Cajun Voice Dewey Balfa

[festbabe]

Check out this from Smithsonian (video, and cool sample clips in the store)

Hardly anyone listened to Cajun music before the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, when Dewey Balfa mesmerized a crowd of 17,000. He went on to form the Balfa Brothers Band and helped Cajun music win world acclaim. "I will not accept it as a second-class culture," the Basile, Louisiana, native said of his Cajun heritage. He died in 1992 at 65. Smithsonian Folkways recently digitized films of key Balfa performances.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/september/around_the_mall.php?utm_source=webtoc09&utm_medium=redirects&utm_campaign=septemberMag#4

(Having spent the whole weekend playing and hearing traditional German folk songs for Oktoberfest, I'm amazed at the musical similarities between traditional German & Cajun music.)

[Crawfish Fest]

The Diatonic* Accordion
Cajun Music, A Reflection Of A People, Vol. I, Ann Allen Savoy

Sometimes called a "squeeze box" or a "Cajun accordion," the diatonic accordion came to Louisiana from Germany.

http://www.meloche.net/acchist.htm

[festbabe]

Very cool to know, thanks for the info.

Both Cajuns and Germans LOVE to dance, so I see that similarity also. Fun to watch. :)

[Crawfish Fest]

Very cool to know, thanks for the info.

Both Cajuns and Germans LOVE to dance, so I see that similarity also. Fun to watch. :)

your welcome, i remembered reading that somewhere, i googled it
michael

[LisaRI]

here in RI, one of the best places to hear accordion based music from LA/TX, sung in French, is at the events booked by an Italian-American at the German Club in Pawtucket. all love accordions! So last weekend's October fest (http://salsrbclub.com/the_club_004.htm)featured Blues, Cajun and zydeco


upcoming events (http://salsrbclub.com/the_club_003.htm)

http://bp2.blogger.com/_W_bcLNjyPJU/RvHVKLejZoI/AAAAAAAAAEI/is3fJwrNMMU/s400/DSCF0232.JPG

[LisaRI]

Hardly anyone listened to Cajun music before the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, when Dewey Balfa mesmerized a crowd of 17,000. He went on to form the Balfa Brothers Band and helped Cajun music win world acclaim.

the RI-Cajun connection!

[festbabe]

the RI-Cajun connection!

Aha! :D

[Moon]

I had the great fortune of seeing Dewey Balfa at my first fest in '85. While I had heard zydeco before, this was my first exposure to real cajun music. I've been a huge fan ever since.