"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.

Alphabetically arranged biographies of 132 musicians.

With Clifton Chenier's amazing life and career as the centerpiece, this collection of profiles gathered across two decades unites some of the world's most innovative creative forces.

Louisiana’s unique multicultural history has led to the development of more styles of American music than anywhere else in the country. Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians compiles over 1,600 native creators, performers, and recorders of the state’s indigenous musical genres. The culmination of years of exhaustive research, Gene Tomko’s comprehensive volume not only reviews major and influential artists but also documents for the first time hundreds of lesser-known notable musicians. Arranged in accessible A–Z format—from Fernest “Man” Abshire to Zydeco Ray—Tomko’s concise entries detail each musician’s life and career, reflecting exciting new discoveries about many enigmatic and early artists: Country Jim, Henry Zeno, Douglas Bellard, Good Rockin’ Bob, Blind Uncle Gaspard, Emma L. Jackson, and Rocket Morgan, to name just a few. A separate section features musicians from elsewhere who made an impact in Louisiana, such as Mississippi-born blues singer-songwriter-guitarist Eddie “Guitar Slim” Jones and celebrated jazz pianist Billie Pierce, a native of Florida. The final section highlights key regional record producers and studio and label owners, like J. D. Miller, Stan Lewis, and Cosimo Matassa, who have enabled future generations to enjoy music of the Bayou State. Written with both the casual fan and the scholar in mind, Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians is the definitive reference on Louisiana’s rich musical legacy and the numerous important musicians it has produced.

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.

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

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.