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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Issue
72
JANUARY 2019
30 Years of Rockin’ the Dancefloor S T E V E R I L E Y A N D T H E M A M O U P L A Y B O Y S H E S T . 19 8 8
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com David Simpson
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
No.72 | January 2019
4 Birthday Bash at St. Pete Cajun and Zydeco Social Club Celebrate DJ Jim’s birthday on Jan. 8 (6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.) and more good times on Jan. 15 at Caddy’s on Central in St. Pete.
Features 6 More! More! More Stories and Reviews of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys!
Over the past 30 years, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys has been the hottest and most creative of Louisiana Cajun bands since its founding in 1988. With 14 albums produced to date, every one is a gem worth owning.
46 Two Typefaces That Were Released in 1988
Avenir and Rotis, released the year Mamou Playboys formed, used this issue.
Cajun Zydeco Community 48 Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band in Florida
Catch Chubby Carrier this month in Tampa, Naples or North Fort Myers.
50 2019 Festival-O-Rama!
A summary of events just added at FloridaCajunZydeco.com/Festivals
54 Outside Florida
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y a d h t r i b f o e c e i p a e We hav 8 y r a u n a J e h t t a u o y cake for
e c n a D o c e d y Z n u j Ca . l a r t n e C n o s ’ y d d a C t a
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Celebrate with us Tuesday, Jan. 8 Join us 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with great music and dancing celebrating DJ Jim’s birthday, and there is no cover! Just drop by, and let your hair down. And, please support Caddy’s while you’re there. Caddy’s, 217 Central Ave., St. Pete 33701
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Tuesday, Jan. 8 and Tuesday, Jan. 15 6 : 30 P.M. T O 9:30 P.M. Twice monthly Cajun and zydeco dance at Caddy’s on Central in downtown St. Pete on the first and third Tuesdays. Good mix of danceable music by Cajun and zydeco artists singing about death, divorce, drinking and dancing. No cover charge. No membership dues. Caddy’s is at 217 Central Ave., St. Pete 33701. Go to www.FloridaCajunZydeco.com for more information.
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com MORE! MORE! MORE STORIES AND REVIEWS OF STEVE RILEY AND THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS!
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teve Riley and the Mamou Playboys has been the hottest and most creative of Louisiana Cajun bands since its founding in 1988. Very likely, this is the first band I danced to on a cool November evening at the old Vasa Hall in San Diego. The band has spent a lot of those years on the road playing for grateful dancers around the world, and I haven't missed an opportunity to see them. A native of Mamou, and cousin to accordion player and builder Marc Savoy, Steve Riley became a protĂŠgĂŠ of Dewey
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Photo by David Simpson
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Steve Riley, 2018
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo from LSU Archives
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Dewey Balfa and Eli Stutes, circa 1979
Balfa's when he was only 15, learning to play the Balfa Brothers and Marc Savoy's driving, intricate style. Another apprentice to Balfa was original Mamou Playboys fiddler, singer and band co-founder, David Greely, who doubled on tenor sax, and was the band's researcher and historian. Greely has suffered hearing loss and retired from the band in 2011, but still makes appearances on stage with the Mamou
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Co-founders of the Mamou Playboys, David Greely and Steve Riley, 2006.
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo by David Simpson
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Mamou Playboys circa 2010.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! Playboys. Dewey Balfa is credited with launching the Cajun music revival of the 1960s with his performances at the Newport Folk Festival. In a July 2015 interview, Riley said he was 15 years old when he met Balfa, and the Cajun music icon became his hero. “I had the opportunity to play with him until his death in the early 90s,” says Riley. “I learned so much from him, musically and how to present myself and our music and the history behind it all.” Dr. Barry Ancelet, Professor at the University of Louisiana and expert in French Louisiana Folklore, describes the music of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys as, “Cajun music with wind in its hair … moving a little faster and flying a little higher than anybody anticipated. It’s like a wonderful surprise, like magic.” The band quickly began to build a reputation for excellence. Their stunningly clean and cohesive performance of Cajun French music from the backwaters of Southwest Louisiana propelled them into the world music limelight early on, and by their third release, Trace of Time in 1993,
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com had garnered them a Grammy nomination in the worldwide field of traditional folk music. More Grammy nominations came in 2004 for Bon Rêve, in 2009 for Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, in 2011 for Grand Isle and in 2015 for Voyageurs. Riley won the coveted Grammy Award in 2012 for his work in The Band Courtbouillon with Wayne Toups and Wilson Savoy. From the earliest recording in 1990 titled Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys produced by Zachary Richard, critics applauded the emergence of a new generation of Cajun artists. “When accordion player-singer Steve Riley and his band the Mamou Playboys came out of Louisiana in the late 1980s, it came as a pleasant surprise to hear younger musicians embrace traditional Cajun music with so much enthusiasm. This rewarding CD doesn't contain zydeco or experimental Cajun music a la Wayne Toups & Zydecajun, but instead, is highly traditional in its approach. The band sticks to traditional Cajun songs such as ‘Ton Papa Et Ta Maman M'ont Jete Dehors,’ ‘Valse De La Belle’
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Steve Riley, bassist Brazos Huval, and guitarist Sam Broussard. The band has had several guitarists over the years. Kevin Barzas was the band's guitarist on the first four albums until 1995. Jimmy Domengeaux appears on the next four albums until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1999. Roddie Romero took over guitar duties briefly, but Sam Broussard has been a permanent fixture in the lineup for the past fifteen years. Broussard recorded Broken Promised Land with Barry Jean Ancelet, and solo projects Veins and Geeks. Prior to joining the Mamou Playboys, Broussard appeared on recordings with T-Mamou, Michael Doucet, and Sonny Landreth.
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Photos by David Simpson
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David Greely
Sam Broussard
and ‘La Pointe Aux Pins,’ and most of the lyrics are sung in French. The band's supporters commented that its repertoire was something one would expect from older Cajuns, but thankfully, this CD gives us the chance to enjoy these classics with the digital sound quality of 1990.” In 1995, a concert reviewer wrote about the contrast between the Mamou Playboys and another Louisiana band on the bill, Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers. “Mr. Riley and the Playboys' fiddler, David Greely, sing in Cajun
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Kevin Wimmer, Steve Riley, Sam Broussard and Brazos Huval
French, and their new songs diverge just slightly from traditional ones by changing key or adding touches of country and rockabilly. The two-steps had an amiable lilt, but the set's centerpiece arrived when Mr. Riley switched from accordion to fiddle. With Mr. Greely, he played hearty, resonant duets that found the warmth and mystery within drone harmony. Among them were ‘La Toussaint,’ a pensive waltz that is the title track of the band's new album.
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo by David Simpson
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CC Adcock and Steve Riley. Adcock has produced several of the band’s albums.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! “Where the Mamou Playboys lifted dancers, the Zydeco Hi-Rollers bulldozed them with propulsive vamps. Playing zydeco for a rock audience, the band is a dance-music machine, as single-minded as James Brown's J. B.'s or a techno rhythm programmer. Mr. Jocque, a big man with a hearty baritone, spent as much time barking percussive exhortations — ‘git it!,’ ‘kik-kik-kik-kik!’ — as he did singing; the rhythm section steamed ahead. Beau Jocque's music is narrow and utilitarian, but it does its job with real moxie.” Also in 1995, the band released its first album of original music, La Toussaint, which includes one of my favorite waltzes, “Katherine," composed by David Greely. In the liner notes, the band writes, “Writing, arranging and recording our own music has been both gratifying and unifying for the band. This is a connection we have all wanted for a long time. And, our music has expanded so much in range, with guitar leads, triple-row accordion, walking bass, and swinging fiddle — all in addition to our signature Cajun
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com sound. We were taught that Cajun music should always be an adventure, always refreshed with new ideas, full of surprises and mischief. So take a journey with us, grab your dance partner, and drink an earful of our South Louisiana: past, present and future.”
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“The music was a mix of traditional Cajun blended with new sounds creating surprises within a known formula. It was like biting into a chocolate with a surprise center. You know it is going to be good but it gets even better.”
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he band released a tribute album in 1997, Friday At Last, dedicated to all the traditional Cajun dancehall bands that came before. The tunes are culled from the masters of Cajun music — most of them
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Steve Riley, 2008
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“Danser San Com
(Dancing Without
mprendre�
t Understanding)
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo by David Simpson
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Steve Riley is inducted into Fred's Lounge Wall of Fame, 2018.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! gone, but their memories living on in their music. According to reviewer Donna Eckberg, fiddlers are prominent in these selections. Dewey Balfa is represented with the mournful “Valse du Bambocheur” or Drunkard's Waltz. All parts are played and carefully dubbed by Steve Riley on guitar, vocals, fiddle and triangle to capture the spirit of the Balfa Brothers. “Adieu Rosa,” from fiddler Dennis McGee, is a bluesy tune which bids good-bye to a disreputable woman. This song is in the old style which dates back to the 1930s, before the spin-off and development of modern day zydeco music. Two tunes from Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot also have that old time zydeco bounce. “Allons Danser,” sung in Riley's boyish voice, tells of a man who sees a beautiful woman and invites her to dance. She claims she doesn't know how, but that doesn't matter. He insists she come into his arms and dance. The song has a timeless quality and shows that things haven't changed much when it comes to dance and romance. The Wayne Perry Blues is one of the best discoveries on
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Photo by David Simpson
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David Greely, 2009
this CD. David Greely revived this lilting one-step from a 1934 field recording by Alan Lomax of fiddler Wayne Perry. Greely's execution of this tune is filled with beauty and emotion.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! You can't go wrong with the three fiddlers in this group. Bassist Peter Schwartz takes up the lead fiddle to play a waltz he composed for Dewey Balfa's daughter Christine's wedding, “Le Pere de la Nouvelle Mariee” (The Father of the Newly Married). Greely joins with harmony to create a sensuous twin fiddle experience. Accordion masters are also represented on this disc. A waltz from Aldous Roger, “Comment Je Vas Faire Si Je Peux Pas T'Avoir” (How Will I Go On If I Can't Have You?) showcases Riley's accordion technique and the group's tight three-part harmony vocals. The “Lawrence Walker Medley” features the beauty and full range of the unaccompanied Cajun accordion. Other selections include guest Randall Foreman on steel guitar and have that driving Cajun dance hall sound. The “Mamou Playboys Special,” arranged by Riley, and “Enterre Moi Pas” (Don't Bury Me) have the energy to propel you around the dance floor. The steel guitar adds punch, matching the rhythms of the button accordion.
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ot commonly appreciated was the groundbreaking 1998 Mamou Playboys album, Bayou Ruler. It didn't receive a Grammy nomination, but it may be the most influential album the band has recorded. As Kristi Guillory tells it, she was ready to retire from performing Cajun music at age 19 [see story on Bonsoir Catin, Update! #68]. As a teen, Guillory had formed her own band, recorded three albums of mostly original music while still in high school, and was named Female Vocalist of the Year by Cajun French Music Association. She decided to retire from music and pursue an academic career at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, saying she was frustrated with the restrictions of playing traditional Cajun music solely in the styles inherited from generations of largely amateur music makers of the 20th century. Soon after, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys released their Bayou Ruler album in 1998 that would change the
27 Photo by David Simpson
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo by David Simpson
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David Greely, Kevin Wimmer, Kevin Dugas and Steve Riley, 2017.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! course of Cajun music, blending Cajun music with a variety of hard-roots sounds borrowed from electric blues, roadhouse honky-tonk, and pedal-to-the-metal rock n’ roll — music that Riley said his generation wanted to hear. Other Cajun bands formed that further bent the definition of Cajun music: Pine Leaf Boys, Feufollet, Red Stick Ramblers and Kevin Naquin. Guillory returned to writing and producing her own compositions with the founding of Bonsoir, Catin in 2004. It was the release of Bayou Ruler that hastened a change in the way new Cajun bands would approach the genre.
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n 2003, the Mamou Playboys released Bon Rêve (Sweet Dream) to great acclaim from fans and critics alike. Remarkably, many of the reviews by fans are far more insightful than from the paid reviewers who have only a passing interest in the artist. Here are some reviews from music fans posted to the amazon.com website. “At 2003's Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette, LA , this CD was called the ‘Sergeant Pepper's’ of Cajun music by festival
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com founder and Cajun historian Barry Ancelet. In returning to the sound of traditional Cajun music, SRMP has also made a thoroughly contemporary Cajun record. With virtuouso musicianship featuring Steve Riley's accordion playing, David Greely on fiddle, Sam Broussard on Cajun lead guitar, Kevin Dugas keeping a steady drum beat and Brazos Huval pumping bass guitar, plus thoughtful arrangements, soaring harmony vocals and varying instrumental textures, the band celebrates the riches to be found in Cajun tradition, yet is firmly footed in a modern music aesthetic. Bon Rêve demonstrates just how vibrant Cajun music still is, and contains some wonderful new songs including the title track, ‘Vini Jilie,’ ‘Maline,’ and ‘Coco d'oeil dans le fond du puit,’ plus some excellent renditions of songs by Dennis McGee, Belton Richard, Carlton Frank and Amedee Ardoin. If you turn on the radio in Acadiana these days, you will be hearing a lot of this great CD. This is SRMP's best effort to date — and has earned the band a well-deserved Grammy nomination.” — SF Bayou
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Steve Riley, Brazos Huval and Sam Broussard, 2016.
“I was attending my 16th Festivals Acadiene in Lafayette, LA, in September, 2003, when I heard each song on this album performed live at Grant Street Dance Hall. The audience went wild after each selection. He said this CD can't be bought anywhere near here tonight, so if you want it you
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Kevin Wimmer and Steve Riley, 2017.
Photo by David Simpson
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! must buy it here. Knowing I had to have it, I chose instead to not stop watching the show and wait until later. He was right, I couldn't find it in the weeks to come.” — B. Moon “How do these guys do it? SRMP always seem to excel with every effort and yet keep it fresh. Even updates of Cajun standards sound better than the originals. One thing that is impressive is that you can tell they're having fun making music without getting sloppy like so many other bands that drop the quality for goofin' around. Best effort to date.” — C. Bures
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reachery, struggle, loneliness, and hardship sometimes touch everyone in Louisiana, especially when mother nature has paid an unwelcome visit, and politicians are slow in coming to the rescue, or a corporation’s greed or government corruption and ineptitude put the region’s natural environment in peril. These have been realities in Louisiana, and the Mamou Playboys have found them good subject matter for two of their albums: Happytown and Grand Isle. Tunes on these albums bear witness to suffering and struggle, but at the same time continually provide music that keeps the dance hall moving. It is strange, but Louisianans never find sadness to get in the way of a good dance. It is the songwriter’s job to tell a story that can be heard and felt, perhaps giving the listener no option but to understand things differently. And Cajuns have it in their DNA to dance, no matter how sorrowful or disturbing the story. Reviewer Daniel Garrett had a lot to say about Steve Riley
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! and music in general, but the following four paragraphs seem to make some good points: “Producing a career retrospective does something for an artist—makes vivid his development and standards, his achievement; and usually it both disciplines and invigorates. That explains some of the energy to be found in the songs on Grand Isle, by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, an album that takes a look at the American south, particularly Louisiana, and features an Allison Bohl photograph on its cover of an oil-smeared bird, referring to the year 2010 oildrilling catastrophe that threatened wildlife in the Gulf area. “We don’t put out an album unless we have something to say,” Steve Riley told musician-writer Dege Legg of the Independent Weekly (“Stepping Out of The Box,” January 26, 2011), of the band he formed when he was 18. “It’d been five years since they made a record,” said C.C. Adcock of the album Grand Isle, produced by Adcock, who has performed with rock-and-roll pioneer Bo Diddley and zydeco master Buckwheat Zydeco, and previously produced
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Mamou Playboys, 2012.
the Riley/Mamou Playboys controversial recordings Bayou Ruler (1998) and Happy Town (2001). “I think things had become a little stale from constantly touring and just the monotony of what it’s like to be a working, touring band these days, which is harder and harder to do — there’s not a lot of people that can do it and still make a decent wage.” Adcock and the band focused on the quality of the songs, as they worked to achieve something different. “The
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Dancing to Mamou Playboys, 2012.
design is like a South Louisiana vinyl listening party; no two records ever sound the same no matter how drunk you get,” guitarist Sam Broussard told Dege Legg. On Grand Isle, in ‘Dancing Without Understanding,’ Steve Riley makes a point of cultural difference. Yet, the question is, do we use our differences to separate us, to inspire contempt or dismissal, or, with affection and respect, to enrich each other? In the production notes, Adcock
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David Greely and Kevin Wimmer, 2016.
acknowledges that in the song affirming Cajun heritage, ‘Dancing without Understanding,’ Riley, the band, and Adcock used musical references to the Thompson Twins, Ah-Ha, and the Wilburys as well as Don Henley of the Eagles — embracing pop music outside the Cajun genre. The song that gives the album its name is, of course,
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! “Grand Isle.” Fiddler David Greely told musician-writer Dege Legg, “I used to camp out in Grand Isle, romping in the surf, daydreaming about becoming a marine biologist, watching dolphins coming up for air from the old Caminada Bridge. It was a funky paradise without any Dairy Queens or McDonald’s. I was sad beyond measure when they fouled it up. I kept thinking, why can’t we have nice things?” Another reviewer, Robbie Gerson, shared this information on the production for Grand Isle: “This album was recorded using a highly unusual retro technical approach. According to fiddler Greely, ‘We’re talking about using tape, playing through tube equipment, singing into mics shaped like silver footballs…”’ The idea was evidently to get an ‘old’ sound. I was told the album was mastered first to vinyl disc, and then that disc became the master for the CD release, but for some reason it is difficult to get any specifics on this very retro technique.” Some of my readers, I fear, are very ‘retro’ and to them this technique might make perfect sense. [Wink.]
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he Mamou Playboys’ most recent recording, Voyageurs released in 2015, was reviewed by Dan Willging for OffBeat Magazine at the time of release. As usual, Dan provides some neat little insights in a spare ten sentences. “Voyageurs” mean travelers, something which Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys has done on many levels over the course of 14 albums and 27 years in existence. Accordingly, several songs embrace a traveling theme, whether it’s departing for Texas, a Mardi Gras run, or searching for a lost love. The rock-ish original “Au Revoir Grand Mamou” is novel since it’s about leaving Riley’s hometown of Mamou, not going there, as often heard in other songs. Newest member/fiddler Kevin Wimmer brings a Creole influence with rockin’ renditions of “Bernadette” and “Madame Faillelle,” both of which jam into the beyond. And thereupon is one such Mamou Playboys trademark, locking in something that’s culturally core and expanding
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! upon it with crafty innovation. On the Riley-Wimmer-Kelli Jones-Savoy’s co-written “Plus creux,” the rhythm section of bassist Brazos Huval and drummer Kevin Dugas churn out a great offsetting, funky rhythm. Credit guitarist Sam Broussard for innovation as well: unique, unobtrusive killer riffs that add tone and texture to the arrangement on hand. Voyageurs’ biggest triumph comes with Wimmer’s two knuckle-bustin’ instrumentals that exceeded Riley’s accordion’s technical limits since all the sharps and flats couldn’t be played. To rectify that, Riley obtained a custommade chromatic accordion from France where every note could be played. “Malcolm’s Reel” finds Wimmer and Riley playing an intricate melody at warp speed while “Bottle It Up” is a throttling cruise through the country. As much as there’s innovation, there’s also a salute to tradition with the Dennis McGee fiddle tunes and “La Danse de Mardi Gras.” Yet, the latter is also innovative. The cloppy horse hoof sound effects from Nathan Abshire’s legendary recording are ingeniously sampled and slowed down a bit for
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com the intro and outro. Analysis aside, most listeners will simply marvel at how well the Mamou Playboys play together, and the resultant grooves and aesthetics created. It’s a deep listen with highlights too numerous to mention. “Brasse donc, le couche-couche,” another highlight, is a beautiful, sentimental waltz where Riley’s vocals soar over a swelling chorus and leaves the listener with frissons (goose bumps), the ultimate Cajun music high.
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rom the first he can remember, Steve Riley has been surrounded by Cajun music. He was mesmerized by the sounds he heard on weekends at his grandparents’ house, where local musicians from the heart of south Louisiana’s Cajun country would gather and play. “Marc Savoy, who’s been a huge inspiration to me, was often at the parties, along with people like [fiddler] Dennis McGee and many others,” says Riley. “I played along on triangle with the old guys, learned some songs, and got my
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Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
2006 version of the Mamou Playboys: Brazos Huval, David Greely, Kevin Dugas, Steve Riley and Sam Broussard.
first accordion at age 13.” Riley became recognized as a child prodigy. When he was 15, he met the musician who would have the greatest impact on him, the late fiddler Dewey Balfa. “I was already a big fan, and it was a dream come true. He was a really generous and attentive guy, and I think he was impressed with young people who loved Cajun music, and were passionate about it.”
Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Photo by David Simpson
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Steve Riley and Christine Balfa, daughter of Riley’s mentor Dewey Balfa, 2007
Riley, one of today’s best Cajun accordionists, has assumed that role as ambassador. But the music itself has shifted ground — or, rather, expanded its territory. At first, the Playboys played covers of traditional tunes in the old
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! way. Over the years, though, Riley, Greely, and Broussard have developed as songwriters. Currently most of their music is original in a Cajun vein, with influences from rock, Louisiana swamp-pop, zydeco, and blues. Although the band members love playing together, they’re free to pursue other projects. “Probably one of the reasons we’ve stayed together so long is that we can also go out and play with other musicians we like,” Riley says. In addition to fronting the Mamou Playboys, Riley also heads up the swamp-pop-influenced Lil Band O’ Gold. Plus, he plays with High Performance, a more rootsy outfit he created with fiddlers Kevin Wimmer and Mitch Reed. “Each of the bands has a different focus, so I can play stuff that wouldn’t work for the Playboys,” Riley says. “It’s such a rich musical scene here in south Louisiana — in Lafayette and New Orleans in particular. I’ve never needed to look any further than my own back yard to find great music.”
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Released in 1988 | This Issue’s Featured Typeface
Rotis Rotis Rotis The Rotis typeface families were designed by prominent German graphic designer, Otl Aiche. His goal was to create a “super family” of serif and sans serifs to transcend the distinctions between font types for maximum legibility. Aiche is best known as the designer for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich featuring simple pictograms representing each sport.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! Released in 1988 | This Issue’s Featured Typeface
Avenir Avenir was designed by Swiss designer Adrian Frutiger who also designed the Univers and Frutiger type families. According to Frutiger, “The whole point with type is for you not to be aware it is there. If you remember the shape of a spoon with which you just ate some soup, then the spoon had a poor shape.”
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Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band Fri. Jan. 25, 2019 — Skipper’s Smokehouse (Tampa) 8 p.m. — skipperssmokehouse.com
Sat. Jan. 26, 2019 — Harold’s Place (Naples, FL) gulfcoastinnnaples.com
Sun. Jan. 27 — Gumbo Fest, Shell Factory (N. Ft. Myers) 1 to 4 p.m. — shellfactory.com
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
Congratulations to Leon Chavis for winning Houston’s Zydeco Blues Trail Ride Band of the Year Award!
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FESTIVAL-O-RAMA JANUARY 2019 Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 — Gumbo Fest (North Fort Myers) The Shell Factory & Nature Park presents the Annual Gumbo Fest January 27th featuring Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Children will also receive free admission to The Nature Park the day of the event. The Shell Factory Fun Park, Nature Park, and retail store will all be open. For information about Gumbo Fest and all The Shell Factory, visit www. shellfactory.com or The Shell Factory Facebook page. Venue: Shell Factory Nature Park, 2787 North Tamiami Trail, North Fort Myers, Florida 33903.
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update!
The Mavericks
Tom Rigney
Jan. 29 through Feb. 2, 2019 — Mile-O-Fest (Key West) Bands include The Mavericks, Turnpike Troubadours, Randy Rogers Band, Trampled by Turtles, Jack Ingram, Shinyribs, Paul Thorn, and many more. Website: www.mile0fest.com/
Feb. 7-10, 2019 — Sounds of Mardi Gras 2019 (Fresno, CA) Bands include Tom Rigney and Flambeau, Gator Nation, Gino and the Lone Gunmen, and various jazz bands. http://www.fresnodixie.com
Feb. 20-24, 2019 [Projected] — Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival "GrassRoots Live" (Miami) Bands not announced yet. Bands of past events included Donna The Buffalo, Locos Por Juana, Big Mean Sound Machine, Nativos Jammin Orquestra, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, The Blind Spots, Elastic Bond, Telekinetic Walrus, Nag Champayons, Edan Archer, Krekel and Whoa, French Horn Collective, Juke, Nacho Londoño, School of Rock, Cleaveland Jones. Website: http://virginiakeygrassroots.com
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Visit FloridaCajunZydeco.com Feb. 23-24, 2019 — Clearwater Sea Blues Festival (Clearwater, FL) Vintage Trouble, Devon Allman Project with Duane Betts, Reverend Payton's Big Damn Band and others. Free general admission. Coachman Park in Clearwater. Reserved seating purchase: http://www.etix.com/ ticket/v/10151. General information: http://www.myclearwaterevents. com/featured-events/sea-blues-festival
Feb. 23-24, 2019 — Street Painting Festival (Lake Worth, FL) More than 100,000 art lovers attend this annual festival over the weekend. With more than 600 artists on the pavement, music on the main stage, restaurants, shops, festival food court and bistro, you’re sure to get caught up with the excitement. Website: http://www. streetpaintingfestivalinc.org
Feb. 28 to Mar. 5, 2019 — Mardi Gras in the Mountains (Red River, NM) An ever increasing number of Cajuns and Creoles have fled the overgrown chaos of other locales in order to come to this quaint community for a much more intimate celebration. But make no mistake: Red River knows how to celebrate Mardi Gras! Nothing is left out. The week is filled with costume balls, bead tossing, singing and dancing, Cajun and Creole gourmet delights, parades, kids costume contest, cajun cook-off, burning of the Loup-garu, crawfish boils, downhill gator race, and more! Contact the Chamber of Commerce for more details: Located in the Conference Center, 101 W. River St, Red River, NM 87558. Telephone: (575) 754-2366. Email: rrinfo@redriverchamber.org. Website: http://www.redriverchamber.org
Florida Cajun Zydeco Update! Feb. 28 – Mar. 10, 2019 — Festival of the Arts (Boca Raton) Established in 2007, Festival of the Arts BOCA was designed to promote the cultural arts and to enrich the quality of life of the residents of Boca Raton, North Broward and Palm Beach County. Since its inaugural year, the festival hosted Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Joshua Bell, Lang Lang, and Pat Metheny. The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, West Side Story and Raiders of the Lost Ark have been performed with live orchestra. Artists and speakers this year include Arturo Sandoval and His Band. Website: https://www. festivaloftheartsboca.org
Mar. 8-9, 2019 — Bonita Blues Festival (Bonita Springs, FL) Bands include: Teresa James and the Thythm Tramps, Southern Hospitality featuring Damon Fowler, JP Soars and Victor Wainwright, Albert Cummings, and other bands. Venue is Riverside Park on Old US 41 in Bonita Springs, FL. Website: http://www.bonitablues.com
Mar. 9 & 10, 2019 — Gasparilla Music Festival (Tampa, FL) Bands include Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Tank and the Bangas, The Pharcyde, the Infamous Stringdusters, New Orleans Suspects' Tribal Gold, Uncle John's Band. Two stages at Curtis Hixon Park, downtown Tampa. Admission $30 per day (in advance for Sunday) and up. Info at https://gasparillamusic.com
Yes! You want to plan your trips to out-of-state festivals farther in advance. This is just a sampling. Many more festivals listed through end of 2019 at FloridaCajunZydeco.com/festivals.html
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Atlanta Cajun Zydeco Association Dance Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019
Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble Curley's bluesy, soulful vocals and the band's hard driving zydeco beat blend to create high-energy dance music for all audiences. Curley's music is true to its roots in zydeco and blues, but contemporary enough to appeal to a broad range of music lovers. Curley Taylor General admission: $18 non-members. Info: http://aczadance.org NYC Cajun Zydeco Events http://www.letszydeco.com/ Philadelphia Cajun Zydeco Events http://www.allonsdanser.org Houston Cajun Zydeco Events http://www.zydecoevents.com/texaszydecoevents.html Southern California Events http://www.icajunzydeco.com Portland Events http://www.cascadezydeco.com/ Seattle Events http://gatorboyproductions.com/
Photo by David Simpson
Outside Florida