18. Michael Doucet and BeauSoleil – Bayou Deluxe

Okay, I may sound like a broken record, but I love blues and just about every single sub-genre of it.  Low and behold, Tom Moon has suggested a “greatest hits” as it were album for BeauSoleil.  Zydeco.  Bayou music.  I absolutely love zydeco.  Accordions,  fiddles, guitars, stand up basses, washboards, jugs, and spoons are the instruments of choice in traditional zydeco.  I’ve heard tracks from BeauSoleil, but never an entire recording so I’m more than a little excited.

Fiddler, Michael Doucet, was part of the reason for the “Cajun Renaissance” of the 1970′s.  Zydeco was a declining genre, and with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts he started his quest to breathe some life into it.  He succeeded, and even managed to put his own twist on things.  BeauSoleil is zydeco at its heart, but Doucet twists in Irish reels, funk, and calypso to give it an edge.  So, here goes nothing.

(By the way, this was the first time I actually had to go physically buy the album to stay legal.  If you guys needed proof that I’m definitely committed to this thing, that should do it)

For y’all’s sake, I’ll only comment on songs that I think will be my favorites and ones that I here that Michael Doucet twist, otherwise its just going to be “This song is so fun” and “Zydeco is one of my favorite sub genres”.  I will listen critically as well or I wouldn’t be doing what I originally have set out to do.

Le Jig Francais – Strong first track, gets me excited to listen to the rest of the album.  The lyrics are in Cajun French so I can only pick out a few things but who cares? It sounds like they’re having fun.

Zydeco Gris-Gris – This song has got some electric guitars and what sounds like an electric piano, but is probably synthesizer.  It’s pure zydeco, but I would put this in the “contemporary zydeco” folder.

Dimanche Apres-Midi – This might be my least favorite on the album (at least so far). Musically there isn’t much going on, and its heavier on vocals.  Perhaps if I understood Cajun better, I’d love it.

Chez Seychelles – I hear a slight Irish reel in this.  Actually its quite blatant, but they “cajunize” it.  It works, and quite pleasant.

Well, of course I loved listening to this, and I don’t regret having to actually buy the album.  If anyone has never listened to zydeco or have never heard zydeco that they liked, I would recommend any of BeauSoleil’s albums.  They are probably one of the greatest representatives of the genre.

I would never have stuck zydeco as a sub genre of blues, (when I put the CD into my computer iTunes put it in the “world” category), but I figure that Tom Moon knows more about that than I do, so I’m just going to roll with that when I categorize the blog, in case anyone was wondering why it was stuck there.

As usual, thank you Tom Moon, and thank you to Cactus Music in Houston for ordering this little gem for me.

Also, coming up in the next few weeks, Mr. Moon has recommended a box set to listen to from the book.  The question is, should I have one large post on the entire set or should each CD from the set get its own post.  Send me your suggestions to blairlovesmusic@gmail.com, comment below, or send me a tweet at @Blairness.  Love you guys!

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