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Music in Louisiana

Mith242

By Mith242
in Louisiana

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I thought it was about time to start a music topic for Louisiana as well. I'm also wanting to start a topic more specific for New Orleans about jazz but we can talk about jazz here too. But the area has obviously had a big effect on music just for it's contribution to jazz. But I believe there are some other unique contributions to music in Louisiana. While I've heard of the style I can't say I know anything about zydeco. So I"ll start off by asking about it. What is it and what is it's history? Is it found anywhere outside of Lousiana? I don't recall hearing too much about it outside the Louisiana area.

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NCB Metropolitan Area

NCB

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I'm glad you started this thread Rod. I completely forgot about the Jazz thread as well, I've been caught up with some things recently.

Anyway, Zydeco is a form of folk music, originated in the beginning of the 20th century among the Francophone Creole people of southwest Louisiana and influenced by the music of the French-speaking Cajuns.

That's just some basic info, but what other things would you like to know about Zydeco?

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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I'm glad you started this thread Rod. I completely forgot about the Jazz thread as well, I've been caught up with some things recently.

Anyway, Zydeco is a form of folk music, originated in the beginning of the 20th century among the Francophone Creole people of southwest Louisiana and influenced by the music of the French-speaking Cajuns.

That's just some basic info, but what other things would you like to know about Zydeco?

Make makes it different from folk music? Is it popular anywhere outside of Louisiana that you know of?

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NCB Metropolitan Area

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Make makes it different from folk music? Is it popular anywhere outside of Louisiana that you know of?

What makes it most different from folk music would have to be some of the instruments used, the tempo of the music, and the history and culture of the music. Zydeco really isn't popular outside of the area surrounding Louisiana, though it did get alot of national attention in the 50's and mid 80's.

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breaux Whistle-Stop

breaux

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Make makes it different from folk music? Is it popular anywhere outside of Louisiana that you know of?

Zydeco evolved from Creole music which was really hard to discern from Cajun music except for its slight African influences. Over the years, Creole Music picked up a lot of the influences of blues, and added the washboard. Like Cajun music it is dominated by the accordion, but now the fiddle is less prominent in Zydeco. I'm not an expert, but it's great music.

Also, I wouldn't say it's particularly popular outside of Louisiana in terms of sales, etc., but it's part of the overall Louisiana culture that has a lot of appeal.

FWIW, if you're interested in Zydeco look for anything by Clifton Chenier. He was the "King of Zydeco", and his music is incredible.

Just for trivia, the term "Zydeco" is from the song Les Haricots sont pas Sale's (The snap beans aren't salty). Les Haricots became Zydeco.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Zydeco evolved from Creole music which was really hard to discern from Cajun music except for its slight African influences. Over the years, Creole Music picked up a lot of the influences of blues, and added the washboard. Like Cajun music it is dominated by the accordion, but now the fiddle is less prominent in Zydeco. I'm not an expert, but it's great music.

Also, I wouldn't say it's particularly popular outside of Louisiana in terms of sales, etc., but it's part of the overall Louisiana culture that has a lot of appeal.

FWIW, if you're interested in Zydeco look for anything by Clifton Chenier. He was the "King of Zydeco", and his music is incredible.

Just for trivia, the term "Zydeco" is from the song Les Haricots sont pas Sale's (The snap beans aren't salty). Les Haricots became Zydeco.

Thanks for the info. I can at least look more into it and see if it would be anything I could be interested in.

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breaux Whistle-Stop

breaux

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There has been a mention of Creole music. Is there such a thing as Cajun music, or perhaps a musical style infleunced quite a bit from Cajun culture?

There is certainly such a thing as Cajun music.

Creole music was the black version of Cajun music. It later evolved to become zydeco.

Cajun music is more folk than Zydeco, which is more bluesy.

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NCB Metropolitan Area

NCB

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Thought I'd bump this back to the first page of the forum...

Also, any other fans of Cowboy Mouth on the forum? They're a New Orleans rock band that has been around for about 17 years now. I've seen them live many times, and I've got a bunch of their music. They have quite a large following outside of New Orleans, as they tour frequently, often with Better than Ezra, another New Orleans rock band. They're certainly loved here in New Orleans!

Here's their myspace, if you want to check out and listen to some of their stuff:

http://myspace.com/cowboymouth

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