “Tiger By The Tall”. Sounds wonderful with those Cajun accordion solo’s! “What You Did With My Life”, “God Will Come For You” and “Memories On The Table” are 3 new Cajun waltzes, Belton wrote for this cd. These traditional waltzes bring your mind straight to the swamps of South Louisiana (if it isn’t already there). Belton added a candle to the famous ballad “Sixteen Candles”, which made it easier to sing this song in French. “Call On Me” and “Dancehall Two-Step” are 2 new fabulous two-steps he wrote. “Knock Knock Knock” is the French version of the Rock’n’Roll classic “Keep A-Knockin’”, which already has been done a few times as “Tu Peux Cogner, Mais Tu Peux Pas Rentrer”, mostly by Zydeco-bands. When Belton is playing that kind of songs, he makes me think a bit at Bruce Daigrepont, who surely must be a big fan of Belton. The cd ends with 3 great waltzes: Lawrence Walker’s “Midnight Waltz” (which is the waltz version of Iry LeJeune’s “Grande Nuit Especial”), Shirley Bergeron’s “J’ai Fait Mon Idée” and Lawrence Walker’s “Reno Waltz”. I hope you’re thirsty enough to taste Belton’s wine (“Chateau Richard”)… but drive carefully!
Belton Richard surely still has got that magic in his voice & his fingers!
Added : 10 26, 2004
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Shane Leger & Cajun Xtreme
style : Cajun
Here’s a brand new Louisiana Cajun band, formed in June 2004. Singer-accordionist Shane Leger is from great origin, being grandchild of the late Claby Richard (Adam Hebert’s accordionist) and great nephew of Belton Richard (that big Cajun legend who’s wine tasting better every year). The whole band already has a big musical background. On their website (see link below), which is still partly under construction, you already can download a small, but real good, live video sample from their version of “Lacassine Special”. It really sounds like good Cajun to me, so I can only say I hope to hear & see more of this band soon.
more info on :
http://www.cajunxtreme.com/
Added : 10 25, 2004
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The Zydeco Alligators
style : Zydeco
This German band is re-formed in January 2001.
Very shortly after their first official cd “Live in Neustadt”, they released “Louisiana Ball” in 2002. From the 12 tracks, there are 7 Zydeco Alligators’ originals, including “Move To Louisiana”, “Zydeco Dance”, “Louisiana Ball”, “Bus Drivin’ Man” and “Zydeco Makes Me Feel Alright” that surely are highlights on this cd. These songs sound very professional in every way. It’s a real original mix of Zydeco and Swamp-Poppy Rock’n’Roll. Other highlights in my opinion are Freddie KRC’s “Dat Crawfish” and Sidney Simien’s “You Ain’t Nothing But Fine”, which are both very fine danceable Zydeco tracks.
On 29th November 2003 they recorded their live concert in Berlin, which resulted in another cd, called “Big City Night”. The sound is really good & lively and again you’ll hear a nice gumbo of Zydeco, Rock’n’Roll, Swamp Pop, Soul & Rockin’ Blues dipped in swamp sauce. On this one there are 5 original songs (other tracks than on “Louisiana Ball”). The 11 tracks on this cd are good for 63 minutes of real good live dance-music. A great professional band!
more info on :
http://www.zydecoalligators.de/
Added : 10 24, 2004
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Hackberry Ramblers bass player dead at 79
John A. "Johnny" Faulk, bass player from the Hackberry Ramblers, died Sunday at a Lake Charles Hospital after falling ill unexpectedly earlier in the week. The Hackberry Ramblers exist since 1933, but Faulk joined around 1979. Although the band celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, it won national acclaim in more recent years, with a Grammy nomination and a film on PBS earlier this year, "Make'em Dance: the Hackberry Ramblers Story."
Faulk had performed as recently as last weekend in New Orleans when the band played a fais-do-do at Tipitina's dance hall and at the Prytania Theatre, following a showing of the film.He was one of the youngest members of the band - the founders are still playing in their 90s. And Faulk was the band's showman, the live wire whose whoops and hollers from the back line sparked the performances."He will be deeply, deeply missed - both as a person and musically," said Ben Sandmel, the band's drummer and manager. "He was the sweetest guy in the world, just a wonderful person."
Sandmel said the band will continue to perform - they have a wedding this weekend in Mandeville, a performance in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 28, and an appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on Oct. 30. "It'll be heartbreaking to play without him, but it is absolutely what he
would want us to do," Sandmel said.
Survivors include Faulk's wife of 59 years, Eddie Mae Faulk, one son and three daughters - and a large extended family. Sandmel noted that 18 of Faulk's relatives accompanied them on one performance at the Grand Ole Opry.
Funeral services were set for Thursday at Johnson Funeral Home in Lake Charles, followed by burial at Grand Lake Community Cemetery.
more info on :
http://www.hackberryramblers.com/
Added : 10 20, 2004
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Colinda
style : Cajun
Colinda is a Cajun band from Berlin, Germany. On their own label, they released a nice cd, called “The good times are killing me”. It starts out with a real fine fresh “Hackberry Hop”, played with a lot of enthusiasm. Great work from the fiddler; and the vocals are a bit in the style of Michael Doucet (from Beausoleil). Following is a nice version of the Zydeco-song “Paper In My Shoes”. The sound of Zydeco music played with Cajun accordion gives a bit of a Nathan Abshire sound. “Valse de Coeur Cassé” is a nice waltz written by Aldes Broussard (who is accordion player for Ed Gary and the Louisiana Cajun Aces). Colinda’s version is really good as well! The music on “La Danse de Mardi Gras” is great. The ‘tit fer always gives a nice atmosphere to Cajun music and especially the great sounding fiddle makes the song here. The (multi-) vocals are technically not always perfect, but since we prefer to hear spontaneity & enthusiasm in the voices, rather than perfection, that’s all right. The sound of the accordion is great and simple (traditionally played) on “Danse de Limonade” and “Blues de Porth Arthur” (with nice washboard). “Mon Vieux Wagon” is also really well played and sung.
“Zydeco Gris Gris”, again with great sounding fiddle, is a song that fits the band very good. Again you can hear a bit that Beausoleil-style. I can resume that Colinda is real good German Cajun band. With these guys on your stage, your (wedding) party can’t go wrong!
more info on :
http://www.colinda.de
Added : 10 18, 2004
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Cory McCauley and his Evangeline Aces
style : Cajun
Cory, who currently lives in Houston, Texas, grew up in Soileau, Louisiana, where he learned to play Cajun accordion from Hadley Fontenot (early Balfa Brothers). After Fontenot’s death in 1987, he kept on searching for the old and rare Cajun stuff, on which he based his own music style. So he picked up a lot of forgotten tunes and refreshed those songs with a lot of passion. The name "Evangeline Aces" is a combination of the names of 2 of McCauley's favourite bands, Austin Pitre's Evangeline Playboys and Lawrence Walker's Wandering Aces. This band (including Lisa, Cory’s wife, on guitar and also vocals) plays their music exactly in the same good old traditional Cajun way. In 1999 they recorded the cd “Play That Thing, Yeah Jack!” on a label called Fais Do Do. You can hear 4 tracks from this cd on http://npmusic.org/artists.html
I’m not surprised this CD has received a nomination as “Recording of the Year” from the Cajun French Music Association. It’s impossible not to move, while hearing these songs! It’s all played and sung so beautiful, with so many feeling! Traditional Cajun music from heart to heart!
more info on :
http://www.accessallareas.info/corymccauley.html
Added : 10 12, 2004
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